Bay of Plenty Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 29th., 1932. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LX, Issue 10828, 29 March 1932, Page 2

Bay of Plenty Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 29th., 1932. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the last meeting of the Whakatane Harbour Board the Secretary read correspondence in connection with his efforts to renew the £2700 loan which became due on April 1. He explained that the difficulty experienced in arranging the renewal was that the Loans Board had restricted the rate of interest to 5J per cent, whereas Government securities were yielding 54 per cent. The Chairman stated that the Board’s bank balance stood at £4 809 in 1927; £3790 in 1929; £2858 in 1930 and £l9Bl in 1931. As the overdraft limit was £6OOO, he considered the Board could take up the £2700 out of overdraft and still have a sufficient. margin to carry on.—The Chairman was authorised to arrange for repayment of the loan by the best methods available.

A curious position has arisen with regard to the native registration of births at Taupo. In order to qualify for the family allowance the applicant has to act out the names and ages of his children and these have to he verified by the official register. The registration of births is not compulsory with na.tives and therefore many children have never been registered. Now that they have an influence on the pension the fathers are registering children some of whom are several years old. It happened that a neglectful father recently took along several children registered the lot and duly applied for the pension.

There is one bicycle in Christchurch which should be familiar to most of the members of the police force. Three times its owner has temporarily lost possession of it, three times it has been recovered, three times it has appeared in the Magistrate’s Court and on each of those occasions a conviction has been obtained by the prosecution. The owner is wondering whether he should purchase a lock or, leave it confidently to the police officials. He is more- fortunate than are many others. ■ ' ~ '•-'T'T’-rjsvTH Figures in connection with the registration of cows grazing on the streets were presented by the town clerk to the last meeting of the Opotiki Borough Council. The amount collected during the year was £156 as against £IBO for the previous year. The fees charged last year were £3 for the first cow and £4 for the second, with a maximum of two cows to each person.—lt was decided that the fees be the same as last year with a maximum of two cows for each applicant.

The death occurred recently at Raglan of Manukapua Paekau, a chief of the Tainui Tribe, and a man much - honoured and revered by the whole of the Maori people. He was a direct descendant of Hoturoa of the Tainui canoe, and also of Ta-mate-Kapua whence descended the people from Rotorua to the districts round the Bay of Pleny. He was an authority on the ancient rites and customs of the Maori people and was a staunch supporter of the Kingite movement.-

At an extraordinary meeting of the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company, Ltd., a proposal was carried that, in the event of the Railways Board giving an ssurance that the railway line from Taneatua to Tauranga would not be closed, the directors be authorised to enter into negotiations with the Northern Steamship Company for the cancellation of the existing contract.

The Northern Company’s motorvessel Toa, which stranded at the entrance of the Whakatane River on March IS, returned to Auckland on Saturday morning. The vessel was refloated on March 19 and berthed at Whakatane to load cargo. She unloaded her cargo after arrival on Saturday and (hen went on the slip for repairs to the hull sheathing, which was damaged during the twelve hours she was*aground.

The Commissioner of Crown Lands inserts a notice to-day in reference to an application by Mrs M. Belcher to select Section 11. Block VII, Tauranga Survey District, containing eighty-one acres.

The Northern Steamship Company’s Tuhoe will not arrive in Tauranga to-day, owing to the Easter holidays. The Tuhoe is loading in Auckland and leaves for Tauranga on Wednesday at 2 p.m., arriving here on Thursday morning.

The sudden appearance of a largesized Jersey bull on the rise behind the line of competing marksmen at the Waihi rifle range caused momentary consternation amongst the competitors. “Look out for the bull!” shouted a spectator, and the squad of marksmen faced round to see the animal about 200 yards away and coming at them at a fast trot. Those on either flank of the squad sped for the fences, while the centre section stood firm. When within about 40 yards of the standing line of men the bull suddenly stopped, bellowed and pawing the ground, tearing up clods of turf. Meanwhile a man on. the extreme right seized a short length of ladder lying on the ground with a view to protecting himself, hut fortunately the hull did not come on. With a final toss of its'head the animal sheered off and raced past the line of marksmen.

The Coromandel Regatta was held on Saturday last. Naiad won the keel class by 20s from Queenie. Starloch won the 20ft class easilj, Ben Machree won the small class by os from Desdemona.

An offender was arraigned at the police court yesterday on a charge of drunkenness. The defendant failed to appear and his hail of £1 was estreated.

The opinion that the Anzac Day commemoration service could be shortened and made less mournful ■was expressed at a meeting of the executive of the Morrinsville branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association. A committee was appointed to confer on the matter with the Borough Council and ministers. In the past the returned soldiers of the district have headed a procession through the main street of Morrinsvilß on the afternoon of Ana.c Day, and a u:.Red service lasting about an hour has been held at the war memorial obelisk in Howie Park.

The British phosphate steamer Triona arrived at Auckland on Sunday from Nauru Island with 6100 ons of phosphates for discharge at Auckland.

All interested in W. E. A.'lectures are invited to attend a meeting in the Foresters’ Hall at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday, March 31. The object of the meeting is to discuss a group of lectures for this winter.