LOCAL AND GENERAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 February 1942, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Fifty-seven trucks of lambs, and seven trucks of cattle will be sent to Canterbury from the West Coast this week. Six trucks of lambs and one of cattle were sent on Monday evening, and 30 trucks of lambs, and six of cattle last evening. Seven of lambs are booked for this evening, and 14 of lambs for to-morrow evening.

The Auckland Education Board, after considering the Canterbury Board’s suggestion that elections for School Committees and Education Boards be not held this year, decided that the elections should proceed as usual, and fixed the date for the biennial householders’ meetings, namely, April 15. —P.A.

The South Canterbury Hospital Board received advice yesterday that under the will of the late Mr. T. B. Garrick the board would receive £5OOO to be applied for capital expenditure to relieve suffering and distress. The wish was expressed that the money be spent on something outside the normal expenditure of the board.

Two sittings of the Medical Board were held at Greymouth yesterday, when 34 men called for home service were examined. Nineteen were passed as fit, 10 as temporarily unfit, and the gradings of five men were deferred. Not one man was permanently unfit. Three men called for the Expeditionary Force were also examined and all were graded temporarily unfit, and one fit for Territorial service.

The Liverpool State mine was idle to-day, on account of a shortage of wagons. The binns at the mine were full, and delays to shipping reduced the number of hoppers available, while there were not sufficient flat wagons available to enable all the three State mines in the Runanga district to work. The mine will resume to-morrow. The Blackball State mine, which was idle on Monday and yesterday, on account of an in-rush of water into the working places, resumed this morning.

On aesthetic grounds, Mr. Justice Northcroft objected in the Supreme Court at Christchurch yesterday to the use of the terms counter-hand and dispenser to define the female employee in a milk bar. To the suggestion that the word dispenser might be preferred to the technical term, coun-ter-hand, used to define one who prepared and dispensed milk shakes in a milk bar, his Honor said: “No, I think that a horrid term, too. Why not call her the very pleasant name barmaid, a much nicer term?”

The Waitaki Hospital Board, at a special meeting, yesterday, passed a resolution authorising that application be made to the Local Government Loans Board for permission to raise £20,000 for the construction of a new ward block at the Oamaru Public Hospital. Three tenders were received for the construction of the new ward block, , the lowest, that of W. R. Williams (£34,938) being accepted, subject to the approval of the Minister for Finance, and the consent of the Local Government Loans Board.

A West Coast dairy farmer who appeared as an appellant in the Supreme Court at Christchurch, yesterday, stated that he was 68 years of age, had begun work in the milkingshed at the age of five and was still there, had never had what might be termed a holiday in his 63 years of work on the farm, and had left the West Coast only once before yesterday. That was when he had visited Christchurch to see a brother who was ill. He stated also that his farm consists of 55 acres, of which 27 acres was lost in recent floods and five had been ruined by shingle deposits.

A total of 138 towns were successful in raising their national savings quotas last week. Places which had not previously flown their flags were Papakura, Waipahi, Waitahuna, Ashhurst, Rangiwahia, and Mataroa. Success at most of the principal centres is being maintained with gratifying regularity, and the fact that 75 per cent, of the towns which have been allotted quotas have attained their objectives at least once, and in many cases on more than one occasion, goes to show that the Dominion aim of an annual savings of £5,000,000 for war purposes is not too much to expect.

One of the most notable features of the modern bicycle is the number of parts which go to make it. According to the experts on such things the following figures indicate the separate parts used in the manufactureof an ordinary roadster machine: In the frame there are 18 parts; in the front hub, 33; the parts of the spokes and nipples total 276; the bottom bracket fittings total 27; the pedals 142; the cranks and cotters, 14; the rear hub, 55; the chain, 550; the handlebar and stem, 9; the saddle, 43; the mudguards, 29; the bell, 22; the pump, 10; the tyres and tubes, 16; the tool bag 13; and the head fittings, 74; giving a total of 1331 separate parts.

Owing to altered conditions Gibbs Motor Services to Westport on Sundays, will not be restored.—Advt.

Mount Cook was climbed for the second time this year on February 10. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Ayres, of the Franz Josef Glacier, after crossing Graham Saddle to the Haast Hut, were joined there by Rev. Father O’Gorman and Mr. Robert Logan, both of Rangiera. The party climbed Mount Cook, via the Linda Glacier route. Conditions and the day wbre perfect. The party left the Haast Hut on February 12 and crossed over Governor’s Col to the Pioneer Hut, and on February 14 Mr. and Mrs. Ayres and Mr. Logan made the ascent of Mount Tasman, the first of this season, by the northern arete over Mount Lindenfeldt. Again conditions were perfect, and fine views were obtained. Next day the party returned via Newton Pass, Aimer, and Franz Josef Glacier.

Riding a horse into another man’s kitchen, refusing to leave, resisting a policeman, being drunk in charge of a horse, and while subject to a prohibition order, were the charges preferred against Lancelot Goodger, a horsebreaker, when he appeared before Mr. W. H. Freeman, S.M., at Te Aroha. He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment on charges of trespass and resisting the police, the terms to be concurrent. On the other charges he was convicted and discharged.

Some indication of the huge increase in the volume of work thrown on the Post Office, due to the war, may be gained from a study of statistics relating to the number of parcels despatched overseas in 1941. The Postmaster-General (Mr. Webb) said that approximately 1,000,000 parcels were posted in New Zealand for overseas in 1941, against approximately 250,000 in 1940, and 45,000 in 1939. The last-mentioned may be regarded as a normal year’s posting. Of the 1,000.000 parcels posted in 1941, approximately 750,000 were for the armed forces, 200,000 were civilian United Kingdom gift parcels, and 50,000 were ordinary trade.

In one of the craters at Mount Richmond, on the outskirts of Otahuhu, a mother’s devotion to her offspring overcoming her natural fear was seen, states the “Auckland Star.” A large stoat was observed rapidly searching the different clumps of weeds, and out of one of these a half-grown rabbit was startled. With lightning-like speed the stoat seized the screaming rabbit and killed it. Rushing out of a thicket came the mother rabbit and fought the stoat away from the dead rabbit as he tried to pull .it into the bushes. Each time the stoat came out to drag the body a little nearer the bushes he was driven off by the old rabbit, but persistence won in the end and he was last seen backing into cover with his victim in tow.

There are plenty of young, eligible men in Invercargill who not only have not joined any of the defence services but take pleasure in jeering at those who are doing their share, states the “Southland Times.” That was the opinion formed by many Home Guardsmen who were on duty near the city. On numerous occasions during the day they were made the object of derisive remarks by passersby. These onlookers, many of them men of military age and all of them on their way to the beaches, seemed to think it funny that otner members of the community should be giving up their Sundays. The Home Guardsmen, had good reason for resenting the remarks, for in the last few weeks they have devoted many hours and a great deal of labour to carryout then’ duties. “It is not a nice thing to say,” said one of them, “but the sort of conduct we saw to-day makes me wonder whether some of these people are really worth the effort.”

Book at thb Regent for the Big Hollywood Parade by WHITE’S FASHION CORNER.—Advt.

Prices must rise . still further. Secure your ‘‘Premier” Suit now while stocks are available. “Premier,” the master suit, obtainable only at C. Smith’s.—Advt.