LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 March 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

No Publication Tomorrow. Tlie "Times-age” will not be published tomorrow (Good Friday). Pukemiro Collieries Dividend. Pukemiro Collieries, Ltd., has declared an interim dividend of 6d a share, payable on March 29. Attendance at Exhibition. There was an attendance of 8844 at the Centennial Exhibition yesterday, bringing the total to 1,836,324, with a daily average of 15,968. Interest Free Loan. At the annual meeting of delegates of the Otago Rugby Football Union tonight it was decided to lend the Government £5OO interest free for the duration of the war and six months after. Military Enlistments. The following are the latest enlistments at the Masterton Defence Office: A. J. Castle (Featherston), D. A. Alexander (Carterton), I. G. Blake (Wallington East Coast. Mounted Rifles. Carterton), G. J. Smith (Martinborcugh), ,1. Nunn (Gladstone), D. Tauraif (Pirinoa). The total to date is 586. Bible Lessons in Schools. The teaching of Bible lessons in the primary schools of Masterton for 1940 will commence next week. These will be conducted by Masterton ministers, and are for one half-hour weekly. Most of the higher standards are taught, and the Ministers’ Association provide all pupils with Gospels to be used during the lessons. This work has been carried out in the schools of Masterton for a considerable number of years.

United Service of Witness. The usual Good Friday United Service of Witness will be held in the Opera House tomorrow night, at 8 o’clock. All who are interested in a United Easter Service are cordially invited to attend. The various parts of the service will be conducted by members of the Masterton Ministers’ Association. The Rev. David McNeur, president, will preside. The League of Mothers’ Choir will render an anthem.

Breach of Nev/ Regulations. The first conviction under the new regulations governing the supply of liquor to soldiers was recorded by Mr Bundle, S.M., at the Oamaru Magistrates’ Court yesterday, when a barman named Joseph Albert Docherty was fined £2 for selling liquor at Georgetown to two soldiers in uniform for consumption elsewhere than on the premises where it was sold.

Public Service Golf Tourney. Golfers from all parts of New Zealand assembled on the Shandon links yesterday for the Public Service Centennial tournament. The links were in perfect order, but the fast greens had many of the visitors puzzled, and a stiff northerly wind assisted to make good scoring difficult. The principal event, a 36-holes medal competition, was won by W. B. Reilly (Railways Department), who went round in the morning in 77, and played brilliantly in the afternoon to record 72.

Series of Earthquakes. A series of earthquakes disturbed Hawke’s Bay residents early yesterday morning, causing minor damage such as the breakage of crockery and jars of jam in some places. A shock of a swaying nature was felt at 3 o'clock, two other jolts of lesser violence following with about an hour’s interval. Most sleepers were awakened by the first shock and momentary alarm was felt by some, but no damage beyond minor household breakages was caused. The record on the seismograph kept by Mr H. De Denne, Hastings, shows that the movement was unusually long and it was not as local as the shake experienced on February 26.

Not Afraid of Germany. "There are only two countries in Europe not afraid of Germany—they are Britain and France,” said Mr D. R. Grenfell. C.8.E., M.P., representative of the United Kingdom branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association at the New Zealand Centennial celebrations, at a luncheon in his honour given yesterday by the New Zealand branch of the association. The German philosophy, he added, was arms first and talk afterward; the new ideology was a brutal idea of conquest. With their belief in democracy British people were prepared to risk everything to save their independence and the conditions of life which they enjoyed because of hundreds of years of joint effort. Druids' Lodge. At the fortnightly meeting of the Stonehenge Druids' Lodge the A.D., Bro. A. G. Swinn presided.' An apology was received from Bro. F. J. Gray, ft was decided to hold an annual ritual competition amongst lodges in the No. 1 District, the suggested date for the first of such competitions being the end of July. Important proposals were received from the Grand Secretary regarding alterations to the rules to provide for members who have left, cr may leave New Zealand on active service. These will be discussed on the next lodge night. Satisfactory reports were received from the bards visiting the sick. Accounts amounting to £l7 4s were passed for payment. A report was received from the delegates on the U.F.S. Dispensary. Appeal to Motorists. An appeal for the exercise of caution by motorists and others using the highways during the Easter holidays was made yesterday by the Minister of Transport, Mr Semple. He said that probably on account of petrol restrictions traffic would not be as heavy as in tlie corresponding period last year, but the number of vehicles on the highways would far exceed that of recent weeks. Increased traffic would bring increased risks, and increased risks could only be combated with increased caution. Mr Semple said that during the last Easter holidays, 13 persons were killed and 216 injured as the result of traffic accidents. On the Tuesday following Easter, hundreds of newspaper headings provided grim evidence of the price the country had paid for its few days of holiday motoring. From today thousands of New Zealanders would be on the roads enjoying a brief holiday. Traffic clangers would reach their peak. Last Easier Monday was the bloodiest day of the whole year. Five people were killed and 84 injured. 33 seriously. A similar tragedy would surely occur again unless drivers respected tlie rules of the road and proceeded with the utmost regard to safety. Never neglect Colds, take Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure.*