General News

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27874, 24 January 1956, Page 12

General News

Book Entry David Lloyd Daventry, of Northamptonshire, received a cheque from the Ministry of Agriculture's fat stock marketing division—for nothing. The cheque was marked “£0 0s Od,” according to the “Daily Express.” Mr Lloyd explained: “Farmers who do not reach guaranteed prices for their beasts at the markets get a cheque from the Ministry making up the deficiency. My beasts made the guaranteed price so I expect the Ministry felt it had to send a cheque—for nothing.” A Ministry spokesman said the cheque was sent in error.—London January 23. State Loan for Buses

The State Advances Corporation is to !end- the Auckland Transport Board £120,000 so that it can pay for diesel buses, 70 of which' will begin arriving next month. The bill for the buses with customs duty and sales tax will total about £480.000. A condition of the loan is that it will not be demanded under 12 months. It will carry the local interest rate of 4J per cent. Welcome Home to Cricketers A number of cricket enthusiasts and members of the management committee of the Canterbury Cricket Association will travel to Harewood airport today to welcome back to Christchurch the victorious Canterbury Plunket Shield cricket team. The team is expected to arrive at Harewood at 3.5 p.m. The chairman of the management committee (Mr C. F. Collins) last night issued an invitation to those interested m cricket to be present to welcome the team. Top-dressing Record Claimed A new record for aerial top-dressing from a Tiger Moth aircraft is claimed by C young Central Otago pilot. Mr Peter Bevm, aged 25. Flying for a Roxburgh top-dressing firm, he is reported to have dropped 89 tons of lime last week at Mr J. H. Cotton’s property Evan’s Flat, Lawrence. Working from before 6 a.m. until after a p.m.. Mr Bevin made 360 take-offs and landings. Bagged lime was used men engaged on loading were e ? t /i b y T ? e P revi ous record was stated to be 78 tons of lime dropped in a day. A drop of 132 tons by a larger" aircraft in the United States has been recorded, but three-quarters of a ton u n ™ ach flight The Ti g er Moth flown by Mr Bevin carried only acwt. J Stranger to Dunedin Dunedin police made a smart arrest last night. A sergeant and a constable patroilmg m a police car near the wharves about 9.30 p.m. noticed a movement in the shadows, stopped and picked up the vagabond—a wet and sleepy baby penguin. At the Police Station !t was offered bread and milk, both of which it accepted after some consideration. It was taken by police m c Superintendent of reserves (Mr M. R. Skipworth), who identified „m as a blue Penguin about six weeks old, and put it in the greenhouse at the gardens for the night. The penguin will be handed over to the Crown ranger on the peninsula, and will probably oe taken to the penguin colony at Cape Saunders.— (P.A.) Sale of Pre-war Liquor A good crowd paid moderate prices omnn rly lo J s ln a sale b y auction of iri, worth of pre-war liquor in V7ellmgton last week. A bottle of good brand Curacao went for 21s, and a quart of Benedictine sold for 30s A good brand quart of gin brought .-■Os. quarter pints of whisky ss, and eight pints of hock 4s each. A pint of champagne went for 10s. Part of the estate of a former licensee of a Napier n° te1 ’ the liquor, which ranged through champagne, whisky. and schnapps to liqueurs, had been kept in bond until recently. Locusts in Pea Crops

A species of locust has been noted among pea crops in the Wairau Valley this season. It is not the devastating type known in the East and Australia and, though it has been seen in various parts of New Zealand at times, its numbers have been few. Unusual weather has made for the presence in crops of such pests as Maori bug, dragon fly, aphis, and diamond back moth.,

Poor Season for Honey South Canterbury honey crops are expected to be reduced this season by two-thirds of normal because of the scarcity of white clover which has suffered from the drought. Giving this information yesterday. an apiary instructor of the Department of AgriF U } U iT e that bees in the province had been feeding on hive honey since the beginning of this month. This was two months earlier than usual, and many apiarists would be faced with a winter feed problem as about 601 b of honey and required by every hive for sustenance. Sugar would have to be used as a substitute.— (P.A.) Cape Foulwind Railway thL n T, esti^?s-? ns ? re beins madc into the possibility of reopening the railway line between Westport and Cape Foulwind to serve the cement works to be established at Gibson’s creek It is understood that reports are being p L epa yed for the Railways Department, ihe old nne which used to go about Pnv So eS , West P° r t to Tauranga > was used to carry heavy rock for Westport harbour works. It has been ? dZd d t f ° r many • 3 J ears - and if ‘‘ is £,,, ?°, re open it, a new bridge may have to be built over the Buller river as well as two smaller bridges The proposed output from the cement works is about 100.000 tons a year and woon'?™ 8 a r re e p ected to use about 4U,UUO tons of coal a year.— (F.0.0.R.)

Unusual Radar “Blips” Two radar operators at Whenuapai were mystified on Saturday night when a number of “blips” apoeared on their screen while they were mak?earch for rain clouds. «J ie -!nAXA pJ I from a height of 10,000 to 12.000 feet somewhere °’ - r Whitianga and resembled those given by a solid object. The operators observed the echoes for 20 minutes, during which they were quite stationary. A senior officer of the weather office at Mechanics Bay, said yesterday that he was making further investigations. A senior technician with the Civil Aviation Administration, said that similar “blips” had been observed on the Whenuapai screen some months ago and in various parts of the world on many occasions. It was his opinion that they were caused by abnormal radar propaor by atmospheric conditions.— (P.A.) Underground Journey Workmen in Regan street, Stratford this week were amazed to hear sounds irom below the earth’s surface. “Let us out,” was the cry, accompanied by a frantic thudding. The workmen tound a manhole down to a mile-long water tunnel which carries a stream from one side of the town to the other. • adder lnsld e were two youths in bathing costumes. They had decided to explore the tunnel and by the time they had covered half its distance fhev had had enough. “Gosh, we’re glad reF f° und us ’" the youths said in frank

Record CemCnt Pour What is believed to be a record ? m .?j. n t °f concrete for any commercial building in'New Zealand— about 171 cubic yards—was poured into the new Dairy Board building in Wellington last week. Half the first-floor walls and the-slab and beams for the second floor were poured in one operation lhe quantity surveyor (Mr E Gardner) for A. G. Wells. Ltd., the builders, said the men on the job deserved to be complimented for putting in such an enormous amount of concrete. He. understood the previous record to be about 150 cubic yards.