LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 January 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Three By-Elections in February. The Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, announced yesterday that the Temuka, Hauraki and Mid-Canterbury by-elec-tions were to be held concurrently and that the rolls would close on Wednesday, January 14, 1942. Polling day in each case will be Saturday, February 7, 1942. Travel Restrictions to be Lifted. Restrictions on rail travel for distances of more than 100 miles, necessitated by the cancellation of special trains arranged for in the Christmas and New Year holidays, will be lifted as from Tuesday, January 6. It is considered that as from that date the traffic can be handled without the provision of additional trains such as would have been necessary to carry the heavy traffic offering during the holiday period. N.Z. Army Footballers. A representative'Rugby team from the New Zealand Army group in Britain is being formed, London reports. It will include the Hawke’s Bay players A. W. Hirst and F. K. Brown, wing three-quarters, Erickson, wingforward, Wellington, and E. H. Hargood, forward, and J. E. Loader, threequarter, both of Wairarapa. The first match is scheduled against a Welsh army team. Mr Hargood, who is a son of Mr and Mrs H. E. Hargood, of Masterton, played Rugby for the Opaki and Masterton clubs. Use of Sirens Stopped. Consequent on the need for avoiding confusion with the emergency warning sirens, the fire engines in Wellington have, at the request of the mayor, had their sirens disconnected and now give warning of their approach by sounding a bell. The change became operative yesterday. The necessity for this is urgent when the effects of a false alarm which sent E.P.S. personnel hurrying to their posts in nearly every pfirt of the Auckland metropolitan area recently are considered. Wellington is not taking any risks of a similar experience. Slips on Railway Lines. Slips brought down by heavy rain in the areas north of Marton and Taihape delayed railway traffic on the Main Trunk line early yesterday morning, but the train schedule was restored to 1 normal later in the day. Due in Wellington at 7 a.m., the first express from Auckland did not arrive till 1.23 p.m. The Limited express, due at 9.30 a.m., did not arrive in Wellington from Auckland till 12.50 p.m. Similarly, bad weather conditions caused a slip on the Taranaki line in the vicinity of Manutahi, between Hawera and Patea, and the New Plymouth express was nearly an hour late in reaching Wellington last night. Subsidies for E.P.S, Work. Regulations under which the Government will have authority to grant substantial subsidies to local bodies for E.P.S. and emergency protective work are reported to be pending. So the Government and local body action can be co-ordinated, it is stated, proposals involving E.P.S. expenditure will require to be approved by a representative of the Public Works Department before the subsidy can be drawn. Action contemplated is likely to include power to call upon the owners or occupiers (in general, the beneficiaries) of buildings to provide adequate air-raid shelter, part of the expense to be borne by them, and part by the local bodies, with the aid of the Government subsidy.