LOCAL AND GENERAL

Grey River Argus, 9 January 1941, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A statutory first offender, arrested for drunkenness in Mackay s y’e--on Tuesday morning, was fined 10/-, the amount of his bail, by Mi. J. i ■ Bunt, J.P., at a sitting of the Ma„.strate’s Court at Greymouth ye-te • day.

Exclamations ef delight at the ladies’ lovely -Matchless” ShoesNavy, Tan and Black, now showing. H. Hamer, Kumara. —Advt.

On Tuesday next the first group of 25 men drawn in the first overseas ballot for service w.th the Expeditionary Force, wi.l be medical y examined at Greymouth. Twelve sittings of the Medical Board to he heM over six weeks, will he necessary for th e 330 West Coast men to be examined.

Men of Kumara! We have all the latest Hats, moderately priced, and al] szes, from 6- to 7 3-8. —H. Hamer, Kumara. —Advt.

A Bell Block farmer recently reported that a steel cylindrical object with a brass cap that might be connected with a fuse had been washed up on the beach. The Collector of Customs at New Plymouth (Mr. J. M. O’Reilly), accompanied by Lieutenant R. G. A. Parnell, New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, who is on leave at New Plymouth, ’ made an inspection. The cylinder was taken to New Plymouth, but whether it is an improvised anchor or a missile of destruction has not yet been determined.

One of the biggest trains ever sent out of Christchurch —an indication of the heavy passenger traffic of the last few weeks—was that which lert for Timaru at 9 o’clock on Sunday morning, said the Christchurch district traffic manager (Mr. G. H. McLean) yesterday. This train, he said, carried 952 passengers. Other trains on Sunday carried 340 passengers (7.30 a.m. to Timaru), 630 and 1-0 (from Timaru), 275 and 305 (expresses south at 8.35 a'.m. and p.m.). Other figures in the last week were 610 (Timaru sports), 548 (excursion to Otira), and 2,334 (to Lyttelton) on J'anuary 1; and 1,509 (to Lyttelton) on January 2.

Lawnmower Laziness: Easily cured if you have your Lawnmower overhauled and sharpened in our modern machines. Charge 10/-. Ring Greenhill’s. ’Phone 428, or Abbie-Ramage ’Phone 167 —Electric Lawnmower Service (P. Allan, PrinC’bal), Clifford Street. Cobden.— Advt.

While searching for sea eggs under the rocks at Whakatane last week, a party of Maori boys discovered, a number of octopuses. The octopuses were driven out of their lairs wlong sticks, and six of them were dragged up on to the beach and killed.

A special greeting „ard, with a sketch drawing of the Hastings Post Office, was sent by the messenger boys of the Hastings PostOffice to their fellow telegraph messengers in Hastings, England. The following cablegram was received: “Christmas greetings reciprocated; chins well up.—Messengers, Hastings, England.”

Mass will be celebrated on next Sunday, January 12, at Rotomanu, 8 a.m., and at Kotuku, 10.30 a.m.i— Advt.

Westland beekeepers, whose industry is steadily reviving, are invited: to join on Saturday in a held day | at Blackball,. where the Government Apiary Instructor, Mr Eric SmeUie, will give practical demonstrations. The field day! will be held at the rau apiary of Mr R. Glasson, ( and those attending will have provided for them conveyance from Blackball.

A handsome kiwi feather cloak presented by Mr. H. Tai Mitchell man of the Arawa Trust Board, is among recent acquisitions of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Other gifts include a silver medal presented to Hurunui Apanui, a distinguished Rotorua chief, by the Prince of Wales in 1920, a curious Maori good bowl carved from a tree knot, and a well carved bone poria.

Only four days after the announcement that Mr. R. R. King, o Greymouth, had been awarded tne imitation koala bear donated by t p president of the Australian Rugby Union, Mr. Gordon Shaw, to the firs; All Black married after the 1938 tour who became the father of a son, another of the All Blacks who toured Australia in 1938, Mr. J. Dick, Aidmore Road, Herne Bay, Auckland, had been presented with a baby son.

The Grey bar maintained an average depth of 24 feet 5 inches during 1940, on a mean average, 13 mcneo deeper than 1939. In spite of a period of shoaling on the bar, when the depths of water were much below normal, the good average was ne.d. The official figures of the Greymouth Harbour Board show that 267 vessels, aggregating 159,597 tons, ed the port during 1940, being a o?crease of only 161 tons on the P re " vious year.

Call at White’s, a few only Summer Coats, 5/- in the £ discount. These are wonderful buying. Buy these and save. White’s Fashion Corner. —Advt.

A contest for liars, conducted in connection with the Mardi Gras carnival at Napier, drew several entries. The winner, Lieutenant J. Hamilton, of Christchurch, told a “whopper” intended to illustrate the size of the fleas that are bred in Canterbury. It seems that on his farm one day he found one of his cows missing, and the explanation did not dawn on him until some time later when he saw two fleas, each of which was using a cow’s horn as a toothpick.

Frequent complaints are being made about the disturbance of the peace in Oriental Bay, Wellington, on fine nights. One resident said that because of the frequency of noisy drinking parties on the waterfront, people preferred to sleep in the back rooms instead of the front ones. At all hours of the night, and sometimes in the early morning,’ they were disturbed from their sleep by people, more or less intoxicated, singing and shouting and behaving generally in an unbecoming manner.

Complaints are being made of the conduct of a gang of youthful hoodlums in Wellington, who amuse themselves by throwing stones from the junction of the Sutherland road and Carlton Street to the roofs of houses between that point and Queen’s drive. In some cases tiles have oeen cracked, and windows broken, and women have been almost distracted to combat this conduct, which complaints to the local police officer have failed to check. A bulldozer is at work reforming the street above —to replace the one .rendered unsafe oy a landslip in December, 1939 —and its operations have provided a plentiful supply of ammunition for the youngsters.

“I am convinced that a good deal of juvenile crime arises from young people going too often to dances,’ said Mr. S. L. Paterson, S.M., in the Hamilton Court, when sentencing two youths of 18 on charges of converting motor cars to their own use and theft. The probation officer’s report showed that the accused had frequented dances often, had been cheeky at home, and inattentive 'to their work. The frequency with which youths generally attended dances Mr. Paterson said, was simply piling up trouble for the future. It would be a good plan, he added, if youths under a certain age were prohibited from attending public dances.

An unusual number of black swans have been seen this year a short distance offshore at a number of the beaches, notably New Brighton. When Dr. R. A. Falla, curator of the Canterbury Musuem, and Mr. E. F. Stead well-known authority on New Zealand birds, were asked about the swans yesterday they agreed that the probable reason for the appearance of the birds offshore was that they had come from the Woodend lagoon and other haunts from which they had been frightened away by the exceptional number of campers this season. Both swan and grey duck, apparently, sometimes settle temporarily on the sea and rest after the nesting season. It is believed, also, that increased flying activity or bombing practice at Lake Ellesmere could rseult in more of the swans appearing off the beaches.