LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 November 1943, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Application Granted. The Masterton Borough Council, at its meeting last night, granted the Masterton Swimming Club permission to use the baths in Dixon Street in the evenings and on Sundays.

Allowance of Margarine. The rationing controller, Mr J. E. Thomas, announced at Christchurch yesterday that bakers and pastrycooks would be allowed to draw normal quantities of margarine. Mr Thomas said they had made representations to him for the restoration of cream, but the ban would continue to operate . Butter supplies would continue to be reduced by one-third. Christmas Screenings.

Subject to certain conditions, the Regent and State theatres, Masterton, have been granted permission by the Masterton Borough Council to show pictures on Christmas Day. Chinese Fined.

Opium stated to be worth £7OO in the “black market” was exhibited in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court yesterday, when, on two charges of being found in possession of it, Chen Sung Yuan, aged 28, seaman, and Nee Ah Kan, aged 26, labourer, were fined £3O by Mr J. Molding, S.M. The fines were paid immediately, and the opium was forfeited.

Improved Coal Position. "The position has improved a lot, but the mines Will close for three weeks at Christmas. It is the state of affairs after Christmas that we are worried about. The coal we arc getting is not as good as in the past,” said Mr J. Y. Douglas, gas manager, at last night’s meeting of the Masterton Borough Council, when reporting on the coal position. No Inquiry to be Held.

A statement that a formal inquiry under the Air Navigation Regulations, 1933, would not be held into the accident to the Fox Moth passenger aeroplane at Franz Josef Glacier on October 29, was made yesterday by the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones. He said that the report on the accident indicated that the aircraft was in a completely airworthy condition, both airframe and engine having been covered by a certificate of safety for flight given on the morning of the accident by Captain J. C. Mercer, who holds current “A” and “C” ground engineer’s licences. The pilot, Mr O. D. Openshaw, held a pilot’s "B” (commercial) licence, valid for Fox Moth aircraft.

New Town in King Country. A new town has sprung up in the heart of the King Country. It has been established by the State under the care of the Mines Department. It lives on coal and has been named Bennydale, a combination of the surnames of Mines Department officers interested in the early development. Situated in the scrub and forest-covered hills of the | rugged country some 22 miles south of Te Kuiti, this new mining village is being developed on model lines. It is on the floor of a fairly well sheltered Valley about three miles from Mangapehi, the nearest railhead on the Main Trunk line. There is none of the grimy atmosphere so often associated with coalmining villages about Bennydale. It is being assured by those responsible for its development that the mine workers there will live under conditions equal to those of a State suburb anywhere in the Dominion.