LOCAL AND GENERAL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4951, 4 February 1937, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

By advertisement in another column notice is given that all entries for the Auckland Metropolitan Show close to-morrow (Friday) with the secretary, P.O. box 86, Auckland.

By advertisement elsewhere it will be noted that the Matamata Races will be held on Saturday next, starting at 12.10 p.m. There will be a win and place totalisator, and the meeting is being held in ideal surroundings. The admission charges are most reasonable.

Next Saturday, the 6th inst., will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Government Native school at Te Kopua—the first native school in the Northern King Country. Many prominent members of the Searancke, Ormsby and Turner families received their primary education at this school. For some time past arrangements have been in train for the celebration of the eevnt, and this week-end will see a very large gathering of settlers and ex-pupils who will mark the event in a fitting manner. All those in this district are invited to attend.

An eloquent plea for the inclusion of Maoris in welcomes to prominent overseas visitors to New Zealand was made by Mrs. H. D. Bennett, when she was called upon to add a welcome from the Maoris at the reception of the Wellington branch of the EnglishSpeaking Union and the New Zealand Antarctic Society to Sir Douglas Mawson. "They are worth being roped in and you should have them beside you to welcome illustrious visitors who come to us from overseas," she said. "There is a silent voice among the Maori people welcoming your people, welcoming your strangers; but they have no express sion among you—they seem to be a thing apart. They have to welcome you in their own environment. That is very good, but it would be nice if it could be brought among you. My neople speak English, too—they should be included here and permitted to give a representative welcome to visitors who come to your shores. We want this to be a unity among the nations of the world. That is what we seek in the English-Speaking Union, and we must begin at home."

Bitterns are reported to be increasing in swamp areas inland from Wanganui. These birds, which can be readily recognised by their size and by their slow, methodical flight, are protected. In the distance they resemble harrier hawks, but are larger, and their flight is slower.

Parents are warned against allowing children to indulge in kite-flying near electrical power lines. Should the string become wet and come in contact with the lines the holder is liable to something more than a severe shock. Cases of this kind have sometimes proved fatal. It is usual for Power Boards to write to school heads at the beginning of the school term so that children can be warned of the danger, but the late opening of the schools has prevented this up to the present.

Unpleasant though the Canterbury nor'-wester undoubtedly is, its freakish tricks sometimes have their humorous side. At the height of a gale one day last week an elderly man of dignified appearance was walking along the river bank near the Scott statue, when a wild gust neatly snatched his hat, whirled it high in the air, and then carelessly dropped it in the middle of the river. When last seen the man was plodding sadly along the bank, eyeing the hat las it kept pace with him in the stream, and declaring that he would follow it to New Brighton if need be.

Tested severely by a mob of 700 sheep, a new suspension bridge over the Waipaoa River (Poverty Bay) collapsed, through the drawing of the suspension cables at one end of the structure. The bridge has a span of 340 feet, and cost £llOO to erect, part of the material being drawn from the old bridge, which was dismantled to make way for it. The' new bridge was practically completed before the holidays, and required only painting and some minor woodwork to be done. It was opened for holiday traffic, and was used frequently by cars and by stock traffic during Christmas and the days following. Then a drover in charge of a mob of 700 sheep tried to take his mob across the bridge, and while a number of sheep milled at one end, bolted clips which were designed to secure the overhead cables slipped, and the decking was abruptly dropped to the level of the water. The river was rather above the summer level, and water swept above the lowest part of the- decking, a number of sheep being destroyed and others being washed or thrown into the river, to find their way ashore lower downstream.