LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 September 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Youth Fatally Injured. Herbert Munro Hughes, aged ‘lB, a half-caste Maori, died in Te Puia Hospital on Sunday from injuries received when he fell down the hold of the steamer Kopara, on which he was assisting to discharge cargo at Hick’s Bay last week. Badminton Match. Members of the St Matthew’s Badminton Club will play the Knox Club in a return match at the McGregor Hall tonight. A successful season will be brought to a close on Monday night when members of the St Matthew’s Club will hold an official closing tournament in the Parish Hall. Drunken Motorists Fined. Two motorists who were charged in the Magistrates Court, Wellington, yesterday with having been intoxicated while in charge of motor-cars were each fined £25 and their licences were cancelled for 12 months. Accused were David Buckland, salesman, aged 44, who pleaded not guilty, and Peter Salvatore Cimino, accountant, aged 25, who admitted the charge. Plunket Cricket Shield. The management committee of the Wellington Cricket Association, at its first meeting of the 1940-41 season last night, decided that no Plunket Shield matches should be played by Wellington this season. It was decided to write to the Minor Associations, asking their opinion as to whether the annual conference or the Town v Country match should be played during the coming season. Well Known Dog Killed. A well-known identity to the young and old of Masterton in “Old George,” a sheep dog of doubtful pedigree, was run over and killed by a lorry in Queen Street yesterday afternoon. For the past three years the dog had accompanied a member of the local Police Force on his 21-mile beat in all kinds of weather, without a break. Called “Old Smiler’ by many children, he was a familiar sight to many around the town. Public Bequests. Three public organisations are to benefit under the will of Mr John Goddard, whose death occurred in Rotorua on September 5. A sum of £2OO has been left to the trustees of the St John Ambulance Association, Auckland Centre, £2OO to the New Zealand Institute for the Blind, and £lOO to the Auckland Hospital Board for the general endowment fund of the Wilson Home for Crippled Children. The estate has been valued for probate at under £3OOO. Boy’s Destructive Act. A charge of wilfully shooting a trotting mare valued at £2OO was brought against a 13-year-old boy at a sitting of the Children’s Court at Ashburton. It was said that the boy fired two bullets at the mare, which died of the injuries. The owner said he wofild not claim compensation because the payments would fall on the boy’s parents. Admonishing the boy, the magistrate, Mr Morgan, said that if he came before the Court again he would be severely dealt with.

Brief Boxing Bout. One of the shortest boxing contests on record in Auckland took place last night, when Alabama Kid, of the United States of America, knocked out Les Brander, of Australia, within two minutes and a half of the commencement of the first round. The American, who had previously landed some snappy, hard punches with either hand, followed a left hook with a powerful right uppercut, which landed flush on the point of his opponent’s jaw. Brander was lifted off his feet and it took some time to revive him after he had been counted out.

Sheep Stealers Sentenced. "The theft of sheep is always a serious matter. At one time it was regarded as more serious than now, and in view of your previous convictions I cannot extend leniency.” These remarks were addressed by Mr Salmon, S.M., in the Wanganui Magistrates’ Court yesterday to Gordon Coad and George Heaps, who pleaded guilty to stealing two ewes in Deniair, the property of A. Bailey. Sentence of one month's imprisonment on each accused was imposed. Senior-Sergeant F. Culloty stated that Coad and Heaps were working on a contract in Denlair, and killed the sheep for meat.

Social Security Fund. The revenue of the Social Security Fund for three months ended June was £3,274,001, against £2,962,654 in the corresponding period of 1939. The latest figures, which arc published in the Abstract of Statistics, show that the charge on salaries and wages produced £1.420.984, against £1,272,134 in the 1939 period, and charge on other income £1,262,616, against £l,208,315. The charge on company income yielded £298.438, against £177,184, and registration fees provided £279,705, compared with £290,672. Expenditure from the fund on age benefits for the four months ended July was £2.326.336, compared with £2,008,110 for the same period of 1939. The. number of pensions in force at the end of July was 95,419.