LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 July 1941, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Petrol Ration. “Petrol coupons Nos. 3 and 4 will be available for use during the month of July,” said the Minister of Supply. Mr Sullivan, yesterday. “This is thq same ration as for’ the month of June.” Drivers’ Licences. The Masterton Borough Council issued 434 drivers’ licences last month, making the total issued to date 1885. The Masterton County Council issued 292 licences, bringing the total number to date to 1295. Snow in Hawkes Day. Telephone and road communications in the Puketitiri and Te ‘Pohue dis-, tricts have been interrupted by one of the heaviest falls of snow for some years. Ten miles of telephone and telegraph lines from the Napier side of Te Pohue to Te Pohue are twisted on the ground through the poles snapping with the weight of the snow. In places, there are drifts on the roadway four feet deep. One party of motorists was marooned by snow and had to seek shelter in a neighbouring house. The Taupo road is impassable, and difficulty may be experienced by those who rely on a car service for supplies of bread. Thirty Miles Road Restriction. The 30 miles road restriction imposed on transport operators'to prevent undue road competition with the railways cannot be legally circumvented by two operators each parrying the load portion of the journey, according to a decision delivered yesterday by Mr Abernethy, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court in Invercargill. The case, which was stated during the hearing to be the first of its kind in New Zealand, was brought by the Transport Department as a prosecution of two operators for carrying petrol from Invercargill to Mossburn, each of whom carried it about 30 miles. The Transport Licensing (Goods Service) Regulations, 1936, prohibit the carriage of goods for more than 30 miles where a railway service is available. The magistrate decided that the carriage of petrol by road was one transaction and illegal. He imposed only nominal penalties.

Golden Offering. More than £6OO resulted from the golden offering collection at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Palmerston North, on Sunday. Further sums are expected. The amount collected last year was slightly higher. Vital Statistics.

The vital statistics for Masterton last month show a considerable decrease in marriages and a slight increase in births and deaths against those registered in June, 1940. The figures are (figures for last year being given in parentheses): —Births, 23 (16); deaths, 12 (8); marriages, 5 (15). New Government Building.

Steady progress is being made in the construction of the eight-story Government Departmental Building in Stout Street. Wellington, and the facing is now in progress. This block, which will be the largest office building in the Dominion, will have over five acres of floor space. Its estimated cost is £500,000. Mails Lost. The loss through enemy action of the following mails from the United Kingdom, was announced yesterday by the Postmaster-General, Mr Webb. A small parcel mail dispatched via Australia and containing parcels posted approximately December 24, 1940, to January 9, 1941. A mail containing letters and other articles but not parcels, posted approximately March 13 to 21. inclusive. A small air mail routed surface mail to Cape Town and thence by air to New Zealand. Letters posted approximately March 4 to March 9. 1941.

A Cyclist Killed. The body of Mi- William Richardson, married, aged 50, an employee of a timber firm, was found near a wrecked bicycle on the main road from Hastings to Waipukurau and Wellington at 6.15 p.m. on Saturday. After running over the bicycle, a motorist travelling south narrowly avoided the body, which lay a short distance away. The motorist summoned the police and a doctor, but Mr Richardson, who had severe head injuries, had been killed instantaneously. Marks on his clothes and on the road showed that he had been dragged more than 130 feet from the point of impact. Wide inquiry during the weekend failed to reveal anyone'who was nearbv when the accident occurred.