LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 October 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Frost in Masterton. A frost of 6.2 degrees was registered in Masterton this morning. Fire Brigade Practices. Bright and early, the Masterton Fire Brigade is now holding its wet practices in the morning, before traffic impedes the streets. This morning, between 5.15 and 6.15 o’clock, the first morning practice was held in the vicinity of the “Times-Age” building. These practices are held every week. Two Maoris Missing. Except for the discovery of their flatbottomed boat with on oar inside, no trace has been found of two young Maoris, Ralph Neville and George Poi Pol, who have been missing since they set out from Portland Island for Waikokopu last Wednesday. The coastal vessel Kopara, which was the only vessel in the region of Mahia at the time of the men’s disappearance, has reached Napier, but its crew are unable tc throw any light on the incident. War Loan and Power Board. “It is time the board should take an interest and assist,” said the chairman, Mr S. J. Harbutt, in moving that the board should take up £lO,OOO worth of war loan at a meeting of the Auckland Electric Power Board. He proposed that the board should use £3OOO from its interest account and the remaining amount from the depreciation fund. Mr Irwin Crookes asked whether the purchase would upset any arrangements regarding the sinking fund. Mr Harbutt: “No.” The motion was carried unanimously. Rare Pendant for Museum., A rare Hawaiian neck ornament has been presented to the Canterbury Museum by Mr L. J. Vangioni, of Akaroa. The ornament, a pendant, is made from a sperm whale’s tooth, and is known as lei niho palaoa. It is held by a fine braid of plaited human hair. Mr R. S. Duff (ethnologist) said that the pendant was rare among the world’s museums, and particularly in New Zealand museums. Records showed that a considerable value was attached to the pendants as early as Captain Cook’s time. Maoris made a somewhat similar type of pendant, also from whale tooth. No Need of a Gasmask.

“Well you can toss it overboard now. You won’t need it any more,” was the reply given to a three-year-old boy who told a man at the steamer-express gangway that he had his gasmask. This was the son of Mr G. Maxwell Keys, who has just returned from England. Mr Keys said that his son had the gasmask container, and thought the gasmask was in it. Proudly he told the man at the gangway, when leaving Wellington the other night, that he had his gasmask. “I saw that the men there were moved when they realised that here was a little boy of three having to carry that thing,” said Mr Keys. Price of Leeks.

Following on the action of Mr C. Wheatley, a Hutt commercial grower, in giving away a crop of leeks which he could not/ market at an economic price, inquiries were made yesterday among other growers in the district. They stated that for the past three months these vegetables had been bringing Is to 2s 6d a crate of 70 to 100. During this period they were still retailing in the shops, at Id each. These growers wanted to know why it had not been possible for the public to buy this vegetable at a much lower price. No doubt, it was stated, the answer to the low wholesale price was that too many had been planted. In May, when the crop first started the highest price had been ss, but this had not been exceeded except for unusual lots. The Home Guard.

From the frequency with which misuse is made of the title “Home Guard’? it is evident that confusion still exists in some quarters between the Home Guard and the National Military Reserve. Individuals figuring in recent reports have been described as Home Guards and members of the Home Guard, when it was evident they could not be. The Home Guard has not yet been formed, and the only people at present able to call themselves members of it are the Dominion, district and area commanders, whose appointments to the Guard have been officially announced. Many hundreds of the general public in the past few days have filled in forms of enrolment, bu! they have not so far been posted to the Home Guard, which is still in process of enrolment.

Quality of Broadcast Matter. Complaints about “the inferior quality of both speech and subject matter often broadcast,” were made by the New Zealand Federation of School Committees at its last conference. The complaint was sent to the Minister for Education, who replied that, specific cases must be given before action could be taken. “If specific cases are wanted, there’s a couple of them.” said a member of the Canterbury School Committees’ Association, urging that the Minister's attention be drawn to the serial broadcasts entitled “Piccadilly” and “The Fourth Form at St. Percy's.” After a brief discussion, in. which some members showed a fairly detailed knowledge of the two serials, the proposal was rejected. Children, it was stated, should be in bed before the time when the serials were broadcast.

Career of Famous Penguin. The career of the famous penguin, “Pompey,” which was a public pet at Akaroa for 13 years (from 1904 to 1917), has been recalled by the presentation of a photograph of the bird to the Canterbury Museum. The presentation has been made by Mr L. J. Vangioni, of Akaroa, on whose property the bird made a “home” in a cask. Mr Vangioni has also presented a specimen of some English household china, which used a reproduction of Pompey m the design, and has supplied an authentic history of the bird's career and habits. Pompey, though given complete freedom, made it his routine, after the day's fishing, to return to Mr Vangioni's store, and did not hesitate to make full use of the streets. Pompey, who was one of the yellow-crowned species nesting as far north as the Otago peninsula, ultimately strayed and was killed by clogs at Redcliffs.