LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 January 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Collection of Ergot. A fair response has been made so’ far to an appeal for the collection of ergot in the Wairarapa. Residents of the district are reminded that Messrs G. H. Perry & Co., Ltd. are offering prizes for the best collection of ergot over a specified period. Ergot is to be found on tall fescue grass growing in swampy localities or along river banks. Theft of Postal Packets.

A postal messenger, Colin Hooton, aged 44, pleaded guilty in the Auckland Magistrates’ Court yesterday to stealing postal packets containing four pairs of silk stockings and a woman’s satin sleeping suit valued at £3 10s, and also other packets containing 34 pairs of Silk stockings, five handbags, and other articles valued at £lB 18s. Accused was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. Interhouse Dance.

Tonight in the Municipal Hall the Wairarapa Interhouse Association will hold the first of a series of dances for the entertainment of soldiers. The dance will commence at 7.45 o’clock and patrons are asked to note this. An energetic committee has made complete arrangements for the successful carrying out of the gathering. The music will be supplied by Mr Jack Barnes’s Rhythm Boys’ Band. The public are asked to give the dance the support it deserves.

No New Telephones. “There seems to be an impression in some quarters that the restriction recently placed on new telephone connections is the outcome of some mere ‘redtape’ decision rather than the taking of a very necessary war-time precaution,” said the Postmaster-General, Mr Webb, last night. “The quantity of telephone material and equipment in the Dominion is not large, and, in order to ensure that, in the event of an enemy attack, stocks, small as they are, will be available to the armed forces for requisite communication services ,it became necessary to close down completely, in the meantime, on all new telephone connections which are not essential to the State in the present emergency. Petrol for E.P.S.

Petrol is to be made available for motor cars required by the E.P.S. organisations in the event of an emergency. The Minister of National Service, Mr Semple, stated yesterday that two-gallon sealed tins of petrol would be delivered to the owners of the cars selected for use to enable the cars to be driven to the source of the main supply, which would be made available through the use of special blue coupons marked “Emergency Coupon.” “These coupons, will be distributed to the chairmen of the E.P.S. organisations,” Mr Semple said. “These chairmen are the mayors in the cities and towns, and the chairmen of county councils in the rural areas. Each chairman will receive a number of coupons in proportion to the number of vehicles in his area, and the chairman will be responsible for distributing them to the heads of the various services in the organisation.

Applications are invited by the Public Trustee for grants from the amount becoming available under the T. G. Macarthy Trust for distribution to charitable and educational institutions in the provincial district of Wellington. Applications must be lodged with the [District Public Trustee, Wellington, mot later than February 28.