Town Talk

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 51, 2 March 1939, Page 6

Town Talk

Mildred Newcombe Memorial. A donation of £5 5s from the Waverlay Plunket Society has been received by the treasurer of the Mildred Newcombe Memorial Fund, which now totals £449 10s 6d. Ensilage Being Used. So dry are the pastures along the coastal regions near Wanganui that ensilage is being fed to cattle in some localities. The autumn is rated as the driest since 1919. No Visit to Marton. The secretary of the Marton VolunI teer Fire Brigade has received advice J that, because of difficulty in trans- | port, the proposed visit of firemen at- | tending the Wanganui conference ! and demonstration to Marton on Suni day, March 12, will not take place. The firemen are to be entertained at i Castlecliff instead. Steel for Port Office. i Portion of the steel for reinforce--1 ment work on the new post office i building at Wanganui arrived yester- : day. It is the intention of the contractors to begin the new structure J from the side nearest St. Hill Street. The old wooden building, which at one time was Wanganui’s Post Office Savings Bank, is now in course of demolition.

A Hungry Pony. A Wanganui woman who had been in town shopping all Tuesday afternoon took some fish and chips for tea for her husband and herself. While she opened the front door she left the parcel on the rail of a porch on the back verandah. The telephone rang and she was delayed in getting through the house. On arrival at the porch she found that a po.ny had eaten the fish and was then making a meal’of a sawdust, doll.

Vital Statistics, The vital statistics for Wanganui for February show an increase in births, an increase in deaths, and a decrease in the number of marriage licences issued. The births during the month were 40, compared with 37 last year, the marriages 20, compared with 24, and the deaths 40, compared with 37. One marriage was performed in the registrar’s office last month compared with three during the same month of last, year.

Do Cinemas Enhance Land? “You have land in the BrunswickWestmere riding and also in the Waitotara riding. Is that in the Waitotara less valuable than that in BruaiswickWestmere?” asked Mr. L. T. Jones of a councillor at a special meeting of the Waitotara County Council yesterday. The councillor to whom the question was addressed said he believed the values would be about the same. Mr. Fred Handley: Don’t forget that Waitotara is farther away from the picture show. (Laughter.) No Pooling of Ridings. The Waitotara County Council, at a special meeting yesterday, after a debate lasting three and a half hours, decided not to amalgamate the tidings and pool the finances in one account. Crs. L. T. Jones (ToKoniaru» and G. Palmer (Brunswick-West-mere) led the debate in favour of the proposal, putting up a haid fight. The rest of the council outvoted them. Features of tile debate will be dealt with in a report to be published to-morrow. Prisoner Escapes Again. A Maori prisoner, Tom Tu Taaka, alias Tu Whakara, who was recaptured at Ruatiti last Sunday morning after escaping from Waikune Prison Camp, near National Park on February 22, escaped again from the prison on Tuesday morning. Police from Raetihi, Ohakune, and Taumarunui, together with warders from the prison, have been on the search. No word of his recapture had been received last night, but a Press Association message stated that a Maori had been taken at Rotorua. The Wanganui p,olice were not aware whether it was Tu Taaka or not. Audacious Attempt at Theft. A Wanganui party motored to Taranaki last week-end for the purpose of picking blackberries and doing the mountain trip. They left their car to gather the berries, leaving one of the party not far from where the car was parked. She heard another car approaching and watched it for a moment while it was parked close to the first vehicle. A moment later, happening to look back again toward the two cars, she saw a man in the act of gathering up the rugs and coats of the vehicle she had just left. Calling out to the blackberry pickers, she ran and challenged the man, who, with an expression of surprise, thrust coats and rugs over the head of the woman and made off in the car he had arrived in, the engine of which had been kept running. New Industry For Wanganui. New Zealand Batteries, Ltd., has opened business i.n Wanganui, having set up in premises formerly occupied by the Wanganui Fresh Food and Ice Company, St. John’s.