LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 April 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Frost in Masterton. A frost of 3 degrees was registered in Masterton this morning. Centennial Exhibition. Saturday’s attendance at the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington reached 20,651. The total to date is 2,14.3,265. with a daily average of Ki. 744. Fatally Hit by Train. Fatal injuries were received by William Ashby, single, aged 70, Moorhouse Avenue, when he was struck by a tram on Saturday. According to a police statement. Mr Ashby, who was almost blind, walked in front of the tram while crossing the road. He died later in the hospital.

Body Found In Harbour. The body of an unidentified man, aged about 60, was found floating in Oriental Bay, Wellington, at 10.50 yesterday morning. The man is described as about sft 9in in height, of strong build, clean shaven, with light brown hair turning grey. He was wearing a dark grey suit, a blue and white striped shirt, a white collar, a grey and blue tic, and boots.

Relieving of Distress. For 11 months of its financial year, 1939-40, the Wellington Hospital Board, through its social welfare committee, spent £6570 on the relief of distress among persons affected by unemployment, sickness, separation, old age, widowhood, imprisonment and other causes. In the same period of the previous financial year. £10,875 was spent. Tv/enty Miles Record.

In spite of a strong southerly, G. L. Austin, national marathon champion, established a New Zealand 20 miles record at the Caledonian ground, Dunedin, on Saturday. His time was Ihr 57min 34 sec., which was substantially better than the standard of 2hr required by the New Zealand Council. C. G. Gibbons finished the distance in 2hr 1 min 47sec. Wool Appraisement.

The last wool appraisement of the season will start in Napier today. The wool to be appraised at this fixture, amounting to about 3000 bales, is almost entirely binned and pooled lots. A comparatively small proportion of the total of nearly 97.000 bales of the Hawke's Bay clip appraised this season now remains in store, a good clearance having been made in the past two months.

Run Over By Shunting Train. The death took place in the Dunedin hospital on Saturday of William Simpson. a married man, aged 69 years, as the result of injuries received when he was rim over by a shunting train in Middlemarch station yards on Thursday. Deceased was admitted to hospital the same evening. With his right leg amputated below the knee, and with severe lacerations to the left ankle, he was in a badly shocked condition.

injured Man's Painful Journey. A painful journey of 20 miles in a motor-lorry after he had both legs broken through being run over by a light railway truck, was made by Mr Norman Godfrey Hone, single, aged 27, before he was admitted to Auckland Hospital. Mr Hone, who lives in Wiriwiri. Waiuku, was working in the Moumoukai quarry. 20 miles from Hunua, when he was knocked down by a light rubble truck, which passed over his legs, fracturing them both. One was broken in two places, but temporary splints were set by a fel-low-workman before Mr Hone was moved to Hunua. Test for Elderly Motor Drivers. A recommendation made at the conference of delegates to the South Island Motor Union last week when the regulations covering the reissue of motor-drivers’ licences were under consideration was that the Transport Department amend the clause dealing with the age limit of drivers. The , union recommmended that “when considered necessary persons over the age of 70 may be required by the Commissioner of Transport to furnish a medical certificate of fitness and submit to a driving test.” The union also decided to request that a standard test be passed by all applicants. Eclipse of Sun. Only a very small portion of New Zealand was provided with a view, of the annular eclipse of the sun which occurred this morning, and even from those favoured places the sun rose as the eclipse ended, so that the total duration of the phenomenon was measured in seconds. Residents living at North Cape, Whangarei, the Bay of Islands, Cape Colville or the Barrier Islands were expected to catch a glimpse of the last tiny notch of obscuration vanishing as the sun rose above the horizon, but from the. remainder of the Dominion no eclipse, was seen. Unusual Golf Incident, Playing in the open golf tournament at Waitikiri (Canterbury) on Saturday H. M. S. Dawson, Harewood, drove a good ball from the thirteenth tee. The ball, after landing, rolled some distance and then, cames to a stop on the back of a live hedgehog. At first Dawson tried to move the hedgehog. It refused to budge, so he picked up the ball, and dropped it clear. That cost him two strokes penalty- and he lost the hole. There was talk in the clubhouse later about whether Dawson should have been penalised. The ease is. ”11' a ball lodge in anything moving, a ball shall be dropped as near as possible to the spot, where the object was when the ball lodged in it without penalty. ’’ Interest Free Loans. Further contributions of interestfree loans and donations for war purposes were acknowledged on Saturday by the Minister of Finance. Mr Nash, including £5001) from the Anchor Shipping and Foundry Co.. Ltd., Nelson. for the duration of the war. The total received to date is £1,559,294. The Minister said that among the many donations, gifts ami loans which had been made to the Government in connection with war expenditure none was more moving than one recoiled a day or two ago from two old age pensioners of Christchurch, who had sent £lO as a free gift to the Government towards winning the war. This old gentleman and his wife in lheir letter Lid:- - We are only old age pensionrt <. The amount is not much, but hope you v. ill consider il in the spiiil it is given, became we think everybody should do their utmost for our great little country.’’ 1