LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 January 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Motor Camp Well Patronised. The Mawley Park motor camp, Masterton, was well patronised during the holidays, notwithstanding the petrol restrictions. Aircraft Collision. Two aircraft from an R.N.Z.A.F. station collided yesterday afternoon during flying training exercises at Himatangi Beach, near Foxton. The occupants of both aircraft escaped by parachute and were uninjured. Heavy Mail. Masterton postmen were busy on Saturday dealing with a considerable amount of mail which had accumulated since New Year’s Eve. Despite a depleted staff, the abnormal amount of mail was successfully handled. “It was the heaviest mail for years,” said a local postal official this morning. He attributed it to late postings on account of curtailed rail and road travel. Potato Shortage in Wellington. The scarcity' of potatoes and the almost prohibitive price of other vegetables seriously handicapped owners of restaurants, grill rooms and cafes in Wellington’ over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Hotels felt the potato shortage acutely, as little if any stocks had been on hand. It was quite a struggle to obtain supplies, said one proprietor, and he had been forced to pay 17s 6d for a sugar sack of potatoes. Some fish shops, it was learned, have had to refuse orders for chipped potatoes. Totalisator Figures. A decline of £131,132 is shown in the totalisator betting for the 11 galloping and 5 trotting meetings held throughout the Dominion during the Christmas and New Year period. Last year 21 meetings 15 galloping and 6 trotting) were held in the same period but 5 were abandoned this holiday period for reasons arising out of war conditions. Increases were recorded at four of the meetings, but the totalisator figures at the remaining meetings showed a fairly substantial falling off, the largest being £65,911 10s over the four days of the Auckland Racing Club’s meeting.

Heavy Rail Traffic. Officials at the Masterton Railway Station have had a particularly busy time handling a large number of passengers returning home after the holidays. ' On Saturday the afternoon train for the south and a special train at night were heavily patronised, while yesterday five railcars which left Masterton were fully loaded. The number of passengers leaving Masterton during the holidays was slightly smaller than last year’s figure. There has not been any increase in bookings for long distance travel since the Government announced that restrictions on travel would be lifted tomorrow.

Long Arm of Coincidence. A coincidence so strange that it appeared at first incredible befel Private J. J. Tissiman, of Lyttelton, while he was stationed in England with other Lyttelton soldiers. Private Tissiman was walking along a London street when a woman motorist stopped and asked the men if they would care to have a ride around London. The offer was accepted and during the trip it transpired that the woman had a brother living in Lyttelton—by the name of Tissiman. “That’s my father,” interjected Private Tissiman, who produced his paybook and convinced the woman that he was in fact her nephew. The Lyttelton soldiers and the motorist spent several outings together after that.