LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 146, 2 April 1941, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

, For n period this morning a section of the mountain range viewed from Ashburton , appeared unusually close and the features of the mountains were remarkably clearly defined. At the tithe the sun was shining above the range, but in Ashburton the sky was clouded.

■Samples of stickers containing slogans intended fcr luggage or windscreens of motor cars issued by the “Committee ,to Defend America, by Aiding the Allies,” have been recejven in: Auckland from the 'United Strifes. They are printed in red, white and hliie and slogans include: “Stop .Hitler Now” and “Defend' America by Aiding the Allies.”

A single man, aged 30, Mr J. F. Phelan, an employee of the Public Works Department;. Mayfield, was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital yesterday as a result of an injury to his thumb when, it , was caught in a concrete mixer. The hospital reported this morning, that Mr Phelan’s' condition was satisfactory.

What is believed to he: a record for New Zealand has been established by six pullets and foil# hens owned by M!r A. P. Maekie. of Aokautere, near Palmerston' North:;, On a ’ febeiit day these 10 birds, each of which has keen, yielding an egg a day, produced no fewer than ,12 eggs of an average weight of 2ioz. Mr Maekie would be interested to learn whether this figure has been bettered.

All registered nurses in the district who are available offered their services to the medical committee of the Ashburton Emergency Precautions Scheme at a meeting of the Ashburton Registered Nurses’ Association last evening. There was an attendance of about 40, over which Miss V. E. iDearsloy (vicepresident) presided. Dr. A. J. Mason attended the meeting to explain the scheme. '

After a dry hot summer there was a phenomenal rainfall at Lynnford in March, 10.12 inches being recorded, the’ Heaviest rainfall in memory. Owing to the warmth in the ground feed has come away well and should there be no frosts for a while there should be an abundance of winter feed. Fortunately, all harvesting was completed before the .rain came.

A splendid example of co-operation to assist in time of trouble was shown by a-party of about 20 Hastings district fruitgrowers during the week-end. They visited the property of an, orchardist who, at the conclusion of a series of misfortunes, is npw in hos-. pital. In an afternoon the volunteers picked 500 cases of apples, which were at the right stage: of development. .

Interest in the Home Guard throughout the Ashburton County is being well maintained. The Area Commander (Captain E ; . A. Coekroft) said yesterday that enrolments had increased considerably during March. He added that at present there was a shortage of Home Guard armlets throughout the Dominion and some units in the County had not yet been supplied with them. A further supply was, however, expected shortly.

In the middle of a 112-mile-an-hour hurricane a New Zealand soldier staggered in at the door, of the Y.M.C.A. lint in Fiji gasping. “Phew! I thought I wasn’t going to make it. Is the canteen open?” The officer in charge, sensing something Wrong, had: visions of accidents, and having no first- aid outfit, was feeling worried. ‘‘What do you want?” he asked. “Threepet! north of peanuts, please,” , was the astounding reply. This story is told by a soldier in a letter heme.

“What a grand thing it is to have people like you on our side!” writes a resident of Scarborough, England, in a letter to a Dunedin f/riend, expressing gratitude for the help which has been sent to England by New Zealand and the other dominions and colonies. The letter goes on to. say that they in the Homeland could do nothing during the black-out but hope and pray and thank God for such help. “We here cannot put our feelings for you into words,” the letter concludes, “wte can only say ‘God bless you all.’ We feel sure of victory when wo know we have such friends.”

To suddenly find their footprints illuminated, and that when a match was applied to the footprints the surface burned with a yellow glow, was the strange experience of a number of residents at Paraparumu Beach (Wellington) late on Saturday evening. On closer examination it was found that millions of tiny sea creatures commonly known as plankton had been cast up on the beach by the tide. The glowing spectacle lasted only a few minutes and gradually diminished. The cause of the visitation of the small fish was thought to be the vcyy heavy seas that were running about the middle of last week.

An employee of a Dunedin firm who left three one-pound notes in a bankbook in a drawer of his desk-over the week-end was surprised to find them jnissing when het looked for them on Monday. Pulling the drawer out, he found one of the notes jammed at the back of it, but no sign of the other two could be immediately discovered. When his search had been continued as far as the bottom drawer of the desk, however, he found the missing notes inside a. cardboard box. Further investigation disclosed that the removal of the notes had been the -work of rats, which had used them to make a nest in, the box, through which a hole large enough to admit them had been gnawed.

