Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 29, 28 June 1939, Page 4

Local and General

TEAM PRACTICE The Old Boys, Reserves and Thirdswill practice in the Winter Show Buildings to-night at 7 o'clock. STATE HOUSES Contracts for the erection of five addition. 1 State houses in Whaka. tarn; are to be advertised, according to information received by Mr A. G. Hultqirst M.P. from the Minister of Housing. EARLY DAFFODILS Some Christchurch gardeners '-*fe 'pleasantly surprised by the early np. pearance of their spring bulbs, and, in fact they have been blossoming for well over a week now in some d'stricts. The l tc autumn and mild winter account for their early arrival. Spring bulbs usually begin to flower about the beginning of July. POWER ALCOHOL Queensland is now producing 1,000000 gallons of power alcohol a year fro'm the by-products of sugar cane. This power l alcohol is sold to petrol companies, mixed with imported petrol and sold to motorists rmd other user.-. Although it is not a notable quantity, it is of much prospective value in the event of imported supplies being cut off. DEFEATING ''JACK FROST* A novel cheap, and ingenious method of preventing frost from forming on the windscreens of cars is being adopted by several Christchurch motorists. This is to place a folded newspaper over the portions required to be clear, holding it in place with the windscreen wipers. The heat held in by the newspapers prevents frost forming, and when this is removed the glass is clear and unfrosted. JUST "TWADDLE" Referring to it as "twaddle" and ''nauseating," Cr D. McGregor at a meeting eC the Bruce County Coundrew attention to what lie called the ''surfeit' of correspondence from the Public Works Department =md other Government departments, dealinf with the "sacred duty of local bodies as employers to their employees." ''It is nauseating,'' he said after the clerk had read a circular letter from the Public Works Department, ''and I den't know if they expect us to memorise all this twaddle. It is only wasting our time and a lot o' pr.pcr.'' ' NEW CRICKET ASSN. Th re is p. movement afoot in Whakatane to form an association for th; purpose of conducting Saturday cricket during the 19.19-40' season. This worthy movement can only succeed if supported as it should be an 1 when the desired support is available this grand game for men and boys will thrive in and about Whakatanc and reach a desired standard. As a preliminary all those who are prepared to give their support players and other enthusiasts, are requested to leave their names with Mr L. R. Spring or with Mr H. G. Wan-en of Whakatane. HONESTY REWARDED At a recent sale held in the WTaimana district, one of those present lost a £5 note when he took his car key out of a pocket, near the gateway. It was picked up by a Maori youtlv .-who gave it to his employer to look after. The owner of the note, when he discovered h : s loss went over to his car and commenced searching on the roadway. He was asked if he had lost a £•> note and when told it had been found by the Maori youthhe showed hi.s generosity after the money had been returned 1o him. by giving the Maori £1 as a. reward. WITALTXG HEGINS Already the annual winter migration of whales through Cook Strait has begun, and the Tory Channel whalers have opened their hunting season. Up to last week thev had cansiht 17 humpbacks. Yearly the wh;dvs of this species leave their summer feeding grounds in the Rose Sea and swim northward to Iveed in tronie seas. The islands of New Zealand lie athwart their course, and those that strike the South Island coast follow it till the doorway of Cook Strait permits them to continue northward. Ever- since New Zealand has been inhabited, Tory Channel whalers have taken toll of the whales as thev swim northward through Cook Strait.

ASSISTING AMBULANCE' FUND The Whakatane Caledonian Soas a result of its recent effort to rUisc funds for the Ambulance Fund, at last week's benefit Ingle, s'de has handed over the sum of £11 3s 5(1, to the local branch of the St. John Ambulance. "MY BEST FRIEND" At an Auckland school the teacher 1 set her pup Is, who would be about 12 years of age, the task of writing an essay on "My best friend.'' Some wrote about their' best boy others about their girl friend, but only one girl in the class wrote about her mother. LITTLE CHILD'S DEATH When playing at his parents' home at Maketu on Friday a son of Sir Peter Tapscll feil into a tub of boil, ing water. Mrs Tapscll had left the child for a few moments and on hearing screams rushed in and found him in the tub. Dr Ranclell was immediately summoned and ordered the ch'ld's removal to the Tauranga Hospital, where he died on Saturday. A MAORI S lIORSE There was laughter during a discussion on drainage matters at the m eting of the Whakatanc County Council when Cr L. W. Luxton, told % story of a Maori who came to him and said: "Is that your horse in the lrain? It's in a pretty bad way.'' Cr Luxton told the Maori that it wasn't !i'.s horse, but he took ah and pulled the hogged animal out. ''1 banged the tail so that I would know it again," sa, : d Cr Luxton, ''and I'm blessed if I didn't see the same Maori riding the same horse a day or two later.' LIFE IN THE COUNTRY The advantages of life in the country, as compared with the city, were emphasised by the Mayor (Mr J. R. Hanan) in welcoming the delegates to the Girls' Educational Week to Invercargill recently. ''In the city we have electricity," said Sir I-lanan j ''but you have that. There is the telephone, and 3 T ou have that, people in the city have newspapers, but you have them, too. And then there is the motor car—but what farmer hasn't got a motor car? And the far. mer lias independence which is better than them all. ' 1