LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 12, 27 December 1930, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

A well-known Hamilton solicitor, Leslie Bruce Gilfillan, was last week arrested and charged with misappropriating £450. He was remanded on bail. All time wages and piece work rates set out in tho Wellington industrial district flaxmill employees’ award and any of its amendments have been reduced by 33 1-3 per cent, by order of thU Arbitration Court, operating from January 1, 1931. At the busiest time in the shopping period on Wednesday afternoon a number of forged £1 Bank of Australasia notes were found to bo circulating in Auckland, a number being presented iu payment for small articles at two large stores. On Christmas Day the Dominion Airlines’ Monoplane brought two passengers, Messrs J. Smith and Goodwin, from Gisborne to Hastings, while yesterday (Boxing Day) Captain Bolt carried Messrs V. Hay and R. Aislabie, of Gisborne. Letters and papers were carried on December 25th, but there was no mail on Boxing Day. Details of the services are advertised in this issue. The Railway Department’s advertisement appealing in to-day’s issue gives particulars of the local extra trains to run on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Special trains will run on the Eskdale line and cheap fares will be obtainable on January Ist. Special arrangements are made to cope with race traffic at Hastings racecourse on Ist and 2nd January. A full ring bowling tournament was played on the Napier Bowling Club’s green yesterday in beautiful weather. Eight rinks competed. At tho close of the day’s play McGregor, Beer and Bear’s teams tied with five wins and two losses each. In the play-off Beer’s team won easily. The winning rink comprised Elmes (lead), Murdoch (scorer), Williamson (mensruer) and Beer (skip). On New Year's Day the Onga Onga Sports Club will usher in tho year 1931, as they have done for so many previous years, with a grand sports meeting. All sections of sport are catered for, in what is a very fine programme indeed. Tho entries already received for tho athletic, cycling and wood-chopping and sawing events are very largo, and are an indication that the popular Onga Onga Sports Club is likely to have a record meeting on New Year's Day.

Attention is drawn to the advertisement of the Working Men's Butchery. The prices mentioned should appeal to all. The Hastings Citizens’ Band will hold a “Continental” evening on New Year’s Eve. Dancing and community singing should prove popular to the townsfolk as a means of concluding the year. A Nelson telegram reports the death of Mr. Percy Bolland Adams, a prominent Nelson resident for many years, aged 76. Colonel Adams, of Auckland, is his son.—Press Association. The radio equipment installed at the Porirua Mental Hospital as a result of the recent public appeal was officially handed over to the hospital authorities at an appropriate ceremony on Thursday. The Empire Picture Theatre in Princess street, Dunedin, which was owned by Thomas O’Brien, Auckland, was sold by auction on Wednesday for £50,000, the purchasers being Dunedin Theatres, Limited. The Union Company’s R.M.S. Makura left Sydney on Wednesday afternoon for Wellington, one dav earlier than usual. She is due at about 7 o’clock to-morrow morning. The Makura will leave Wellington again next Tuesday afternoon for San Francisco, via Rarotonga and Papeete. An unusual procedure was recorded at the sitting of the Hastings Police Court yesterday morning. A man pleaded guilty to a charge of assault, and after hearing the facts the Bench, instead of entering a conviction and merely discharging the defendant, as anticipated, adopted the unusual course of dismissing the information. At the Duntroom Caledonian sports yesterday afternoon, Alister Cameron, in the hop, step and jump, registered 46 feet llinches, cclinsing the New Zealand record made by W. Kelly, Greymouth, in 1924, says a Press Asciation telegram from Oamaru. A Wanganui telegram reports tho death of Mr. George Sherriff, the well-known New Zealand artist. He was a pioneer of art in Wanganui and took many prizes in New Zealand and the Old Country. One picture in particular, “A Present from the Country,” now in the Wanganui Art Gallery, is recognised as a masterpiece. New Zealand led the British Empire last year in respect of the provision of future timber supplies by afforestation, a total of 53,852 acres having been planted with 35,900,000 trees. This information is contained in a special report upon the 1930 season received by the Commissioner of State Forests, Hon. E. A. Ransom, from the Director of Forestry, Mr. E. Phillips Turner. Reminiscences of the old whaling days were recalled at Te Awanga last evening when a mother whale, about 25 feet long and a calf were seen quite close to the lagoon mouth. A party of Hastings holiday-makers spent almost two hours in a launch trying to harpoon the monster, but without success. The chase, however, was full of excitement, and was watched with great amusement by hundreds of people on shore. The New Zealand chess championships commenced at Rotorua on Boxing Day. The competitors were: Grierson and Maddox (Auckland), Pleasants (Wanganui), Gyles, Kelling, and Fairburn (Wellington), Kummer (Wairarapa), Scverne (Nelson), Miller (Westport), Herbert (Dunedin), Erskine (Invercargill) and Greenfield (New South Wales). In the first round Erskine played Miller, and by skilful tactics caused him to resign.

Two first offenders charged with drunkenness at the Hastings Police Court yesterday were convicted and discharged by Messrs R. B. Holmes and G. Land, J.P.’s. On a charge of riotous conduct whilst drunk on Xmas Eve, Frank McKenzie was convicted and discharged, but was fined £5 on a charge of using bad language. A charge of assault preferred against John W. Smith, who pleaded guilty, was dismissed.

At Te Awanga, on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, a cottage belonging to the late Dr. P. J. Barcroft caught afire in a lean-to at the rear of the building, which hns been unoccupied for some time. It is thought that the fire was started by some flying snarks from a burning rubbish heap. Though the lean-to was badly charred, the main structure was saved bv the efforts of men on the snot, who formed themselves into a voluntarv fire brigade and who ultimately extinguished the flames.

Miss Mercedes Gleitze—world-fam-ous swimmer and conqueror of the formidable English Channel, the Straits of Gibraltar, nnd the Hellespon—made seemingly light work of the crossing of Wellington Harbour on Christmas Day. When she reached the beach she was almost rushed, and then was hurried away to the pavilion. Kho entered the water at 11.39 a.m. and arrived nt the other side of the liarfiour at fi.42 n.m., after being 7hr 32min in the water.

A sight well worth seeing, but missed by the majority of those who made the trek to Cane Kidnappers during the holidays, is the collection of terns, or “plongh-bovs” as they are familiarly called. Several hundreds of these pretty black-headed and slate-crey winged birds have made breeding nlaces of portions of Black Reef. Just at present the hatching neriod is coming to a close and in addition to seeing the mottled "’vi. one may see hundreds of vonne terns that closely resemble chickens in size. A excellent view of one breeding place may be had from the emergency track to the Cape.

Over 100 people visited the gannet sanctuary at Cape Kidnappers during the past two days. One of the rangers, Mr. D. G. Williams, had a busy time attending to visitors who came from Dunedin, Tiinaru. Wellington. Wanganui, Gisborne and Auckland. At this time of the year the hatching is just completed and gannets in all their stages may he seen. An unusual feature is the number of twins. Twice in the past ten years one set of twins hns been noted, but this year there are five. The birds, which are increasing rapidly in number, make a wonderful picture, the full-grown birds with their huff coloured heads, snow-white bodies and big black-tipped wings bein; greatly admired. The little speekled-grev youngsters, too, received fond attention, particularly from the female members of the parties.