LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 75, 8 January 1949, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

First Stock Sale of 1949 Ashburton’s first .stock sale of 1949 will be held at the Tinwald yards on Tuesday.

The Miranda Sails Again The Lyttelton auxiliary ketch Miranda, which had twice put back into Port Levy, sailed finally for Sydney at 1 p.m. yesterday to compete in the trans-Tasman yacht race. There was still a high sea, but the wind had dropped to a light easterly.—P.A.

Quicker Air Mail Services The airmail services between Britain and New Zealand have improved greatly during the last month. In December no more than seven days elapsed between the time of departure from Britain and arrival in New Zealand. Mostly the time was six clays. Before December, airmail letters often took as long as 12 days to get to New Zealand. The reason for the speedup is the change-over of the British Overseas Airways Corporation’s flyingboats to Constellations on the LondonHydney Service.—P.A.

Amazing Cricket Win Several fine recoveries were made by teams in cricket matches played during the holidays, but none approacbed .that in an English county championship game played in June, •1922. Warwickshire, batting first, made 223, and then dismissed Hampshire for 15. Following on, Hampshire lost six wickets for 186 and so still required 22 runs to avoid defeat by an innings, but their last four batsmen took the score to 521. On a wearing wicket, Warwickshire were then dismissed for 158 and Hampshire scored a remarkable victory by 156 runs.

Measure of Sound Use of the term “decibel” in a recent paragraph published in the “Guardian” has led to an inquiry as to the meaning of the woi’d. A decibel is the unit used in measuring the loudness of sound, one decibel being, roughly, the threshold of audibility. A whisper at a distance of two yards is about 10 decibels, the roar of an aeroplane engine 1000 ft. up is about 120, and the limit of endurance of the human ear is about 140. Other common sounds have been rated as follow: Normal breathing at a distance of one fo.ot 10 decibels, v average conversation 65, lorry passing by 90, lion’s roar 95, leaves rustling gently 20.

Boy Scouts’ Camp at Waimate Ninety Boy Scouts from Waimate, Ashburton, Temuka, Timaru and Oamaru will> go into camp at the Scouts’ grounds at Kelcy’s Bush, Waimate, on Tuesday, and next Saturday the Waimate Rotary Club will officially hand over the Scout den recently erected there. The County Commissioner (Sir Joseph Ward), representing the Boy Scout Association of New Zealand, will be present on that day to open the den. The camp will be the largest ever held in Waimate. Mr John Smith will be the Scouter in Charge, assisted by Scouters Kinder from Oamaru, Bolding from Ashburton, and de Lacey from Timaru. On Saturday Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, and Guides will he persent. '

Nomination of Racehorse

A surprise omission from nominations for the Wellington Cup was the Auckland Cup winner Frances. Her owner, Mr D. P. Wilson, is endeavouring to have her included in the field on the grounds that a telegram received in Wellington did not bear the message he believes he sent from Auckland. Mr Wilson telegraphed his Wellington nominations from the Green Lane Post Office, Auckland, on Thursday and, according to his statement after his arrival in Wellington yesterday, he was certain that he had made an entry for Frances in the Wellington Cup. The telegram received by the Wellington Racing Club did not include a cup nomination for Frances. The secretary of the .-club (Mr H. W. Meyer) immediately sought the cooperation of the Post Office authorities who have agreed to produce the original telegram at a meeting on Monday. Any doubt about the interpretation of the message will then be determined by the club. Entries made for The Grate are also affected. —P.A.