NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22654, 3 June 1948, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

U.K To Restore Oyster Beds The Ministry of Agriculture has opened a research station to study the problem of restoring Britain’s once productive oyster beds. In addition, the Government has granted licenses for the importation of more than i 1,000,000 seed oysters this year. Power Service Extension

In order to provide power services to the many prospective consumers in the Central Waikato Electric-Power Board’s area, the. board has submitted an application to the Local Government Loans Board for authority to raise a special loan of £60.000 for the purposes of further reticulation.

485gns For Jersey Heifer Before a large and representative bench of buyers and amid strong competition a price of 485gns. was obtained t for a Jersey heifer, Beechlands Royal Dove, at the displenishing sale of Moreland and Sons, held in Cambridge last week. The purchaser was Madame de Guise Roussel. The first of 11 of the 57 animals offered averaged 133gns. Large llutt Airfield Unlikely

Air Vice-Marshal A de T. Neville, Chief of Air Staff, toid the Hutt Valley Junior Chamber of Commerce chat ha did not think it likely that the authorities would .permit or finance the construction of a large aerodrome in the Hutt Valley. However, he said that this did not rule out provision of air part:? wnich could be used by light planes and helicopters such as aero club members used. Grave Alarm Voiced Grave alarm at the reported decision of the Patriotic Fund Board not to operate a loan policy in the administration of after-care patriotic welfare funds, was voiced at the annual meeting of the Hastings R.S.A. Such a move, it was held, was contrary to the policy of the Patriotic Funds Act. Moved by Mr. L. J. Mackersey r.nd seconded by Mr. D. D. Lunn. a motion to this effect was unanimously carried.

New Israel Stamp A postage stamp of the value of 10 miis. the equivalent of about 21d, one of the first issue made by the new State of Israel, has been received in Auckland On the right-hand side of the stamp which is mauve in colour, the foil,icier of the modern Zionist movement, Theodor Hcrzl, watches the return of the Jews to Palestine. Above them, on the left, the sun is rising beh;nd a watchtower on a hill.

Former Governor ‘‘Not Employed” Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, former Governor of Burma and Minister of Agriculture in 1939, went to a labour* exchange near his country home and registered under the so-called “Spivs and Drones Order” as “a person not gainfully _ employed.” “I am a lawabiding citizen and I am not gainfully employed,” the 49-year-old former Minister told newsmen. “The fact that I employed men on my estate who are gainfully employed is neither here nor there.” He said he lives on his savings. Thirteen.

To satisfy superstitious passengers and at the same time follow a custom in operation in the United States and Britain, the National Airways Corporation does not number the thirteenth seat 13 on its passenger aircraft. The numbers go to 12. then 12A and on to 14. The Airways Corporation has been as considerate to its passengers as was the South African Rugby Board of Control in 1937, when it allocated each player a number for the tour, and 13 was not seen on a South African jersey. G. L. van Reenan was 12 and was followed by H. J. Martin with 14. Permits for Bison and Bear

Life will be happier for the Canadian bison and bear which have had to be confined in the motor vessel Wairata at Auckland because of a ban on their transport by rail to the Wellington zoo. The animals which had been brought from Canada had previously been refused an overland travel premit by the Department of Agriculture for fear of the introduction of foot and mouth disease. The department, it was stated subsequently, has granted permission for the bear to travel to Wellington by rail. The bison will stay in the Auckland zoo for a fortnight, and will then follow the bear. Timaru’s Radio Station

The hope that Station 3XC, Timaru, would be on ihe air some time in July has been expressed by the Mayor of Timaru, Mr. A. E. S. Hanan. A start has been made with the work of adapting the top floor of the Timaru Gas, Coal and Coke Company’s building, formerly used as a demonstation department to a studio. Station 3ZC will be powered by a two kilowatt transmitter, which will be located at Washdyke, and will be of remote control design, no engineer having to be on duty at the transmitting site. The station will have a range of 6500 gramophone discs. Selection of Timaru Pen Friends

A novel method of selecting Timaru as the source of a pen-friend was used by girls from Scotland, who wrote to the Mayor, Mr. A. E. S. Hanan, asking him for correspondents. In a letter to her new Timaru pen-friend, one of the girls from Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, says: ‘‘No doubt you will be wondering how we picked Timaru. Well when at school we were told that the Canterbury plains part of New Zealand was lovely. We took a pin and stuck it in the South Island, but it landed among the. mountains, so eventually we picked Timaru because we liked the sound of its name.” Children’s Home Gifts

Gifts for the Heni Materoa Children’s Home have been been received recently by the matron, who acknowledges them as follows:—Honey, Mr. Alley, anonymous; apples, Mrs. Hnye, Mr. J. Hardy; shoes, Mrs. Muir, Wilkinson’s Shoe Store; books, Shona Cox; raincoats, anonymous; cakes and sandwiches, Patutahi Church flower show, Highland Dancing Association; jam and tinned goods, Jean Allen; clothing, Mrs. Franks; jerseys and cardigans, Mrs. J B. Williams; scones, anonymous; school clothes, anonymous; woollen materials, Mr. Carpenter; tablecloth and cups, Mrs. E. R. Scott; ss, anonymous.

Photographing the Sun. To enable better photographs of the sun to be taken the Dominion Physical Laboratory is making a special attachment for the solar camera at the Carter Observatory. When the improved camera is ready the observatory staff will co-ordinate their solar observations with those taken at Zurich Observatory. This will give a more accurate check of sun spot developments, as it will provide photographs taken at 12hourly intervals instead of at 24-hourly intervals as in the past. The work is also expected to help in the compilation of the forecasts of disturbances to radio reception which are issued to the Post and Telegraph Department and the National Broadcasting Service.

County Finances Analysis In an analysis of county finances over the past year the clerk to the Cook County Council, Mr. B. K. Gardiner, has revealed that 52.67 per cent of the revenue was from rates, 28-30 per cent from general sources and 19.02 per cent from Government funds. Hospital levies and loan charges each took over 10 per cent of the council’s expenditure for the year, and management 8.19 per cent. Roads and bridges consumed 64.96 per cent, of the whole of the outgoings for the rear. The year’s expenditures, analysed from another angle, showed (hat general administration consumed Is Sd°of every pound spent, as against Is lOd in 1946-47; the hospital levy cost 2s 0.1 d in each £l. as against 4s 6Jd in the previous year, and loan charges absorbed 2s Ojd as compared with 2s 41d in the previous year. Reductions indicated in other forms of expenditure enabled the council to put 14s 3'.d of every £1 into roads, bridges a'd other public services, whereas in 1946-47 only 11s 3]d in every £1 was available for these major responsibilities.