LOCAL AND GENERAL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4957, 18 February 1937, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The cricket teams who are likely to challenge Maniapoto for the South Auckland Shield are Otorohanga, Hamilton, Paeroa, Waipa and Cambridge. Piako has already played its challenge for the Shield.

The attention of our readers is directed to the Railway Department's announcement in this issue regarding the train arrangements and cheap day excursion fares in connection with the Waikato Racing Club's summer meeting at Te Rapa.

Excellent fields are provided for the Waikato Racing Club's Summer Meeting to be held at Te Rapa racecourse on Saturday and Monday next, February 20th and 22nd. There will be a win and place totalisator and attractive admission charges. The first race starts at 12.15 p.m. on each day, and suitable train arrangements have been made for patrons from Te Kuiti.

"I discovered the busiest place in Sydney—the State Lottery Office," said a Hamilton resident who has just returned from a holiday trip to Australia. "All day and every day it is crowded, with queues to the many selling places, and a man is needed to direct the crowds. There are two lotteries of £SOOO each week, announced every Tuesday and Friday.'' 1

"This man writes a friendly letter," said Mr. H. W. Bundle, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court at Dunedin recently, as he smilingly perused a written explanation from a defendant in a motor case. The opening sentence of the letter read: "I regret my inability to appear before your good self this morning."

Collapse of the present economic system before 1940 was predicted by J. F. Glendon, of Los Angeles, Technoera/t, in addresses given in Alberta. Mr. Glendon declared that unless a plan for technological control of production and distribution involving the abolition of the price or money system were put into immediate operation, when the collapse came more than three-quarters of the population of North America would die within 30 days.

"One point that I must make,'' said Professor W. Riddet, Director of the Dairy Research Institute, Palmerston North, who recently returned to Wellington after a world tour, "is that every New Zealander travelling, whether his purpose is business or pleasure, should not fail to keep in touch with the New Zealand Government Trade Commissioner in the countries he visits. Their assistance is invaluable. I know I certainly found it so."

It has remained for a New Zealander to take the first effective steps to oust Japanese traders from the valuable trochus shell industry of Northern Australian coasts. Captain Tange, commodore of a number of trochus shell craft out from Thursday Island, came from New Zealand in his own yacht 10 years ago. His was the first fleet to dispense with Japanese divers, and he has gained a marked advantage over those that retained them. On a recent visit -to Sydney on holiday, he said that Australian fisheries must be protected against Japanese poachers, who had denuded large areas of young pearl and trochus.

A commercial traveller arrived at Stewart Island on Saturday wrapped in brown paper. He did not, however, resemble a parcel (states the Southland Times). To outward appearances he was normally dressed, but when he walked he crackled—a crackling which disclosed the fact that the paper was next his body. The man was not an eccentric. "I usually wear flannel next the skin," he said, "but I heard that if you wrapped your body in brown paper it prevented sea sickness. And this is one of the few times I haven't been sick on the crossing."

Following an instruction at last month's meeting of the Waipa County Council the noxious weeds inspector, Mr. G. M. Wall, submitted at Monday's meeting of the council information with regard to the treating of blackberry with sodium. Spraying the bushes with a 5 per cent, solution was quite as effective, he said, but despite several applications it was not claimed that the spray would eradicate the plants. The spraying seemed to be especially suited to rough gullies, river banks and drains, where it was difficult and costly to use implements or hand labour. As \vith cutting, the best results had been obtained by spraying: in February and March.

"Just a donation from Horneone," was the only message on a «heet of paper, accompanied by four £5 notes that was enclosed in an envelope received by Mr. S. E. Langatone, sec-retary-manager to the St. John Ambulance Association at AucklandMr. Langstone expressed the gratitude of the association toward the anonymous donor, who showed tangible appreciation of some service evidently rendered to him.

"It has been the custom of the Post and Telegraph Department to give a contract to the lowes-st tenderer irrespective of whether he haa a license, but I have arranged with the department that future specifications contain a provision that the acceptance of any tender will be Kubject to the applicant being able to obtain a license," said Mr. J. P. O. Skclund, No. 2 Transport Licensing Authority, at Hawera on Tuesday, when he refused a license to the new holder of a mail contract.

Farm labour is reported to be very difficult to secure in the Wairoa district, for many of the young men have been attracted to public works. Cases are reported where elderly farmers who thought that they had finished milking cows have had to return to the milking shed because milkers are unavailable. The position has become so acute that some dairy farmers have threatened to turn to sheep, and the position is being closely watched by those most interested.

For not pointing out to a waitress that she had given him too much change, a man of Vpsala, Sweden, has been sentenced by the local court to a fine of 20 kroner (£1), or 10 days in prison. The man had given the waitress in a cafe a 10-kroner note to pay for his drink. The waitress gave him change for 50 kroner. The man said nothing, but pocketed the money. Shortly after he had left the girl discovered her mistake and informed the police, who were able to find the man. He readily handed back the 40 kroner, but that did not save him from sentence for attempting to defraud. ' -

The Rugby season is still at least two months away (says the Christchurch Star-Sun), but some enthusiasts who regard the summer period as an inevitable but boring interlude are already discussing prospects. Three stalwarts were having an earnest argument as to respective merits of past and present players, and one of them suggested, in all seriousness, that cricket competitions should conclude by the middle of February to allow the grounds to be thoroughly prepared for Rugby. His argument was that New Zealand never had been, was not, and could not hope to be a first-class cricketing nation, so why waste time on the sport?

In supporting a proposal to spend money to provide a running track at Prince Edward Park, Mr. D. Weir, a member of the Papakura Town Board, spoke strongly of local bodies' responsibilities towards providing sport for the people. "The working people of this Dominion have now more time on their hands, and public bodies will have to provide sports grounds," he said. "Sport plays an important part in developing the physique of the people, and we must do our best to help the young people of Papakura." The" chairman, Mr. McEntee, agreed that the time had come when the people's playtime was an important part of community life, and the board would be failing in its duty if it refused to help.

How the cunning of a turtle outwitted a ferocious shark was related by the overseer of Taronga Park Zoo Aquarium (Mr. Camp) in a lecture to the Aquarium Association of New South Wales . "Thomas, a large turtle, and Timothy, small turtle, swim around the shark pond at the zoo almost as incessantly as the shark," he said. "Thomas, being a fast swimmer, invariably gets a long way ahead of Timothy after a couple of turns around the enclosure. Timothy used to take a short cut across the middle to catch up, but now he has developed a much better plan. He waits until a shark comes along beneath, and with a swift dive grabs the shark by the dorsal fin and hangs on until he catches up to Thomas. As soon as he is alongside he lets go and starts swimming again." The shark at first resented Timothy's tactics, Mr. Camp said, but now allows the turtle to ride unmolested.