LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 December 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Accession Day. > Flags are being flown on Govern- ‘ ment buildings in Masterton today in • honour of the anniversary of the ac- - cession of King George VI. Inter-school Cricket. j Scoring 189 runs to 101, Palmerston J North Boys’ High School beat Wanga- j nui Collegiate School in the annual 5 cricket match which ended at Wanga- ( nui yesterday. . . | Bigamy Cases. j Two women pleaded guilty in the | Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, on j Wednesday to charges of bigamy and were committed by Mr Goulding, S.M., I to the Supreme Court for sentence. They were Elsie May McNair, domes- < tic, aged 40, and Irene Elsie Blanche 1 Cook. Earlier in the week another , woman was charged with attempted . bigamy, the hearing being adjourned. ‘ Rise in Share Values. ; A general upward tendency in the j price of shares in New Zealand since t the war was referred to by the Com- ■ missioner of Stamp Duties, Mr P. G. j Pearce, giving evidence in the Su- ( preme Court in Wellington yesterday ; before the Chief Justice (Sir Michael j Myers). If the basis was taken as , 1000 in August, 1939, values had risen « in November, 1940, to 1080 and in No- < vember, 1941, to. 1081, he said. | No Undertaker at Pahiatua. Pahiatua and district are without a funeral director. The only undertaker was called up and,, though the Appeal < Board recommended his release in Sep- ] tember, the Army authorities ordered j reservist to return to camp. Repre- ( sentations from the Pahiatua Borough Council to the Minister of Defence for the man’s release were without .result and now the borough council, with the 1 support of the local chamber of com- i merce, has forwarded a letter direct to j the Prime Minister advising him of the ; circumstances. A local medical man , and the district health officer expressed ■ alarm at the absence of the only man : capable of directing burials. ' Students and Military Service. To safeguard professions, the Armed Forces Appeal Board in Auckland was • yesterday asked to exempt from military service university students specialising in medicine, dentistry, engineering, physics, natural and applied science, agriculture and architecture, and it adjourned the cases of four students. The board was advised that only students selected by the defence scientific advisory committee were proposed for exemption. Examination performances will be i watched by the professorial board to determine further exemptions later. Maori War Effort. The* setting up of 289 tribal committees and 27 tribal executive committees of the Maori war effort organisation in New Zealand was revealed by the Minister in Charge of the Maori War Effort, Mr Paikea, when he addressed delegates in Taranaki yesterday. The committees, he said, were charged with important duties, being responsible for recruiting, production and the control of all Maori manpower and womanpower in collaboration with the district manpower officers. Not only was the organisation being set up for operation during the war but also it was hoped ■ that it would play a useful part in the post-war period. Much had been ac- ’■ complished and more would be achieved. ■ Teachers in the Army. 1 Of the eligible male teachers of the Wellington Education Board, 64 per I cent, or 266, are absent on service with l’ the armed forces, said the secretary, Mr W. I. Deavoll, yesterday. If the board had not decided to appeal for ’ teachers included in the last two call- ' ups and in the coming call-up, the number of male teachers left next year would have been only slightly more than 60, most of whom are headmasters. In recent appeals heard in the Wairarapa and Marlborough districts adjournments sine die had been granted. It is expected that the quota of 90 students for the Wellington Teachers’ Training College will be filled, but though the number of successful applicants has not yet been determined, ) it is certain that there will be a far larger proportion of women students • next year.

Wilton Collieries Profit. The accounts of Wilton Collieries, Ltd, for the year ended October 31, show net profit at £3090 compared with £3730 in the previous year. It is proposed t(5 pay a final dividend of 2J- per cent, making 5 per cent for the year, against 6 per cent last year. Young Woman Found Dead. Believed to hav.e fallen from the fire-escape at the sixth floor, a young woman was discovered dead at the rear of Lloyd’s Hotel, Cuba Street, Wellington, late on Wednesday night. The woman who was about 18 or 20 years of age, had been killed instantly. Up to a late hour last night the police had been unable to obtain any evidence of identification. She was unknown to the proprietress of the hotel, . and had not booked in as a guest. Payment of Pensions. To enable war pensioners and social security beneficiaries • to get their allowances in time for Christmas, it has been decided to authorise earlier payment this month, the Minister in charge, Mr Parry, said at Christchurch yesterday. The war pensions, war veterans’ allowances, and social security benefits,/ other than sickness and unemployment benefits, will be available for collection on or after December 22. Age benefits will be available one day earlier and will be paid from and including December 21. Unemployment and sickness benefits for the weeks ending December 19, December 26, and January 2, will be paid in one amount in the weekend ending December 19. Valuation of Shares. An admission by the Commissioner of Stamp Duties, Mr P. G. Pearce, that he had worked on a wrong basis when first making an assessment of the value of shares in Richardson. McCabe and Co., Ltd., for the purpose of death duties, was made by the. commissioner in the witness-box in, the Supreme Court in Wellington yesterday when he appeared before the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers) in the appeal of the Guardian Trust and Executors Co. of N.Z., Ltd., against the commissioner. He added that in a later assessment a different method was used of valuing the earning capacity of the business. Questioned by his Honour on his reason for adjusting the wages of certain of the shareholder-employees and crediting that amount to profits, witness said that the salaries were relatively higher than in any other company he knew. In two years the salary bill had trebled. The Chief Justice pointed out that, in estimating the value of shares, he could not take account of that, because a purchaser had to accept the company as he found it. The Commissioner of Stamp Duties was in a different position from the Commissioner of Taxes, and could not use arbitrary methods for the purpose of increasing the revenue.