LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 June 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

College Football. The Wellington Rugby Union has granted Rongotai College permission to play Wairarapa College at football at Kilbirnie on June 25. National Patriotic Fund. The total amount received in connection with the National Patriotic Fund, has reached £132,955, and the expenditure £65,000. Labour Caucus. The caucus of the Parliamentary Labour Party met last night and adjourned after a three-hour discussion with business uncompleted. The Prime Minsiter, Mr Fraser, stated at the conclusion of the meeting that there was nothing to report. The caucus will meet again today. Homes for British Children. The scheme outlined by the mayor of Napier that New Zealand should offer hospitality, and, if necessary, permanent adoption in individual homes to 25,000 British children has received the approval of the' Lower Hutt Borough Council. A petition to that effect has gone to Parliament from Lower Hutt citizens.

Nursing Division. A very busy time was spent by members of the St John Ambulance Nursing Division and friends at the home of Mrs H. E. Pither, Lansdowne, when 78 hussifs were made for the soldiers. The members of the division wish to thank Mrs Pither for her kindness in providing supper for those present.

No Italians Employed. • The proprietors of four’ local restaurants and fish shops in Masterton notify that they are natives of Jugo Slavia and have been in Nevi Zealand for periods ranging from 15 years to 35 years. Those who were of age fought on, the side of the Allies in the Great War. No Italians are employed in connection with their businesses.

Post Office Hours. Recently it was notified that certain Post Offices in the Wairarapa district would, in future, observe a half holiday from 12.30 p.m. on Saturdays. The Post Office now advises that in addition all permanent and non-permanent offices in the Wairarapa district which previously closed at 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. on Saturdays will now also clase at 12.30 p.m. Supplies of Linen Fibre. Supplies of linen from Continental countries for British war purposes having been cut off, arrangements are being made to grow 15,000 acres of linen flax in the South Island. An appeal to farmers to have that area ready by September for the sowing of 500 tons of seed, which will produce 8000 tons of linen fibre, was made yesterday ’by the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser. Y.M.C.A. Card Evening. Another of the fortnightly card evenings, that are proving so popular this season, will be held in the Y.M.C.A. Hall tomorrow evening, beginning al 7.45 o’clock. Bridge and five hundred will be provided for and the usual keen competition in both games is anticipated. Suitable prizes will be awarded and the ladies will again provide a good supper at the conclusion of play. Special attention will be paid to the comfort of players, the hall being kept at a suitably warm temperature throughout the evening. Influenza in Military Camp. The task of evacuating students from the Auckland Teachers’ Training College and of clearing the rooms for use as emergency wards to accommodate victims of the influenza epidemic at Papakura mobilisation camp was completed yesterday. The total number of cases yesterday was 483, With 278 patients the Ellerslie emergency hospital was seriously crowded. One hopeful sign seen by the authorities was the decrease in the number of soldiers reporting for daily sick parade, as against 283 on Saturday and 238 on Monday, the total was 214.

Profits for Patriotic Purposes. All net profits from meeting conducted by the Auckland Racing Club after August 1 and till the end of the war will be distributed for patriotic and war purposes, according to a decision made at a meeting of the club committee. The distribution of profits will be effected as the committee determines and will be made from time to time after each race meeting. A further donation of £5OO supporting the Sports Queen was made to the funds of the Auckland Queen Carnival Campaign. The club’s donations to the patriotic and Red Cross funds this year now total £l7OO.

Italians Interned. Italy’s entry into the war against the Allies resulted in prompt action being taken by the New Zealand Police, and yesterday a number of Italians in Wellington were taken into custody and later handed over to the military authorities for internment. The number was not disclosed. On the outbreak of war with Germany last September, all aliens, other than naturalised British subjects, who formerly belonged to a State with which Britain was not at war, were compelled to register as aliens at the nearest police station. This did not affect Italians who were naturalised in New Zealand, but recent international developments have altered the position. AH Italians naturalised in New Zealand are now required to register as aliens, and arc subject to the same regulations as those governing German nationals, unless exempted by the AttorneyGeneral. Ordered Out of Witness Box. “It looks as if you have been ‘got at.’ You had better get out of the box. I don’t want to hear anything more,’’ said Mr Stout, S.M., in the Magistrates' Court, Wellington, yesterday, after a medical practitioner, called as a witness by the police, had given evidence in the case of a man allegedly intoxicated while in charge of a motor-car. The doctor, who examined accused ai the Central Police Station, stated in his report that the man arrested was not quite up to standard for car driving, but from the witness box said that this finding was based mainly on the appearance of accused's signature. He has since telephoned an official of accused's union and had been assured that accused's signature was always of a scrawling nature. In consequence, said the doctor, he would have to modify his finding and classify accused as a border-line case. Further evidence, both for the police and the defence, was submitted, and the magistrate dismissed the charge.