LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 October 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Transit of Mercury. The planet Mercury will pass between the earth and the sun on November 12, appearing as a black dot against the disc of the sun. This event is known to astronomers as a transit of Mercury. It occurs once every 12 or 15 years. Coal Mine Idle. Heavy rain on the coast on Wednesday night caused a slip on the Rewanui line, but no damage is reported elsewhere. More than four inches of rain fell at Rewanui. The Liverpool mine was idle because of 200 men declining to wade from the bathhouse to the mine mouth in heavy rain, about 440 yards, without shelter. Special Rail-Car. Mr J. Robertson, M.P., who has been in communication with the Minister of Railways regarding the running of a rail-car between Dannevirke and Masterton at weekends for the convenience of Territorials in camp at Dannevirke, has been advised that the rail-car will run as from tomorrow. Death From Bullet Wound. 4William Hannah, aged 42, lorrydriver, Kopara, died in hospital at Greymouth yesterday, following a bullet wound received while deerstalking on Saturday last. He was in company with his brother, David, when the latter fired about 40 yards away at what appeared to be a deer. Deceased, a returned soldier, leaves a wife and two sons and one daughter.

■V.A.D. Dance. The Masonic Hall, Masterton, was filled last night when the local V.A.D. organisation held a dance in aid of the uniform fund. The function proved an outstanding success. The music was supplied, by Mr Jack Barnes’s Rhythm Boys and extras were played by Mr S. Brice. The duties of M.C. were capably carried out by Mr lan Shaw. Supper was served by a ladies’ commit- i tee. i Maori Subscription to War Loan. A subscription of £lO,OOO to the war loan has been made on behalf of Native interests in the district by the East Coast Commissioner, Mr J. S. Jessep. Half of this sum was subscribed on account of the Mangatu portion of the East Coast Trust and the other half on account of owners in the balance of the trust whose lands extend from Tolaga Bay and Matawai to Wairoa. In all there are more than 7000 shareholders in the trust. The trust was not liable under the regulations to lake up any of the loan, but the Maori people had expressed to the Commissioner a strong desire to make a contribution. The Lord’s Prayer. The Otago Education Board yesterday opened proceedings with the Lord’s Prayer. The chairman, Mr James Wallace, said that education boards and school committees were much closer in touch with public opinion in this matter than the Education Department and the Government. It was ridiculous that the Education Act should continue to say that instruction must be of a secular character when the public wanted otherwise. The board hoped that head teachers at schools which did not open with devotional exercises would adopt the board’s recommendation (not instruction) that the school day be commenced with the Lord’s Prayer. Members agreed with the chairman.

Waters Declared Tapu. The northern waters of Hawke’s Bay, where two young men were drowned last week, have been declared tapu by the local Maoris. During the next two months no Maori fisherman will wet a line in the waters adjacent to Waikokopu, Mahia Peninsula and Portland Island, and the shellfish and crayfish which abound in these waters will remain unmolested. The reason for this is an old Maori custom. As a mark of respect to the two young men, Ralph Neville and Haromi Poipoi, who were lost between Portland Island and Waikokopu a week ago, the waters of the bay have been declared tapu. Consequently, in every native home at least, fish will be off the menu for some time to come.

New Name Suggested for Lower Hutt. Mr C. G. White, Wellington, has made the suggestion that the new name of Lower Hutt, when it makes its debut as a city, shall be Churchill —of course, after Mr Winston Churchill. The population of the borough being now 20,000, Lower Hutt is applying to the Governor-General to be proclaimed a city, and a committee has been set up to choose a suitable name. It is considered that the peculiar suitability of the name Churchill lies in the tradition that prompted the naming of Wellington itself after the Duke of Wellington, who overthrew Napoleon. Just across Cook Strait, the province of Marlborough recalls Mr Churchill’s illustrious ancestor, another of England’s great soldiers, the Duke of Marlborough. His most famous victory, Blenheim, is commemorated by the name of the capital of that province.

Delayed Letters Reach Troops. An advice, dated September 26. received from the New Zealand Base Post Office in Egypt indicates that all surface mails for the troops in the Middle East dispatched from the Dominion up to July 19 have now been accounted for. This statement was made yesterday by the PostmasterGeneral. Mr Webb. The Minister recalled that in a previous statement he had referred to delay in transit of a considerable quantity of mail matter dispatched from New Zealand in May last, the delay having been caused by the diversion of the conveying vessels. The last of these delayed mails, said Mr Webb, reached their destination between September 15 and September 26. and. with the giving up as lost of 19 bags of letters and 98 bags of parcels dispatched from New Zealand between May 6 and May 9 last, and which were on board a vessel that failed to reach its destination, all outstanding mails for the forces have been accounted for.