’LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 November 1940, Page 4

’LOCAL AND GENERAL

College Sports. The annual athletic sports of the Wairarapa College will take place at the College on Thursday, November 7. The sports will be held from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Died in Church. John Cullen, aged 66, till eighteen months ago a well-known farmer in the Maungaturoto district, and since then living in retirement in Whangarei, dropped dead during a service in the Whangarei Congregational Church on Sunday. Strike Threat.

Wellington butchers are not affected by the decision of the members of the Auckland Butchers’ Union to strike it their wage grievances are not settled by next weekend, said Mr A. W. Uroskery, secretary of the Wellington Butchers' Union, yesterday. Injured Airman.

Further to the advice published in yesterday’s "Times-Age” stating that Pilot Officer R. I. Armstrong, formerly of Masterton was seriously ill in an R.A.F. hospital in. England as the result of an aircraft accident, Mr, W. I. Armstrong has received a cable advising that his son has been removed from the seriously ill list. Band Contest Abandoned. ( Because of the heavy enlistments of bandsmen for home and overseas service, the annual Dominion brass bands contest for next year has been abandoned. The matter was discussed at a meeting of the management committee of the New Zealand Brass Bands Association held in Wellington yesterday. The-decision to abandon the contest was unanimous. Ten Guineas for a Sovereign.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, has paid £lO 10s for a sovereign which was auctioned over the air for the benefit of the Wellington Provincial Patriotic Fund. A letter to this effect and a bank receipt for the money has been received by Mr Ward, M.L.C., honorary secretary of the Wellington Provincial Council. The sovereign was given anonymously by a woman in the Taranaki district.

Far East Outlook. English people from the Far East who are visiting Auckland state that tension has eased following the opening of the Burma Road, a Press Association message reports. The general impression is that the United States and Britain have called Japan's bluff by 7 reopening the road, and there is now a greater feeling of security in eastern countries. Noumea, which recently came under the control of General de Gaulle, is reported to be quiet and carrying on as usual.

Price of Petrol. Pleasure at the fractional decrease in the price of petrol introduced recently was expressed on behalf of the private motoring community by Mr F. G. Farrell, president of the Automobile Association (Auckland?. “It fulfils the pledge given by the Minister some time ago that the last halfpenny increase would be removed as soon as the supply of super-grade petrol in New Zealand was exhausted,” said Mr Farrell. “Motorists have become so used to nothing but price increases that the decrease, if only a half-penny, must be considered welcomd.” Petrol Ration. “I have no knowledge of it, and I think it very unlikely,” said the Minister of Customs, Mr Nash, when there was referred io him a suggestion that the Government was contemplating an early restoration of the petrol ration to the figure prevailing before the last reduction in July. “There would have to be a change in the dollar’ situation before that could happen,” Mr Nash added. He hoped the increase in the ration already 7 announced for November and December would assist the motor industry by removing some of its difficulties. It was still a fact, however, that every dollar used to buy petrol for civil consumption was a dollar less for the purchase of munitions by the United Kingdom.

Young Farmers' Clubs. Originating in the North Island with the formation of a club at Levin in 1934, the Young Farmers’ Clubs movements has grown with remarkable rapidity throughout the Dominion. Specially so has it progressed in the Manawatu. where the success of the work of the founders, combined with the enthusiasm of the young farmers themselves, has made the movement an important phase of New Zealand’s farming activities. Today there are 150 clubs in existence throughout the Dominion. Manawatu, with its share of nearly 20 clubs with a total membership of over 500, representing onethird of the national membership, is among the leading districts.

Price Stabilisation. An assurance that the recommendations of the Economic Stabilisation Conference would be given effect to the maximum extent possible without doing harm to New Zealand’s economy was given at Auckland by the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash. He said the Government was moving toward working out procedure, Mr Nash said that working on the resolutions of the conference the Government would have tio determine prices at which food and other essentials should be stabilised and the effect of this on the economy of the Dominion. He was satisfied that unless stability in costs and prices was achieved. New Zealand 'would meet difficulties far greater than those that followed the last war. There was. however, no reason why stability should affect access by all people to food and other essentials that could be supplied from the Dominion’s own resources.

Six Inches of Rain in 24 Hours. Unusually heavy rain which fell throughout Sunday night after a showery day gave Hawke’s Bay province a thorough drenching. Rivers did not rise sufficiently to cause alarm, and though damage was done to some standing crops farmers generally appreciate the downpour to refresh their pastures, which, for so early in the summer, were in need of it. Six inches of rain was recorded by Mr H. Nelson Fowler, Government meteorological observer in Hastings, for 24 hours. This is the heaviest fall for a 24-hour period since the flood on Anzac Day. 1938. and one of the highest recorded in Hastings for 20 years. Till the water was able to get away with the cessation of the rain yesterday morning. considerable areas of low-lying land in town and country carried quantities of surface water, and in some towns streets were flooded.