NEWS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 42, 20 February 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Exercises for all An article is published this morning explaining the first set of physical fitness exercises which will be broadcast from YA stations at 7 o’clock each morning during tho week. They are planned to suit men, women and children. It is anticipated that in many thousands of homes the exercises will bo a “family affa : -,” with the young folk and their parents moving in bends and swings with ttie music, large Eel Caught Five feet in length and weighing 211 lb., a long-iinned cel caught by threo schoolboys in the Maukau Stream, near Pukekohc, has bocu forwarded to tho Auckland War Memorial Museum. Although it is the largest ever received at the museum, it docs not compare with ono officially noted that was caught in tho Wanganui River and which weighed 421 b. New Zealand has tho distinction of providing the largest freshwater eels of any part of the world.

Fruit and Finger-nails Through tho employment of some hundreds of girls in picking fruit in one New Zealand district, the condition of some of tho fruit had been affected by numerous marks of finger-nails, which disfigured the fruit seriously sometimes, and in tho caso of exported cases, caused partial rotting of fruit, said Mr. G. Stafford, when speaking to the Canterbury Fruitgrowers’ Association. He emphasised the importance of care being exercised in the picking of fruit. On one apple, he added, amidst he had seen an excellent imprint of five finger-nails. A Popular Gathering The Trades Union picnic at Ashhurst was a very popular gathering last year, it being estimated that about 7000 were present, but the public atteuded in even larger numbers yestordav, when the uumber of picnickers was between SOOO and 9000. The price of admission varied for children and adults, but approximately £BO was taken at the gates, which represented those who travelled by car. There were six trains, which came from Levin, Foxton, Feilding and Woodville as well as Palmerston North. The admission for the travellers by rail amounted to about £2lO.

Man With no Country Officials from two Btate Departments and tho Matson Line agency in Auckland, Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlauc, Limited, spent a perplexing day on Friday trying to prove tho nationality and destination of Thomas Conniff, aged 42, who had stowed away on the Mariposa, been sentenced to a week’s imprisonment at Suva, and returned to Auckland by the Monterey, lie claimed American citizenship, but refused to sign an attestation. Ultimately the Customs authorities in Wellington proved that he was Irish, and ho was allowed to land. Americans and War Several American business men who passed through Auckland by the Monterey from San Francisco and Los Angeles, said they had no doubt that if tho British Empire wero threatened by what one called “the sabre-rattlers'’ the United States would light with the British. Mr. H. G. Meinecke, of San Francisco, and Mr. Emery Huse, of Los Angeles, both said their countrymen had so much in common with the British and so many mutual commercial interests, that there would be no alternative than to fight if tho necessity arose. “That is the general opinion of thinking Americans,'’ Mr. Huso added. Aid for Wool Growers A meeting of members of the Farmers’ Union and wool growers at Taumarunui to consider the question of a guaranteed price for wool rejected the proposal and passed a resolution that the meeting was definitely of the opinion that it would be detrimental to the industry for the State to control the sale of wool. Tho meeting recommended the appointment of a committee by the Farmers’ Union to collect statistics and ascertain to what extent the industry needed assistance and to open negotiations with the Government for a discussion of tho most equitable manner in which benefits could be applied. A resolution expressing the view that the most equitable and satisfactory assistance would be a flat rate a pound bonus on all wool sold by producers was lost.

East Coast Highway Numbers of campers are still visiting Gisborne in the course of their summer tours. According to the resldont automobile association patrol, Mr. D. M. McGregor, a large number of motorists have made the journey recently from Opotiki to Gisborne by way of the East Cupe scenic route. The patrol said he had boon told repeatedly by travellers that from what they had learned before making the trip they thought they would have to be prepared for a difficult journey around the coast. They were surprised at the comparatively good condition of the route and were looking forward to the time when they would be making a return visit on the completion of the bridging of the fords. The element of doubt regarding the fordability of the streams would then bo removed.

Ratepayer’s Amazing Error An envelope that was received by post at the Auckland city valuer’s office last week contained what is regarded at tho town hall as the joke of a lifetime. The council recently sent out notices of rating valuations of all properties in its district for the year 193940, preparatory to the sitting of the Assessment Court. Among the notices was one putting an annual rateable value of £2O on each of three vacant sections at Tamaki which had been acquired last year by a man living in a southern city. On opening a letter the other day an official was amazed to find in it the valuation notice, together with a cheque for £6O. Evidently the n6w ratepayer had mistaken the notice for a. demand for £6O in rates and had remitted the full amount of the annual valuation. The council has returned the cheque by registered post, with a letter explaining tho position.

An ocular anomaly drains the whole nervous system of its vital energy and is often tho forerunner of physical disturbances. If you get headaches or suffer from dizziness, blurred vision or general eyestrain, a thorough examination is recommended. Azzopardi and Holland, Consulting Opticians, Square*