LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 305, 7 October 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Forty-three men called in the last ballot were examined by a medical board at Ashburton yesterday. Details are: Fit, 15; fit for home defence, 11; fit for temporary service only, 13; temporarily unfit, two; deferred, two.

Last week 140 towns, including 14 of the 18 main provincial centres, attained' tlieir National Savings quotas. This is 31 more than for the preceding week and the largest number for some months.

The sale of the well-known residential property, “Mill House,” West Street, from the trustees in the estate late Murdoch Bruce to Mr R. J. Nell, of Ashburton, is reported. It is undei’stood Mr Nell intends taking over the property immediately,-and converting it into flats.

The monthly meeting of the Ashburton branch of the Registered Nurses’ Association was held at the Public Hospital last evening. Miss B. E. Hight presided'. The District Health Nurse (Miss M. Hungerford) gave a short lecture on her work among Maoris in the North Island and' her activities in. the district. » An apparently unprovoked attack by a bird on one of another' species was witnessed by a visitor to the Raglan district recently. On his way home to Hamilton just before sunset he saw two small seagulls flying together, and then noticed a mopoko flying about 100 feet away, but not toward the other birds. One gull suddenly turned, and attacked, the niopoke, which fell amid a spray of loose feathers to the ground. Mopokes are known to attack other birds, but it is rare to hear of one coming off worse in a combat with a gull. How the use of a "stethoscope” in listening for escaping water had enabled a large leak in the principal supply main in Fitzherbert Avenue to be discovered was told to the Palmerston North City Council by the City Engineer (Mr Hughes). He said water pressures in the city had fallen and the cause could not be found." ' Remembering ail' experience in England, he made a "stethoscope,” and the leak was located in Fitzherbert Avenue. A lead joint had blown out completely, and the water had scoured out a hole under the paved surface of the road of about 300 cubic feet capacity. The water had escaped, through an old box culvert, and possibly, through that, eventually to the river.

Tiie sound of heavy " snoring” issuing from the orchestra well at the Napier Municipal Theatre during a patriotic entertainment caused ripple after ripple of laughter from the audience, much to the embarrassment of individual entertainers on: the stage. Commencing quietly, the "snoring” increased in volume until it could be heard all over the theatre, and it appeared at first that a member of the 2nd H.B. Regimental Band, in. the well, had been lulled to sleep by the chanting of the entertainers from the Hukarere Maori 'Girls’ College. As the sound increased in. volume more and more officials went to investigate, but still the "snoring” continued until many members of the audience were actually laughing audibly. Ushers darted* to and fro among the audience at the front of the theatre with the object of discovering and wakening the sleeping patron, but it was soon discovered that it wasn’t a patron, at all—it was the piano, and a little oil. soon put matters right, and the entertainment proceeded with no further interruptions from the instrument.