LOCAL AND GENERAL

Franklin Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 3, 11 January 1943, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

No E.-P.S. Trial Tomorrow. There will be no E.P.S. trial in Pukekohe tomorrow', January 12. The Easter Period. of late a number have asked when is EasterV Well, hen- it is: Lund Friday St. Leurg"'s Hay;. April 23: Anzaa I lay. April 25: Kasim' Monday. April 2f. Free Painting. Tim occupiers of a small house in Parn-'ll received a pleasant surprise recently when some men arrived and painted Ihe front of the house. Unfurtimalefy Ihe rest nf Hie building was not dune 'gratuitously, because in the meantime it had been ascertained 1 hat a mistake had occurred. Owing in a misunderstanding in giving a wromr house number the painting should have been rnrired out a few doors higher up. and the work was duly ppM-eiaied with there.

“Dont’s” Fop Bathers. A series uf "donl's" fin' Ihi I! 11 ■ rs. issued ]i \ 1h i * 11 im 111 1 !> < ■ 11 ; 11 • i men!, includes :—i iiin'l bailie a I'l it a : wait aI leas! fwn hours. lion'l dive into nr mtkmiwn or mirerlam ■ if■; 1 1h. 1 nin'| swim mil In sea : you "ail have jusl as ! 11 11 cll e ll.ji ivi 11 (Ml I i• 1 11 si■ i' in. Imifi enter Ilea waler wiieji 'aver-1 1 ea|im|. and don’t stay in when i'eelillL! JlUlllll nr imld. Pon'l i t :, a, \ children to play with rubber :1m ds and simliar appliances : I hey are d in~ej'inis. I »mi'l lialhe in imi'rene|i:,,d jllain ■< nr away i'mm a cruwd : , i'e' y in 111.111 l i MM’S. i Girds Long Journey. ei ‘ a trade Ml' a pie! 1a Id pony, ils ! And. a dey. and a yoiinir girl ride" ;eij Te Kaiiwliala. Waikato, near lie- Mminninn ol' ! lennnleM’ and arrived at Sira! ford lasi week alder a jmirie-y m' more Ilian Iwo hundred miles. One nt' the parly. i!;e dog, strayed ell roil le. imi f||i. others ariv- ed sa i'e|y. The rider was Miss M. Sorenson., who rlmse this melliod of ovei’comiiu; I ravel and petrol reslrieMuns did dning llie journey ecuiiomiealty. Siie carried her bedding, co iking 11 1 1 mi si Is, and supplies will j her. and. except when wea.ltuu ndi:imis forced tier to seek shelter, she • ■ imped out at night. > Social Security Benefits. For ilea September half year of Ihi a tin* expenditure of the Social Security ‘ Fund totalled £5. 138.00(1. emnj ai*ed with tjm i.‘{.oo(l in the previous year. The largest payment was £2.380.000 for age benefits compared with M 2.252.000 for the Jt) i 1 half year. Revenue from social security charges, the registration levy, penalties and lines and other contributory sources amounted to tm.rdsß.omi. I-nempioymenl benefits dropped from fi I .don in the tbit half year to 1:1.000 for the last half year: while widows’ benefits. €280,000. family benefits, €fßß.ooo. medical and hospital benefits. £ 1.02n.00 all showed increases. Rare Eel Caught. An orange-coloured cel was taken to the office of the Grey District Acclimatisation Society on Tuesday by a schoolboy. Alan Hunter, of Runanga, states the. Christchurch ••Press/’ The eel. which is 23 inches long. was caught in Goal Creek near Wingham Park, on Monday night. The eel is similar to other eels, and the cause of the orange colour is a lack of the usual sub-cutaneous pigment which gives the black colour to eels. The col is regarded as a rarity, as far as the West Coast is concerned. An eel weighing 221 b is now the leader in the Grey District Acclimatisation Society’s competition for the largest eel caught in the district. It was caught under the Cobden railway bridge by a Blaketown resident.

Nature’s Revenge. In Australia some years ago the farmers ruthlessly hunted the crow, which attacked cast .sheep and lambs in the same way as the New Zealand harrier hawk on occasion attacks them (says a contributor to Forest and Bird). . It was in some places exterminated, but in its place arose a real post, whipli caused the loss ol' over £1,000,000 worth of lambs annually. This pest was a blowfly, whose natural enemy was the crow the farmer hated and exterminated!

Strange War Reunions. One of war’s strangest series of reunions occurred in a New Zealand hospital in Syria. .lames Hull. of Sydney, who was wounded at HI Alamein, arrived in a ward, the orderly of which worked in Moll’s office in Sydney. In the next bed was Holt's cousin, a New Zealand gunner, whom he had no I seen for 10 years. Before the day was over another casualty arrived from a Mediterranean naval action. It was a petty-oflicer. who is engaged to Holt’s sister.

Selling Pennies at a Profit. Another example of the “penny racket'’ has been discovered in Auckland, this one, unlike some of the more innocent. affairs, actually being an offence under the law. Boys who come by a large number of pennies in their after-school hours-are reported to be selling them to customers a penny profit a dozen. Those who have succumbed to this “illegal trade” evidently have been so much in need of the coppers that they have willingly paid the extra sum. Treated Like Criminals. Miss Phillipa Acland, Christchurch, and twelve Australian women, have reached Sydney, after internment in Germany. They r were included in an exchange for German internees in Palestine, and they came mostly from internment camps in Germany, where, they say, they' were treated like criminals. Miss Acland was taken prisoner more than two years ago, when the ship in which 'she was returning to New Zealand from England was torpedoed in the Atlantic.

Gift Parcels. "The gift parcels scheme is probably Hie best welfare work of its kind done in any id' the. armies.’' said Lieu-lenanl-Colonel |-\ Waite. Overseas Commissioner of (lie National Palriolir Fund Board, in a rerrnf reporl lo Ihe Board. "The men are very grateful tor them. For security reasons I canned send a detailed lisl of locations and slrenglhs of unils. But these parcels go lo our furtliesl-oul men in Hie desert camps and the deserl hospitals: to sailors and airmen wherever we find them. Wc do nol pretend lo reach everyone, but we certainly find 00 per cent of Now Zealanders serving in the Middle East.” Lieulenanl-Colonel Waile added that ihe parcels packed in cardboard cartons, an idea which originated will) Ihe Canterbury Provincial Palriolic Council, arrived in Ihe best, condilion.