LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 April 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Centennial Exhibition. The attendance at the Centennial Exhibition at Wellington yesterday was 12,106, bringing the total up to 2,184,994,. The daily average is 16,306. Medical Board. A sitting of the Masterton Medical Board will be held at the Drill Hall next Wednesday at. 7 p.m., when a further batch of recruits will be examined. Loans and Donations. Further donations and interest-free loans to the War Expenses Account received yesterday by the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash bring the total amount up to £1,608.631. Making Sure. The difficulty created by men registering more than once for overseas service was mentioned to the National Recruiting Council yesterday by the Adjutant-General, Colonel O. H. Mead. He said that one-man had registered four times. The Hon D. G. Sullivan: "He must have thought lie was going into a polling booth.” I Ribbon Parade. Everything points to tile success of the Ribbon Parade, to be held on the Masterton Parle Oval, tomorrow afternoon by the Wairarapa Kennel Club. No charge is made for admission to the Park. The many handsome ribbons, to be presented to the winners of the variety classes arc on view in the window of Mr Albert Donald. Queen Street. The parade is timed to start at 2.0 o'clock'. Badges for Rejected Recruits. The issue of badges to eligible men who had enlisted, but who had been rejected because of medical unfitness or whose acceptance might be postponed because of the nature of their occupations, was referred io by the Prime Minister. Mr Fraser, in his review of manpower organisation to the National Recruiting Council yesterday. Mr Fraser said that a good deal of action had been taken by the Government and responsible officers in designing a suitable badge and formulating safe conditions under which it should be issued. A Brief Reply. A very brief reply was made- by the Prime Minister (the Hon P. Fraser) to the letter in which the Hon W. E. Barnard (Speaker of the House of Representatives) notified, his resignation from the Labour Party. The Prime Minister's reply reads: "I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of April 7, which was delivered to me about 6 o'clock on Monday evening, and I beg to thank you for same. Your intimation of resignation from the New Zealand Labour Party is a matter for the consideration of the national executive of the party, and, accordingly, I am forwarding your letter to the national secretary, Mr W. Moohan."

Enlistment Age Advanced. The Government was now prepared to advance the age for enlistment to 40. announced the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, at the National Recruiting Council meeting in Wellington yesterday. Mr Jones said that men up to this age would be accepted in accordance with their position and responsibilities; single men first, married men without children, and so on. The age limit in the Great War was 19-45 but in the present conflict a start 'was made at 21-35, which was the Territorial limit. Officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of technical or other ability who were key men had been taken above the age of 35. It had been suggested that the age should be extended to 45, but the Government was not prepared to go this far. Government Flats.

Another large flat-building project in Wellington, which will eclipse the big block erected for the State Housing Department at Berhampore, is to be undertaken by the Government. The new block, to be erected in Dixon Street, will be the biggest block of flats in the Dominion. The Minister of Housing, Mr Armstrong, announced yesterday that the Government had bought over an acre of land for the purpose. It is the late Sir George Hunter's old property in Upper Dixon Street, and will give easy access to Willis Street, Dixon Street, and The Terrace. As indicative of the popularity of flats and the demand for accommodation generally in Wellington, the Minister said that when the first 16 or 17 flats in the Berhampore block became available there were between 600 and 700 applicants for them.

Married Men in Camp. One of the cries now was that single men had not responded to the call for recruits, said the Minister of Defence. Mr Jones, at a meeting of the National Recruiting Council in Wellington yesterday. It was admitted that Quite a number of married men with four and five of a family had gone into camp. A check was made and the men were allowed to stay provided their wives did not ask for their release. Of the 15,395 men who had gone into camp, 11,938 were single. In addition there were single officers and the proportion of single men all told was approximately 75 per cent. Of the 5582 men available for posting to camp approximately 4000 were single. The army was getting the single men, though there was a proportion of married men. The army had to take some married officers, n.c.o.’s and key men. The Air Force, which took men from 18 up, had got at least a year's supply of men. Recruiting Response. The recruiting response compared favourably with 1914 in that the formation of the Division and ancilliary troops would be completed within one year, whereas in the last war 18 months elapsed before the same relative position was reached, said the Prime Minister. Mr Fraser, to the National Recruiting Council in Wellington yesterday. Recruiting registrations had ' averaged just over 600 a week. The second echelon was complete. The third echelon was being increased by 1600 above the figure originally intended. There were G 615 required for this echelon. Exclusive of officers, Maori reinforcements and railway and forestry units' reinforcements, 890 were already in camp. 4868 fit men were available'for posting to camp. 1122 awaited examination and these were expected lo produce 875 fit men. making the total of lit men 6633. Further to the numbers he quoted the following formed part of the third echelon: 408 officers. 10 Maori Battalion officers. 309 Maori Battalion reinforcements, two railway and forestry units officers, and 35 other ranks, making an additional 7G4 either in camp or available to proceed.