LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Hospital Levies Reduced. The Grey Hospital Board has reduced levies on local bodies by more than £3OOO. Territorial Parade. There will be a parade of C Company. First Hawke's Bay Regiment, in the Masterton Drill Hall at 7.30 o clock tonight. Hotel Destroyed by Fire. The Kawakawa Hotel. Te Araroa (.110 miles north of Gisborne) was completely destroyed by fire on Saturday night. It was a wooden building of 30 to 40 rooms. Harrier Dance.

There was a fair attendance at a dance held by the Masterton Harrier Club in the Social Hall on Saturday night. The music was supplied by Pool's Blue River Dance Band and Mr Roy Shaw was M.C. War Expenses Fund. The interest-free loans and donations for war purpopes acknowledged on Saturday by the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, included £5OO from H, G. Groves, Masterton, for the duration of the war and six months after. Meetings of Householders. The bi-ennial meetings of householders to elect school committees will be held tonight throughout the district. Elections will be necessary in the case of the three principal Masterton schools. Banknotes given to Collectors,.

The proceeds of the Poppy Day appeal in Wanganui totalled £332 with several country returns still to come in. Many large contributions were given to street collectors, including one of £lO. Several £1 notes were handed in while halfcrowns were frequent. Anzac Day Parade. A full parade of members of the local Territorial units will be held at the Masterton Drill Hall at 10.15 a.m. on Anzac Day (Thursday) for participation in the public service to be held, in the Masterton Park. Dress will be belts, side-arms, puttees, and pantaloons. Model Plane Recovered. A model sailplane belonging to Mr 11. Fulton, which was lost at a meeting of the Masterton Model Aero Club held at the Hood Aerodrome on Merch 23 has been found in the Hikorangi College grounds. The machine, which was only slightly damaged, was returned by Mr N. A. Cooper, of Carterton. Winter Sports Club. In order to give players an oppor-

tunity for practice before the opening of the table tennis season, the Masterton Winter Sports Club held a combined doubles’ tournament in the Dixon Street Hall on Saturday night. The winners of the contest were Mrs Nicholls and Mr N. Lcadley. Supper was served by a ladies' committee. Fatality on Farm. Fatal injuries were received by a boy on a farm at Whatawhata on Saturday, when he became entangled in the belting of a milking machine and was swung off his feet and dashed against the floor and wall. He was James Russell, aged 14, of Whata whata. The boy was standing near the machine when his clothing was caught in the belting. Football Practices. ;

There were very good attendances at tlie practices held by local football clubs at Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon. Although the ranks of many of the senior teams have been depleted owing to players joining the New Zealand forces, the junior ranks have been considerably augmented. Indications at present are that the standard of play will bo up to that of last season. Exhibition Rush Sets In. The rush of final fortnight visitors to the Centennial Exhibition set in on Saturday with an attendance of 31,759. The crowds far exceeded the ordinary

weekend attendance, and Exhibition authorities reported that the evening was one of the busiest the Exhibition had experienced. Railway officials were of similar opinion. They stated that the weekend was a particularly heavy one for rail traffic. Four excursion trains alone brought some 2000 people to Wellington. The total attendance has reached 2,308.297. a daily average of 16,255. Increase in Railway Revenue. “Railway financial returns for the year ended March 31. 1940. show a notable increase in net revenue,” said the Minister of Railways. Mr Sullivan at Christchurch yesterday. "The total net revenue is £1,189,000, or within £ll.000 of the £ 1,200.000 provided for in the Budget estimate. Gross revenue was £10,195,000, the highest gross earning in any year in the history of the railways. It exceeds that for 19381939 by £853.000. which was the previous record total. Expenditure was £9.009,000, and the net revenue of £l.189,000 was £488.000 greater than in the previous year.

Making of Hussifs Held Up. The secretary of the National Patriotic Fund Board. Mr G. A. Hayden, Wellington, said last night that instructions to cease work on the hussifs at present being made by women for soldiers overseas, were issued by the board of Friday. It had been discovered. he said, that the materials, which were supplied already cut. were too small, and though they could be made to hold the outfit for which they were designed they would be somewhat inadequate. The materials would not be wasted, however, as they could be used as covers for paybooks by the troops. Motorist Found Drowned. The body of a man. later found Io be Arthur Sandiford. aged 57. married. Mount Haskill. clad in swimming trunks, was discovered lying on a mudbank a quarter ol' a mile from the shore at Blockhouse Bay. on Saturday. Mr Sandiford's car was parked in the usual parking place, about a chain from the water. His clothes and personal effects were in the front scat. Mr Sandiford loft his home to go for a swim, as was his usual practice. The family became alarmed when ho did not return for breakfast an hour later, and inquiries were begun. Shortly before 3 o’clock a man who had been working on his boat on the beach saw the body lying on a mudbank and informed the police. Mr Sandiford was a strong swimmer, but had been complaining of pains in the region of his heart for some firne.