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Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 July 1941, Page 4

Old Landmark Gone. The old Cowper homestead. Kaitoki near Dannevirke, has been totally destroyed by fire. Mufti Allowance. A resolution was passed at a meeting of Wairarapa local bodies held in Masterton last night supporting representations to have the mufti allowance to discharged servicemen increased from £7 10s to £l5. Many comments were passed on the subject. It was considered that the present position was a disgraceful one. Proposed Flood Damage Bill. Speaking at a meeting of Wairarapa local body representatives in Masterton last night, the Mayor of Masterton, Mr T. Jordan, commented briefly on the proposed river erosion and flood damage bill which would shortly come before the House of Representatives. He said he did not favour the setting up of further rating bodies. Tomato Plants Damaged by Frost. Heavy damage to early tomato plant's in low-lying districts round Auckland is reported as a result of last week’s frosts. Many thousands of plants, scorched by the cold snap in unheated glasshouses in Otahuhu, Mangere and Avondale, will have to be replanted, and even in houses provided with oil lamps there has been considerable damage near the outer walls and in corners. Rarely have growers for the early Auckland market suffered such a severe blow, according to authorities in the city. In some houses up to 1500 well-established healthy young plants went oil' as if scorched by fire. Remuera Seat. By refraining from submitting his name to a selection ballot, Mr W. P. Endean, National Party member for Remuera, has automatically excluded himself from the party nomination for the general election. The party rules provide that, if called upon, the sitting member must submit himsejf to a selection ballot. Mr Endean was eelcted as a member of the Reform Party at a byeelction in 1930, and has held the seat since then. Nominations for inclusion in the ballot closed at Auckland yesterday with the names of five other persons who will accept nomination. They are Messrs J. B. Butland, B. Kingston, M. Moodabe, A. Tronson and Miss E. Melville. School in the Desert. An interesting story is related in a letter to friends in New Zealand from a Dominion airman, formerly an inspector of schools, of his experience in a little Arab school in a desert area on which he landed. He was invited into a school in which Arabian children were being taught and found that they were learning, inter alia, English from very primitive books. He heard them say and spell such words and phrases as “cat,” “dog,” “pen,” “on the top of the table,” and found that this was practically all from memory. They could nearly all sing and their chanting of simple Arab melodies and folk | songs was quite good. When he entered —the school was in a little wayside railway station—they all rose just as do children of our land.