LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 January 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

ihe Centennial Exhibition. A fine northerly day yesterday drew 15,515 visitors to' the Centennial Exhibition. Once again the attendance comprised a very large proportion of country folk in the daytime, with a leavening of city people making merry in Playland after dark. The total has now reached 936,224. a daily average of 16,718.

Special Force Enlistments. Enlistments in the Special Military Force for service overseas continue fairly freely at the Masterton Defence Office. The following enrolments were received yesterday: Messrs E. T. Rolph, Robert Boyce (Masterton); J. A. Yule (Taratahi); and R. R. Adams (Carterton).

“Good Enough For Us.” “They have conscription in Great Britain, the mother country, and if it is good enough for the mother country it is good enough for us,” said Mr Percy Thomson. Mayor of Stratford, at a special meeting of local body representatives held at Stratford to consider recruiting.

Centennial Skeet Championship. The New Zealand centennial skeet and clay target championship began at Panmure yesterday. It is a three daysmeeting held under the auspices of the Auckland Gun Club. The large number of sportsmen include the North Island champion, C. Thomasen, the veteran, C. A. Whitney, and the Hon. W. E. Parry. The centennial skeet •championship of 50 targets, two rounds of 25, was won by F. H. Seccome with a total, of 46 out of 50.

No Time for Luxury or Extravagance.

“New Zealand is at war. We are all enlisted whether we will or no. This is no time for luxury and extravagance. There is no place today for Ihe idler and the mere pleasure-seeker in the community. If we are not. Io be in the firing line we must on no account. let down our soldier lads on whom that hard lot has fallen," said the Chancellor of the University oi New Zealand. Dr. the Hon. J. A. Hannan, in his address to the annual meeting of the Senate in Wellington yesterday. Petrol on Sunday. Motorists buying petrol in New Plymouth on a Sunday have to pay an extra Is per car, in addition to the cost of the petrol. The charge is an opening fee. and all the garages in the town have come to an agreement which ensures that only one garage is open at the time. Recently the attendant at one particular service station was heard, to assure a protesting motorist that, despite the extra charge, Sunday opening was not an attractive proposition.

Langdale Horse Sports. Good entries for the Langdale horse sports, which will be held on the Langdale Domain tomorrow morning and afternoon, have been received by the secretary, Mr John Morrison, who states that indications are for a highly successful meeting. The events will commence at 10.30 o'clock and will be continued throughout the day. The gathering will be brought to a conclusion with a dance in the Langdale Hall at night. Children’s Session. Special children’s sessions have been arranged in the Australian pavilion theatre. Daily at 3.30 p.m. 'and 7 p.m. the children’s . session for the next three weeks will be comprised of the following items: Teddy bears’ picnic, surf boats, diving, the peculiar platypus, big-game fishing, native corroboree, buckjumping, skiing, surfing, seals at Philip Island, beach sport at Lome. As well as children’s special sessions, new programmes of interesting Australian films have replaced those that have attracted the attention of thousands during the past weeks.

Decline in Dairy Production. Rain is urgently needed to arrest a sharp decline in dairy production, which is evident in farming districts throughout the Auckland province, as a result of dry weather. The position is not yet regarded as serious, but win develop in magnitude, unless steady rain is experienced within the next week. Production in Waikato is now falling rapidly after the peak had been well maintained into the begining of January. Most factories in North Auckland have experienced a similar decline, though in areas where there has been heavy planting of paspalum the effects have not been so severe.

Returned Soldier Found Dead

Joseph Davidson McArthur, aged auout 48, married man, with three children, was found dead at his residence, Parkside Avenue, Dunedin, yesterday, with a .22 calibre rifle alongside him. . Mi'. McArthur’s wife is on holiday in the North Island, and during her absence his parents have called daily at the house with food. On Wednesday he was not seen. but. yesterday his mother entered the house and foutic. him lying dead on the bed. There was a wound in the roof of his month ana a rille was lying beside him. Two spent cartridges were found in the room. Mr. McArthur, who was a returned soldier, is stated to have suffered from being gassed and he had no: been in good heajth lately. New Zealand’s First Bank. An interesting and extremely wellproduced souvenir has been brought out by the Union Bank of Australia. Ltd. in celebration of the centenary of the establishment of its first Now Zealand branch. This was opened at Britannia. Port Nicholson mow Well-

ington i. under arrangement with the New Zealand Company, on March 21. 1840. "Thus." it is pointed out. "the bank was actively assisting in the development of New Zealand even before British sovereignty was proclaimed (the Treaty of Waitangi was not signed until some months later), and it enjoys the enviable distinction of being the pioneer bank of New Zealand, and the oldest established business in the country." With a brief account of the history and development of the bank, and a number of excellent illustrations, the souvenir also includes a facsimile of the first page of the “New Zealand Gazette" No I. The “Gazette," bears the date, Friday. September 6, 1839, and contains an advertisement dated August 20. 1839. regarding the establishment of the New Zealand branch of the Union Bank. Tin' "Gazette" was printed in London, aijd this accounts for the six months which clap sed between it:: publication ami the establishment of the bank in New Zealand.