LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 August 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Men Released From Camp. A further fifty men were released from camp by direction of the Wairarapa Armed Forces Appeal Board, at a sitting held in Masterton yesterday. The men concerned were practically all farmers. ', Publication to be Stopped. Automobile Associations’ loose-leaf touring itineraries are considered by the organisation .for national security to be in the same category as road maps, and as such maps or itineraries might be of value to the enemy, it is desired that their publication should cease. This ruling has been received by the executive of the South Island Motor Union, which agreed to co-op-erate by notifying associations of it. Hockey Dance. A very enjoyable and successful dance was held in the Masonic Hall, Master ton, last night by the Wairarapa Men’s Hockey Association, in conjunction with the Army players. Mr J. Barnes’s Rhythm Boys supplied the music and extras were played by Misses Hawke and Hopkins. The Monte Carlo dance was won by Miss Grimwood and Driver Alexander. Mr B. Seddon carried out the duties of M.C. in a very capable manner. An excellent supper was provided. Another dance will be held in the near future. Bicycles for New Zealand. New Zealand is to receive a share of the 300,000 bicycles which are to be made in Great Britain this year to meet the war requirements of the Dominions. Private advices received in Auckland indicate that the New Zealand quota for the second half of the current year has been based on onetenth of the imports for 1938, an average year, during which about 30,000 machines were brought into the country from the United Kingdom. Therefore, the licences will be for 3000 cycles, but it is by no means certain that the figure will be maintained for the first half of 1943. A Warning Unheeded. Shortly before a single man living alone died of asphyxiation from carbon monoxide on the morning after the last earthquake, he replied to workmen of the Wellington Gas Co. investigating leaks in the gas main: “There’s nothing wrong inside; get out.” He appeared to resent being disturbed. This was stated in evidence at the inquest yesterday into the death of Alfred Ernest Le Comte, aged 53, who was found dead in his home at 5 Myrtle Crescent, Newtown, when the police forced an entrance three days after the quake. The Wellington city coroner, Mi' Mellish, returned a verdict that death was caused by carbon monoxide poison. He added that it was unfortunate that Le Comte had not appreciated the danger and taken the warning. Trafficking in Taxi Licenses. Strong criticism of the practice of trafficking in taxi licences was made at a sitting of the Christchurch Metropolitan Licensing Authority this week. “I strongly object to the trafficking in licences, which are the property of the council and not of the licensees,” said Councillor H. E. Denton. “1 believe that some drivers are making more out of selling their cabs and licenses than out of their actual business.” The authority had before it an application for a licence, and the applicant had at a previous sitting been instructed to try to buy an existing licence. He reported that two licences had been offered him, at prices from £2OO to £3OO above the price of the cabs. He submitted he would not be able to launch a business with such high initial cost. A new licence was granted.