LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21206, 31 August 1940, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Weather Prospect Humid conditions prevail in Hamilton, and with the barometer down to 30.0 a wet week-end can probably be expected. The minimum temperature of 60 is unusually high for this time of the year. Aliens Arrested Two Italian nationals, one aged 23 and the other 30, both residents of Otahuhu, and a German aged 40, have been arrested in Auckland and are to be interned on Somes Island. All are men. This brings the total of enemy aliens arrested in Auckland to 15, one of them a woman. Fall In Wrestling Takings A fall in the takings of about £3O a match as a result of the petrol restrictions has been reported by an official of the Wanganui Wrestling Association. A careful check, he said, had shown that the bookings from country patrons had totalled about £3O a match, but the last two matches arranged by the association had received practically no patronage from out-of-the-city residents. Primary School Holidays End The primary schools, which have been closed on vacation since August 16, will resume on Tuesday. Heavy traffic is expected by the Railway Department and special expresses between Auckland and Wellington will run on Sunday night. The secondary schools do not recommence until the following week, when the third and most important term of the year will begin. Thames Borough Loans According to a statement by the Thames Borough Commissioner, Mr A. L. Burk, the actual date of conversion of Thames Borough loans under the terms of the Thames Borough Commissioner Amendment Act, will probably be March 31, 1940. Mr Burk said the details in connection with the conversion scheme in terms with the Act would now be given effect. The procedure would probably be a lengthy one. Schoolboy Tourists A party of boys who are pupils of Rongotai College, Wellington is touring the Waikato. Yesterday they arrived in Hamilton from the Waitomo Caves and were entertained to afternoon tea by the Mayor, Mr H. D. Caro, Mrs H. C. Ross and Mr W. H. Paul. Afterward they were taken round Hamilton to see the various points of interest. The youthful tourists, who have a special sleeper attached to the train by which they travel, left for Rotorua by the 6 p.m. train.

New Zealanders Admired Praise and admiration for the New Zealand troops now in England is expressed in a letter received from an Englishman who states the men he saw in London looked smart and very fit. The letter adds that the New Zealanders gave a good account of themselves in the last war and England believed they would do so in this. “ I admire their pluck in coming all that way from the other side of the world to fight for us, and we all appreciate it,” continues the letter. “ Everyone is trying to make them comfortable.” Exemption Restored The exemption of charitable gifts from death duties and gift duty is restored by a clause added to the Finance Bill No. 2, which was passed in the House of Representatives yesterday. The Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, explained that the clause restored the position that existed before the removal of the exemption oy a clause in an earlier Finance Bill. He intended to have a conference with the parties concerned and to discuss with them full implication of the present law in regard to gifts. Tobacco Appreciated New Zealand soldiers in England apparently have not taken kindly to some of the brands of tobacco available to them there. In one of the many letters received by the secretary of the Canterbury Provincial Patriotic Council,. Mr H. S. Feast, thanking the people of Canterbury for gifts sent overseas to soldiers of the Second Echelon, the writer refers feelingly to this subject: “Specially do we appreciate the tin of tobacco. The varieties available here are not those to which we are accustomed at home, and what tobacco we can buy is very expensive, so that a tin of New Zealand tobacco is a godsend to us.”