LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 September 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Child Found Dead. David Brien, the four-months-old son of Mr and Mrs L. W. Voice, of 7 Bruce Street, Masterton, was found dead in his pram this morning. An inquest is being held this afternoon. Measles Among Troops. The falling-up of the Fourth Reinforcements of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which had been fixed for next week, has been postponed, because of a mild epidemic of measles. No dale can at present be given for the calling up of the men. Heavy Rain. Heavy rain in Masterton this morning caused street flooding at some points, owing to culverts being inadequate to cope with the water. Detours were necessary by pedetrians to avoid the water. Mr H. M. Boddington reports that from 9 a.m. to noon today three-quarters of an inch of rain was recorded. Masonic Gift. Mr J. Abel, honorary director of organisation and. treasurer of the Sick and “Wounded Fund, acknowledges the receipt of a further cheque of £1250 from the Masonic Grand Lodge of New Zealand. This is the second cheque, making a total of £2500, which the Grand Lodge passed for this fund. A similar amount of £2500 was donated to the National Patriotic Fund Board’s general funds. Price of Wooden Matches. The maximum price at which boxes of wooden safety matches can be sold retail in less than the customary packet lots is fixed at one penny a box by a price order issued last night by the Price Tribunal. The order applies to wooden matches of any brand or description contained in boxes designed to hold up to approximately 60 matches, and is operative throughout New Zealand. Cases have been reported of more than a penny having been charged for a single box, but with the issue of the order that is now illegal. A Case a Minute.

Something of a Court record was achieved by Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M., in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court the other day. A formidable list of 75 traffic cases from the Traffic Department of the City Council and from the Transport Department was set down for hearing, and all were dealt with in just over an hour. There was very little to some of the cases, but others entailed the hearing of evidence by traffic officers. The list was one of the biggest for some time, but it was passed through at the average rate of about one case a minute.

Gift of Fully-equipped Ambulance. Following the offer made several weeks ago to the Minister of National Service, Mr Semple, the Seventh Day Adventist denomination in New Zealand has forwarded to the Public Account War Expense Fund their cheque for £6OO to pay for a fully-equipped ambulance for use of the Forces Though the members of this denomination are classed as non-combatant, they feel that this is something that they can do to help the nation in its present great struggle. In accepting this offer on behalf of the Government, the Minister of National Service expressed to the Seventh Day Adventists his sincere thanks for this gift.

Lower Prices for Opossum Skins,

Lower prices for opossum skins are being secured by Hawke’s Bay trappers this season, only about 5s a skin, as against 7s last season. Out of this they have to pay a Government royalty of 6d a skin, and a royalty to the owner of the property on which they were trapped. So far. not many skins from the back country have been examined and stamped by Mr F. D. Robson, curator for the Hawke’s Bay Acclimatisation Society, but 760 came to hand in two batches recently. The quality is as good as that of previous years. Wet weather has been experienced this season, and for this reason an application has been made for an extension of the season. Resolution in England.

A resident of Bluff wrote to his sister residing in England offering her a home until after the war. He received a reply thanking him for the offer, but stating she would not think of. leaving at the present time. She was sure that 99 people out of 100 would adopt the same attitude. “The spirit of the people here is absolutely marvellous," she wrote. “Although we have had to tighten our belts a little, and things are sometimes a trifle frightening, the resoution of the people to see things through to the bitter end is wonderful. Ever since France collapsed and we began to play a lone hand the splendid determination of everyone has been most marked. Tea in New Zealand.

I “Everywhere I go 'n New Zealand people try to tell me that people in this 'country drink more tea than anyone else, but it’s all wrong. The people in the British Isles drink more tea than anyone else,” said Mr J. J. L. Logan, a tea planter from Dooars, 400 miles from Calcutta, in an interview in Christchurch. Mr Logan remarked that he had never seen so much drunkenness as in New Zealand, and he suggested with a smile that a cup of Indian tea would be a better thing. New Zealanders who think they are drinking Indian tea arc mostly mistaken, he said, claiming that what ho has had here has mostly come from the Dutch East Indies and is inferior to good Indian teas.