LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 June 1943, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Indoor Bowls Club. The Masterton Indoor Bowling Club will entertain members of the Air Force at a gathering tomorrow night. Entries for the singles, pairs and rinks championships will close on Monday, July 4. Severe Weather in Dunedin.

Following a mild winter in Dunedin there was a sudden change over the weekend to conditions of unusual severity, and yesterday the hills surrounding the city carried a mantle of snow. Rain and sleet showers fell during the clay, and a strong south-west wind prevailed. Heavy falls of snow ranging up to as much as eighteen inches are reported from Central Otago, where telegraphic communication and the power supply were interrupted in several places. Hours of Women Taxi-Drivers,

Women taxi-drivers in the near future will not be permitted to operate in the pei-iod between half an hour after sunset and an hour before sunrise. This is the principal alteration in the amended Motor Drivers’ Regulations gazetted last week. The conditions in respect of reports on character and the review of licences which cover all taxi-driving licences will now apply also to all omnibus drivers. A third amendment makes the lending of a driver’s licence an offence for both parties concerned. Watersiders Protest.

The Wellington branch of the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union, at a meeting on Saturday, adopted the following resolution: —“That this meeting emphatically protests against the unwarranted and unjust attacks made on the waterside workers of New Zealand by the Nationalist members of Parliament, members of the Wellington Harbour Board, and other associations of business men and employers. The waterside workers of New Zealand have worked long hours as required by the Government and have given better service to the industry and quicker dispatch of vessels than during any previous period in the history of the waterfront.” Rehabilitation Scheme. Up to May 31, 1017 men and 10 women, from Wellington who had served overseas with the 2nd N.Z.E.F., had returned to New Zealand, and come into the records of the rehabilitation division of the National .Service Department. It was reported to a meeting of the Wellington Rehabilitaion Committee that they were at thq end of May placed as follows:—Not yet discharged or remaining on military service in New Zealand, 28 men, 3 women; in hospital or recuperating at home, 141 men; undergoing adult apprenticeship, 52 men; returned to pre-service employment, 178 men, 1 woman; resumed employment other than pre-service employment, 347 men, 3 women; acquired or returned to own business or farms, 19 men, 1 woman; under action, 62 men, 2 women.

Salvation Army Jubilee. Sixty years ago the Salvation Army “opened fire” in Wellington with a force of three officers. To celebrate its diamond jubilee the Wellington Corps is holding a series of meetings. The celebrations commenced on Saturday afternoon, when a number of old identities took part.

Month’s Gaol for Assault. Picking up a glass at a party in Tory Street, Wellington, on Friday night, Norman Darcy Bryden, labourer, aged 49, threw it at another man, but missed. The glass struck an elderly woman, Mrs Mary Ellen Ryan, and caused a severe gash in the back of her head, requiring several stitches. Bryden was charged in the Wellington Magistrate’s Court on Saturday with assault, and was sentenced to one month’s hard labour by Mr J. L. Stout, S.M. Senior-Sergeant G. Paine said that the accused was a boarder at the house, where a more or less drunken party was held the previous evening. Everyone was under the influence of liquor. An argument started, and Bryden threw a glass containing beer, striking an old woman on the head.

Whirokino Bridge Accident. The intention of the authorities to build a new bridge as quickly as possible in place of the Whirokino structure near Foxton, a span of which recently collapsed, was announced on Saturday by the Minister of Works, Mr Semple. He said a contract had already been let, and the contractor was getting men and plant on the job. The work would be pushed with the utmost expedition. “The uninjured marine in the jeep which went into the river has now admitted that he crashed into one of the main struts of the bridge,” said Mr Semple. This caused the span to collapse, and the jeep and its occupants were carried into the river as it fell. An examination of the portions of the span so far recovered had shown that the timber was in as good order as could be expected from the age of the bridge, and there was no evidence of show that lack of maintenance in any way contributed towards the collapse.

Looking for Defaulters, Organised by the man power authorities in Auckland as a means of checking up on female defaulters under the Industrial Manpower Emergency Regulations, three raids were carried out on the lounges of Auckland hotels on Thursday afternoon. The three hotels visited were the Thistle Hotel, the Auckland Hotel and the Ambassadors Hotel. Though no details were available from the manpower department, it is understood that about 100 women were interviewed. Difficulty has been experienced in several parts of New Zealand during recent months in locating workers reported as absentees, or defaulters under the regulations. The first drive to check up on them was conducted in Wellington and took place at the end of May, when people frequenting hotels and places of am'usement during working hours were questioned. The raid in Auckland was conducted on similar lines, and was the first to take place in the district.