LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 May 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Drunken Motorist Fined. For having been intoxiacted in charge of a car in Cuba Street, Wellington, on May 20, Rolland Manfred Gerbes, builder, aged 48, was fined £2O by Mr Stout, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. The magistrate also directed that his driving licence be cancelled for a year.

Trust Lands Trust election. The election for three trustees in connection with the Masterton Trust Lands Trust will take place tomorrow, the polling hours being from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. Residents of the Masterton small farm area who have reached 21 years of age, irrespective of whether they are ratepayers or not, have the right to vote providing they have resided at least six months in the small farm. area.

Damages for Loss of Finger Joints. Compensation of £9OO was awarded by Mr Justice Ostler in the Supreme Court, Wellington, to a boy of 15 who lost joints of three fingers in a factory accident. Plaintiff was Gordon Duncan, aged 15, Wellington, suing by his father, Albert Duncan. Defendant was the firm of Hibberd, Son and Burnes, Limited, gas meter manufacturers. It was stated that the boy’s right hand was caught by a stroke of the die of a power press he was operating. Miners and the War.

A decision to work an eleven-day fortnight instead of ten days as at present during the busy period while the war lasts was made by a special meeting of the Nightcaps District Miners’ Union. The men will work five days one week and six the next. The decision was made at the wish of the Government and the owners also decided to work on the King’s Birthday holiday on Monday at ordinary rates of pay, the men agreeing to forego overtime rates for holiday work that day. ;

Dance at Cooper’s Barn. A very enoyable time was spent in dancing at Cooper’s Barn, Opaki, last night, the function being held under the auspices of the Masterton third grade football team. The music was supplied by Mr Arnold Barnes’ orchestra and extras were played by Messrs B. Southey and H. Cooper and Miss Mavis Cooper. The Monte Carlo dance was won by Mr J. Clarke and Miss Cusack and the Monte Carlo leapyear dance by Miss P. Lee and Mr L. Reynolds. During the evening items were given by the Aloha Entertainers, Messrs Fulton (Masterton), Butler and J. Morgan (Carterton). Mr L. W. Wilton was M.C., and the supper arrangements were under the control of Miss Joyce Wilton.

Navy League War Council. At a conference of the New Zealand branches of the Navy League presided over by the Governor-General, Lord Galway, in Wellington, a New Zealand Navy League War Council was set up to co-ordinate the war efforts of the branches so that they may co-operate to the best advantage for the benefit of the seamen of the Royal Navy, Auxiliary Service and the Mercantile Marine, for the duration of the war and six months afterward. The following were appointed members of the executive committee of the War Council:—Mr Gordon Reid (Wellington) chairman, Mr J. Sutherland Ross (Dunedin), Commander C. H. T. Palmer (Auckland), Major Charters (Canterbury) and Mr R. Darroch representing the smaller branches. Contributions to War Fund. Appreciation of the action of the large number of persons who had given authority to the postmasters throughout the Dominion to pay the interest earned on their Post Office Savings Bank accounts into the War Expenses Account was expressed by the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, last evening. The sum- so received, he said, was considerable, and on behalf of the Government he desired to thank sinceerly all who had so generously helped. Mi- Nash said that in addition to these donationes the free-of-interest loans which came in every day had nearly reached the £2,000,000 mark. “This is an ‘all-in’ effort,” said the Minister, “and we should all do our part. Today an effort is required for the Red Cross Sick and Wounded Fund. If you have any money at your disposal you cannot use it better than by helping the organisers to reach their objective of a quarter of a million. Send it in today.” Maintenance of National Morale. The necessity for the maintenance of national morale in the present crisis was emphasised by the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, in an address in Wellington last evening. He realised that inevitably initial reverses and seemingly impossble odds were prone to create a feeling in the public mind of temporary frustration and hopelessness. It was imperative that no such feelings should be allowed to emerge, no matter how dark the outlook might appear. “When I spoke last week I said that in the situation in France and Belgium the British Commonwealth is faced with a crisis as grave as it has ever faced,” said Mr Nash. “That situation continues and probably will continue for some time to come. After all, we have faced and have emerged successfully from many crises in the past. Those who remember the dark days of 1914-18 will recall that the British Commonwealth faced times no less critical and overcame odds no less great than confront it today.”

Old Pipe Organ. An interesting old pipe organ built by an early colonist, Mr William Webster, at Hokianga, in 1842, has been presented to the Old Colonists’ Museum by his daughter, Mrs A. Mary Geddes, of Auckland. The two wooden stops are made from well-matured white pine (koroi), all hand sawn. The two metal stops came from England. The ivory on the keyboard was cut laboriously by hand-saw from the teeth of the sperm whale, which were obtained from the whalers who spent much time at Russell. Bay of Islands. The black notes were dyed with the same dye with which the Maoris dyed their mats long ago. The two pedals and the ironwork her father made in the little blacksmith’s shop in which he used to keep the machinery of his timber mill, flour mill, and flax mill in repair. The bellows’ gauge of brass was filed from the rudder of his rowing boat. The outside case was made from cedar wood brought from Australia. The organ was made in her father's leisure hours, and when finished he had the joy of tuning it with the aid of a tuning fork.