LOCAL AND GENERAL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4872, 18 July 1936, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The annual meeting of the Te Kuiti Bowling Club is to be held on Thursday next. It should be noted that the business will be commenced at 7.45 p.m. not 8.45, as was stated in an advertisement in Thursday's issue.

"Did the car turn over on its right side?" inquired the magistrate, Mr. W. H. Woodward, of a constable giving evidence in an accident case at the Stratford Court on Thursday. "Well," replied the constable, "it was folded up in a heap when I got there."

Great activity has been shown in connection with motor registrations during the current year, and the Post Office some time ago reported that ,the notifications of changes of ownership in March reached the highest total for that month since the inception of the Motor Vehicles Act in 1924. May, 1935, had held the record for the largest number of changes of ownership notifications, 11,680, but in June this year the changes totalled 12,693.

Carriers throughout New Zealand have been advised by circular from the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of the illegality of dealing in bobby calves weighing under 481 b. A resolution that the responsibility of the weight of the animal should rest with the farmers and not with the carriers was carried at a conference of carriers in Hamilton this week. and a copy of the remit is to be sent to the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin.

While reporting on his inspection of the Marlboi-ough College Swimming baths at the last meeting of the Board of Governors, the Hon. R. McCallum stated that he had only one regret, and that was that there was not another 20 or 30 degrees of frost during the winter so that the bath could be converted into a skating rink. It would be a most healthy exercise for the children, he' thought. Mr. R. P. Furness humorously remarked that they ought to have a deputation to the Minister on the matter. "That is not a motion, I suppose?" queried the chairman.

"We are going to have libraries and public halls where our young men can spend their leisure hours, and study, and improve their minds, and we are going to have regulations to stop gambling and drinking in the Public Works camps," the Hon. R. Semple informed those present at the civic reception accorded the Ministerial party at the Blenheim Town Hall. "And another thing we are determined to do, and that is to stop 'scrounging' on the Public Works," he went on. "We don't want any passengers. I've got my eye on the 'scrounger,' and I can pick him up like tl\e blacks in Australia can smell the proverbial opossum," he concluded, amidst general merriment.

Red or white flags at gateways on the roads, as well as an occasional bobby calf tethered alongside the gateway awaiting the arrival of the waggons, which are now to be seen moving on the highways and byways, indicate that the farmers' "holiday" is near the end. Another few weeks will see the dairy season in full swing. The country is looking remarkably well. The official opening of the new season on August 1, with its so far undisclosed guaranteed price and labour conditions, is being awaited with the greatest interest by dairy farmers.

The second portion of the present session of Parliament will be commenced on Tuesday, July 21, when it is anticipated that the House will settle down to a steady programme of legislation which will occupy about four months. It is possible that the Budget, which promises to be one of the most interesting Financial Statements for many years, will be brought down about the end of this month, as the Prime Minister (Mr. Savage) has intimated more than once that he favours an early presentation of the Budget if possible. In addition, it will be necessary for the major financial legislation to be launched before the Minister of Finance (Mr. W. Nash) leaves for London.

The fact that there was a shortage of doctors in New Zealand was mentioned by Dr. M. M. Hockin, medical superintendent of the Waikato Hospital at a meeting of the Waikato Hospital Board last week. He said that there was one doctor short on the staff of the Waikato Hospital and he was having difficulty in filling the vacancy. He added, however, that the position should be relieved at the end of the year, when 60 students would have qualified at the Otago Medical School. For some years past only 30 had passed through the school annually, and this number was insufficient for New Zealand's requirements.

Passengers in a south-bound aeroplane received an extraordinary thrill this week when one of the Tory Channel whale-chasers harpooned a whale while the 'plane was passing overhead. The machine, circled at a low altitude, the passengers being given a bird's eye view of the chaser making its mammoth kill. The whaling grounds lie on the air route to the South Island, and on five or six occasions this season passengers have watched the chasers &fc work. Occasionally pilots act as for whalers by telephoning the chaser base after having sighted a whale. The present whaling season is a record one. Since the beginning of June, when the season opened, 59 whales have been taken. Last season only 57 whales were taken during the entire season, which ends in mid-September. The capture of a whale on Wednesday was witnesed by passengers in the Tamahine.