NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 5170, 24 November 1939, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

Novelty in the surroundings in which they may drink their beer will he provided for soldiers at the Burnham military camp. A beer garden where men can drink at their leisure under trees and big umbrellas has been planned, x Considerable amusement was caused at the Waikato Racing Club’s meeting at Te Rapa on Saturday when, just before the start of a race, a hare ran the length of the straight in front of the members’ stand. The animal was cornered between a brush hurdle and the fence, where a number of spectators were . standing, and, after running back for some distance, broke away from the course and disappeared among the lines of parked ears to the north of the members’ stand. A survey of stipends was appended to. the annual report of the statistics committee, brought before a session of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Five ministers receive up to £250 per annum, eleven receive from £251 to £275, seventy-nine receive £2BO. sixty-six receive £3OO, sixty-two range between £3lO and £449, while seventeen receive £450 or over. Twelve home missionaries are paid between £l6O and £l7O, forty-eight are paid £IBO to £lB9, and twentyseven receive £2OO or more.

A suggestion that the reported shortage of tea in the Dominion might have been caused by large purchases by public institutions was made at the meeting of the Palmerston North Hospital Board this week by Mr A. E. Hansford when he asked- why there was an account for £ll3 15s for tea. He thought the position should be made plain in view of the statements that had been made in the Press. The managing-secretary (Mr A. J. Phillipps) said that he ordered 5000 pounds of tea when he heard that there was to be a rise in the price some time ago. The present position was that the board had enough to last from four to < five months when the stocks were examined at the' beginning of the month. A considerable saving had been made by purchasing in advance. Six months’ revenue of the Social Security Fund to the end of September totalled £5,251,721, which is well in advance of the estimates presented to the Parliamentary Committee, by the British actuary, Mr G. IT. Maddex.

One of the totalisator ticket sellers at the Napier Park races on November 11th received a surprise a few minutes before the last race when an earnest backer, who apparently had experienced rather a lean time earlier in the meeting, sought to obtain a £1 ticket on a particular horse on the security of £2 6s deposited in his savings bank. The' backer wished to leave the bank book with the tote attendant as security. Needless to say he was disappointed. Whether or no! he eventually prevailed upon someone to advance him the £1 is not known.

(When she pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court at Napier, to a charge of harbouring ,an escapee from Weraroa Training Farm a woman was warned by the Magistrate that a recurrence of the offence would mean imprisonment. It was explained that the escapee was accused’s son. She was given permission one day in August to take him out in her ear. She telephoned to the institution stating that her son had disappeared but the police subsequently found that the boy had been with her all the time and had been brought to her home in Napier. Slugs are common enough at St. Clair, but it is not often anything larger is found (says a Dunedin paper). A resident in this suburb, however, discovered a species of giant snail the other day, which looks capable of doing plenty of damage to young plants. About three inches long, the snail has no shell but'is thought to be of a variety which grows a shell later on. It is very common in the North Island and is not unknown further south, numbers having bben found in the hill suburbs of Dunedin and on the Otago Peninsula. The snow cleaned up the porina —the subterranean grass grub—which comes up above the ground to feed at night, but the New Zealand grass grub is still at large,” said Mr A. Stuart, agricultural instructor, at the annual meeting of the Winton Experimental and 1 Demonstration Farm Committee. “The New Zealand grub,” he said, “can almost stand freezing and then come to life again. After feeding on the grass roots in October and November this grub hatches out into a brown beetle which flies at dusk. In itself it can also be a pest and can practically clean up turnip crops if it catches them at the seedling stage.”

“Echelon,” which is in frequent use in connection with the organisation of' the Second New Zealand Division, continues to puzzle a number of people both as to its meaning and pronunciation. It is pronounced, roughly, “eshalongP It is a military term describing a formation of troops in which successive divisions are placed parallel to one another, but with no two on the same alignment. Less; technically, the formation can be described as a series of steps. As applied to the new divisions it means that parallel to the first body of troops recruited but not so far forward will be the second lot and that the third enlisted body will occupy the same relative position to the second. For Bronchial 'Coughs, Colds, InInfluenza. Woods’ Great Peppermint Care,

iCherry-picking is expected to be shortly in full swing in the Greytown orchards. The yield promises to be a heavy one. The fact that New Zealand lost its proud position of having the lowest death date of any country in the world is now familiar, as the. Netherlands improved on our own figure in 1937, with a death rate of 8.7 per 1,000 compared with New 1 Zealand’s 9.1.

The mutton bird season in Whakatane opened at the week-end, when approximately 120 local Maoris visited Whale Island and raided the birds’ nesting ground. It is estimated that some 0000 birds were taken. The yield is considered one of the best for many years.

“There can be no doubt that these signs are definitely dangerous,” said Mr R. E. R. Booth at a meeting of the General Committee of the Automobile Association (Southland) when the placing of advertising signs along the centre of the bonnets of motor-cars was being discussed. The subject was raised by Mr J. D. Campbell who said that those persons who were arranging for the signs to be placed on the bonnets held that the authorities had no objection. He thought however, that the signs - affected visibility and suggested that a letter be written to the Transport Department. It was stated that the question, was one that concerned the whole cf the Dominion, and it was decided to write to the South Island Motor Union, asking it to take the matter up with the Transport Department and to point out the danger of visibility being affected.

Somebody has been writing to a London weekly to ask which is the least harmful form of smoking. The editor refused to commit himself. Perhaps he isn’t a smoker, and really didn’t know, although editors are supposed to bow everything. Had he been a New Zealand editor he’d have had no difficulty in answering that question. He’d simply have said—at any rate in effect —“Smoke ‘toasted’ because in that ease it doesn’t matter a button .whether you puff pipe or cigarettes or both, this tobacco’s 0.K.” And he’d have been dead right, because whether you smoke “the pipe of peace” or “roll your own” toasted is so pure and comparatively free from nicotine (the toasting eliminates the stuff) that you can indulge in any number of pipes or cigarettes without fear of their letting you down. Yes, toasting does make a difference, in fact it makes all the difference, whether you smoke Cut Plug No. 10 (Bullshead), Cavendish Navy Cut No. 3 (Bulldog), Riverhead Gold or Desert Gold. They’re all unapproaehed for flavour and bouquet and are the only genuine toasted brands. 20 The Austral seasons come and go In summer’s -beat and winter’s snow; And spring unfolds her fresh green shoots. And autumn brings her gifts of fruits. Each change is fraught with human ills, With coughs and colds and sudden chills; But life is safe, and health is sure By taking Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. 27.