The sight of two police officers carrying what was obviously a lightcalibre rifle 'wrapped in large quantities of brown paper, walking leisurely along Hastings; Street, Napier, last week, aroused the curiosity of a reporter, who kept his quarry in sight until it disappeared in the front gate of a small house. Approaching the house, the [reporter found the “infantry” in deep conversation with two women and learned that a dog owned by- one of them bad caused a hurried evacuation of the home. 'Remaining in sole occupation of the house, the dog had set up its own blockade 1 , and refused entrance to all. The sequel came when t)ie police sergeant loaded the gun, in preparation for the drastic action he had contemplated on the long walk from the police station, and entered the house. Whether conscious or not of his impending fate, the dog surrendered and the sergeant found the now docile animal running around his heels and wagging its tail.

When., sitris alleged, he. was pulled off the train from Rakaia at the Ashburton railway station this morning, an Ashburton High School boy suffered an injury to his arm when lie fell on to the concrete.

The Ashburton unit of the Home Guard will have a half-day parade on Sunday. It was stated at. a parade of A Company last evening that practical instruction in taking cover would bo given.

With the except ion of the bakers, practically all shops will he closed on Good Friday, - Saturday, and Monday for the Faster holiday, according to statements m,ade in Ashburton to-day. Late night will be observed to-morrow week. The fakers will on Saturday.

A swirling, tapered funnel of cloud attached, like some huge stalactite, to a mass of heavy, blade clouds that was seen over • the land to the ulcst of Waitara shortly before 3 o’clock on, Sunday, - was’ in alt probability due to whirlwind. Moving swiftly to the south, swinging back and forth as it went, the phenomenon lasted for about five- to 10 minutes from when it- was first observed before it drew up into the clouds above.

A bus which carries school children from the Arundel district to the secondary schools in Ashburton: came into collision with a motor car at the corner of Burnett and East Streets about 9.15 o’clock this morning. The bus was carrying a full load of children and the car was driven by Air H. R. D. Porter. No one was hurt. The impart was a violent one and' Air Porter’s cniv suffered extensive damage on one side. The bus is owned by the 'Tyre Repair and Sales Company.

“That the National Council of AV'omen protests against the disabilities of country women, in standing or voting for local bodies, and asks that the right of representation' and franchise should' be made equal, as between town and country, or, alternately, that at least the wives of country ratepayers should be entitled to nomination and to vote.” This was a remit which met with approval at the monthly meeting of tine Wanganui Board oi’ the National Council oi AYcrnen.

“As I was opening your latest parcel and showing the boys the good things, I came across your tin of fish,” writes a New Zealander in Egypt to his wife. “You should have heard the roar. AVe get fish here about six times a week !” The writer added that he later had the laugh over one of his most" persistent chaffers on, the subject, a, sergeant in his section, as the first three articles the latter took out of one parcel were tins of salmon. , The gifts most appreciated by the men, the waiter declared, were novels, hooks being very scarce where they were stationed.

The Wanganui Ministers’ Association, at its annual meeting, decided to congratulate the Wanganui Air Force Relations Committee on the success of its recent effort to raise funds, particularly as its success was achieved without having to .resort to art unions and raffles, “which have done so much to- undermine the natural generosity of the people.” The new president, the Rev. A. G. McLean, moving the motion, said that many people had expressed pleasure at attending the Air Force Fair and not being besieged by raffle ticket sellers.

Supplies of balaclavas, mittens and scarves consigned overseas through the National Patriotic Fund Board have reached imposing totals. This is shown from returns to the end of March covering. knitted comforts sent forward from the Board’s store. To date 26,974 .balaclavas, 81,158 pairs of mitt-ons and 22,462 scarves have been, sent. These are major items, but gloves, socks, pullovers, and skull caps in smaller' quantities have also been forwarded. Hussifs supplied to the Army total 37..028 and to the Navy Department for naval personnel 3078. The Air Force Relations, organisation is now issued with 5751 b of Air Force blue wool oaeli month. Knitted goods supplied through the Board’s store both in (New Zealand and to the Board’s commissioner overseas are as follow: Balaclavas 38,185, pairs of gloves 1438, pairs of socks 1800, hussifs 40,106, pairs of mittens 38,838', scarves 30,439, pullovers 1980 and skull caps 569.

Mr E. Cholerton, of Messrs J. It. Procter, Limited, Christchurch, is at present in Ashburton, and may be consulted on all defects of eyesight at. the Somerset Hotel to-morrow and Friday. —(Advt.) $