LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 January 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Grady Medals. In a match last evening at the Park Bowling Club’s green for the Grady Medals, Kilgour and Thompson (s), holders, defeated Newbold and Martin (s), Carterton, by 23/14. The green was in excellent order. War Effort of Dominion. A conference was held in Wellington yesterday between members of Cabinet and the council of the Federation of Labour, and the executive of the Labour Party. The conference, which met in the morning and again in the afternoon, was resumed this morning. The Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, stated that the conference was discussing various matters in connection with the country’s war effort and others arising from war conditions. Soldiers Back from Islands. A small party of soldiers who have been stationed in the islands have returned to New Zealand. They are all either sick or accident cases, but only two have been sent to hospital. The men for south left Auckland last night. The members of the party were: Captain C. J. Williams (Christchurch), Lance-Corporal H. G. Southey, Gunner G. Bell, Privates R. Conn and F. J. Brown (Auckland), Corporal R. H. Redwood (Kerepeehi), Private R. B. French (Wellington), Private W. M. Taituha (Tuahiwi), LanceCorporal S. R. Vlietstra (Dunedin), Signalman W. Welsh (Christchurch). Gunner A. H. Joyce (Kaiapoi), Private W. G. Brunskill (Taihape).

Consumption of Pip Fruits. Consumption of apples and pears in New Zealand during the 1941 season was on a scale greater than in any othei- country. This is revealed in a circular issued by the Minister of Marketing, Mr Barclay, to all apple and pear growers in the Dominion. During the height of the season, the New Zealand market was absorbing eleven fruits a head a week, and this average was held for seven consecutive weeks. “I doubt,” states the Minister, “if these figures have been exceeded in any other country at any time. There were many who thought and said that it was not possible for the New Zealand public to consume the full crop of 2,640,000 cases, but this quantity has been consumed and it represents 70.41 b a head of the population, or an average of 264 fruits a person each year. The next best record average is by the United States with an annual consumption of 4711 b or 178 fruits a person.” Crisis in Motor Trade. Difficulties confronting the motor trade in New Zealand as a result of the import and wartime restrictions, including severe petrol rationing, are to be discussed at a special meeting of the New Zealand Motor Trade Federation in Wellington on Tuesday, when representatives of all sections of the trade will be present. Business has slumped to an extent far greater than during the depression years, said one Wellington dealer yesterday. Occasional business was being done in the sale of trucks for commercial purposes, and the repair of this type of vehicle was now the main activity in the garage workshops. There was practically no dealing in private cars, new or second-hand. From the point of view of employees, the blow to the trade had been cushioned to some extent by the fact that skilled mechanics had been absorbed into the Army or into war industries.