LOCAL AND GENERAL

Grey River Argus, 16 January 1941, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Flying fish have been seen in Hauraki Gulf, a few miles south of Cape Rodney. Their presence in the gulf is not unknown, but usually they are found well to the north. Another consequence of the summery conditions is the prevalence of sharks, which has adversely affected the fishing at some recognised schnapper grounds.

A sergeant-major of the National Military Reserve in Napier renowned for his" repartee, effectivley silenced a questioner during a school of instruction wheih was held at Napier. “What would you do,” the instructor was asked, “if a dive-bomber was diving at you and you only had a rille?" Without hesitation the sergeantmajor retorted: “Shoot at it until it got low enough and then use the bayonet.”

Summer Coats 5/- in the £ off these. Only a limited number left. These are wonderful values; it was pay you to call to-aay at Whites Fashion Corner.—Advt.

Though New Zealand has responded remarkably well to the request from the United Kingdom for greater supplies of cheese, the latest advice from the Ministry of Food in Britain is that still more is required. Mr. A. Linton, ward member of the Dairy Board is paying a brief visit to Taranaki to confer with the directors of a few dairy companies with a view to seeing what can be done to increase the production of cheese still further this season.

The sight of air base tenders busily towing pleasure craft away from the centre of the harbour off Mechanics’ Bay, Auckland, attracted the excited attention of hundreds of Aucklanders waiting for the arrival of the PanAmerican Airways’ Honolulu Clipper last Sunday. When she was within severa’ minutes of her arrival time a number of yachts were still in her landing path, and the slight breeze that was blowing was insufficient for them at once to heed requests to clear the Clipper’s runway. Base tenders sped out and towed the yachts clear.

The County Chairman (Mr J. W. Hannan), presided over 30 residents of the Karoro-South Beach area, who were desirous of forming a platoon of the Home Guard, at a meeting held in the Karoro Hall on Tuesday evening. The meeting was addressed by the Are a Commander, Brgiadier-General W. Meldrum, who pointed out th e necessity of the Home Guard. Fourteen enrolments were taken at the meeting, and the following were appointed as a comm'.ttee to seek further enrolments: —essrs J. W. Hannan, K. J. McKinnon, A. E. Rawlins, A. H. Seebeck and T. G. Jamieson.

“It would be a good thing for dentists if smoking had never been invented,” writes “Forceps” in a London jonurnal devoted to dentistry, adding: “Tobacco smoke is one of the very finest preservatives of the teeth. It may discolour them sometimes, but it. frequently prolongs their usefulness to old age. Sweets, on the other hand, are the dentist’s best friends. Children and women, who are always munching them, very often suffer badly from defective teeth, and 1 never pass a lolly-shop without wanting to take off my hat to it. But tobacco smoke assuredly prevents decay.” So it does. But the tobacco should be of special quality. “Toasted” is ideal for the purpose, because owing to the comparative absence of nicotine in it, it can be smoked so freely without affecting the health. All five brands of the genuine toasted—Cut Plug No. 10 CBullshead), Navy Cut No. 3 (Bullclog), Cavendish. Riverhead Gold and Desert Gold —are splendid teeth preservers, and more fragrant and delightful tobaccos are simply not to be had, whatever price you may pay.—Advt.

An inquisitive boy, who thought he would like to catch a duckling in the pond at Queen’s Park, Invercargill, got a bigger fright than the ducKs did. He got in but he could not get out, and an employee of the Reserves Department, going his rounds to close the gates in the evening, had to rescue a tearful youngster who had found the double fence too much for him, despite strenuous efforts to escape. Mass will be celebrated on Sundav next at Kokiri 8 a.m., Te Kinga a.m.—Advt. At the January meeting of the Blaketown Women’s Institute held in the Blaketown Hall Mrs. Longstatt presided over a good attendance o members. The motto for the month was “Start the Year With a Smile. It was decided to hold a picnic a Omoto on Wednesday, January 22. The competition winners were. Raspberry Jam: Mrs. L. Stewart, 1, Mrs. Pike, 2. Vase of Flowers: Mrs. Condon 1; Mrs. L. Stewart and Mrs. Messenger, equal 2. Thread a needle and sew on a button in three minutes: Mrs. N. Thompson. A dainty afternoon tea was served by the hostesses and the afternoon concluded by singing the National Anthem.

Exclamations of delight at the ladies’ lovely “Matchless” Shoes— Navy, Tan and Black, now showing. —H. Hamer, Kumara.—Advt.

Though the Education Department has lost a number of male teachers because of military service, there will be no difficulties in the staffing of schools when they re-open next month. The assistant director of education, Mr. A. F. McMurtrie, stated recently that the department had a surplus of young teachers who had just completed their three years’ training and were available to fill vacancies. “We expect that for the first part of the year at least there will be a sufficiency of teachers for native as well as the other schools,” he added. “But there may be a shortage of male teachers towards the end of the year because of retirements and men being called up for military service.”

Napier is being subjected to a partial black-out. The measures are being taken by the authorities to restrict visibility from the sea of the strings of bright lights and ornamental lamps which normally turn night into day on the half-mile Marine Parade. The parade runs para lel to the seashore, and it is considered inadvisable to allow it to be brightly illuminated as in the past, to such an extent that its line is visible many miles out to sea. The globes of the street lamps are being provided with semi-cylindrical shades on the seaward side, while cluster lamps on standard poles are being painted black on the seaward face.

New Zealand-made boots and shoes are steadily improving in quality, according to several footwear retailers in Wellington, who state, however, that generally speaking the local article has not yet reached the standard of English boots and shoes. “It is safe to say,” said one retailer, “that the quality of the New Zealand shoe is definitely getting better as the manufacturers acquire the secret of the proper tanning process of the leather, particularly in regard to ‘uppers.’ ” Others speak highly of the soles made from New Zealand leather, which they say almost compares with the leather of the English shoes. The boots supplied to the armed forces are all New Zealand made, and are said to be equal to any that could be imported.