Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 164, 24 May 1940, Page 4

Local and General

Heavy Heifer. A fat cow which was used in the weight-guessing competition at the Southland Winter Show was bred by the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, at Thornbury. The animal was almost a purebred Shorthorn speyed heifer, and was sold at Wallacetown a fortnight ago. It was not three years old, and its dead weight was the remarkable figure of 10281b. Gossip in the Sun. The serrated base of the monument in the Square, has become a convenient resting post for many of the Maoris in town. Yesterday in spite of the brisk traffic and movement of pedestrians using the crossing the number of Maoris sunning themselves and gossiping made the monument appear the centre of a small tribal gathering.

Rate Reduction. By the decision of the Whakatane County Council to reduce general rate by %d, this rate now stands at 3%d in the £. This reduction will be greatly appreciated by ifae will be greatly appreciated by the farmers, who for some time have been faced with rapidly increasing costs. An Important Market. The increasing importance which Hollywood film producers were attaching to Australia and New Zealand as a market for their products was the subject of comment recently by a traveller just returned from a visit to the United States. He explained that this trend was largely due to the fact that the film companies were losing important European markets owing to the war. As a consequence, the film world was now giving greater consideration than ever before to the tastes f ;oiJ filmgoers in these two Dominions.

Patriotic Funds Canvass. Collectors in the interests of the local Patriotic Fund, report having experienced a very sympathetic reception by the citizens. From returns already, it appears that the result of the canvass will be most giatifying to the committee promoting it. The Art of Substitution. The table in the County Chambers was stacked with wool and it was observed by one member of the Inter-Zone Patriotic Committee that knitting needles would be the problem as there was a shortage of them. '■'Yes," said the Chairman, "some are using the spokes out of motor bikes" Nc- Quorum Secured. For the fourth time in succession no quorum was secured at a general meeting of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce recently, only 10 members of the 15 required being in attendance. A notice of motion seeking to alter the number of a quorum for a general meeting from 15 to five has been before the chamber for several meetings, but so far it has not been possible to secure a quorum of 15 to deal with the motion. Soldiers' Kiwi Emblem. Steps have been taken in Great Britain to protect the famous kiwi emblem, a huge landmark cut out of the chalk at Bulford by the New Zealand Forces occupying Sling Camp during the Great War. A souvenir magazine produced by the New Zealand Anti-Tank Battery now in training in England states that the emblem has been camouflaged, but is still being carefully weeded and preserved and will reappear unspoiled when peace comes. The body olj the bird covers one and a quarter acres, the height is 420 feet and the length of the bill 150 feet. Conserving Petrol. In a communication to the Whaf katane County Council, the Commissioner of Transport stated that the desperate air battle which has been waging on the Western Front and the outbreak of mechanised war fare on a huge scale has increased the Allied demand for oil fuel and it has been decided to issue a leaflet urging motorists to conserve resources, especially by reducing their driving speed. Supplies of these leaflets are being despatched to local bodies and it is requested thafi one be handed to each motorist when renewing his driving license. Road Classification. The question of the condition of some of the County bridges was rais ed by Cr Spence at Wednesday's meeting of the County Council. Ha said that some of them were not ii? the condition to stand up to the continual pounding of heavy traffic. He suggested a road classification scheme in line with the main highways. It was stated during the discussion that carriers avoid main highway classified roads by using County roads. These, together with the bridges, naturally suffered. It was agreed by members that some form of classification was necessary and the matter was left to the Works Committee.