NEWS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 161, 11 July 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

First Frost-fish A good specimen of frost-fish, measuring between five and six feet in length, was picked up on the beach at Manawatu Heads on .Monday morning after a severe frost was experienced. Frosts in City Yesterday morning’s frost was the severest experienced in Palmerston North this year. Eight degrees were recorded. On Sunday morning there were 4- degrees of frost, on Saturday 5 degrees and on Thursday of last week 6 degrees. Mechanical Book-keeping A new mechanical book-keeping system imported from the United States has been installed in the Napier Chief Post Office. The machine will do most of the work which has hitherto been done manually, and in future all pass books in tho savings bank will carry a special column in which the depositor’s account will be mechanically balanced after each transaction. New types of deposit and withdrawals forms, designed to meet the new conditions, are now available. Thousands of Acres of lettuces An interest in agriculture led Mr. G. 11. Holford, of Wellington, to visit those areas concerned with vegetable and fruit growing on the Pacific Coast of America during his overseas trip from which lie returned about a year ago. lie told members of the Palmerston North Rotary Club yesterday that he had seen in one place 300 of asparagus, in another 4000 acres of peaches and further on no fewer than 22,000 acres of lettuces forming almost a continuous belt for miles and miles.

Thousand Miles without a Flower On the Santa Fe trail he had travelled for a thousand miles without seeing a flower, said Mr. G. H. Holford, of Wellington, in an address to the Palmerston North Rotary Club yesterday. He was on his way to attend a conference on fertilisers at the White Sulphur Hotel, which had two aviation landing fields and five golf courses, set in magnificent surroundings. The place was controlled by a railway company, which did things in a big way, he added.

Making People Beach-minded At the monthly meeting of the Beach Improvement Society at the week-end, Mr. M. E. Pcrrcau, Mayor of Foxton, brought before the meeting a recommendation that the name Manawatu Heads should be scrapiicd and the beach universally referred to as Foxton Beach. In his opinion the change of name would tend to make people more beachminded, as to many tho present name conveyed nothing and gave no indication of the excellent beach, with nothing to bo desired in the way of access, sc- little off the beaten track. Rail Jiggers Collide An unusual accident occurred on the main trunk railway line near To Awamutu about 8 p.m. on Saturday, when a motor-jigger operated by Mr Alfred Corlett, aged 51, railway employee, married, of Te Kuiti, was involved in a collision with a hand-driven jigger operated by two other railway employees. The two men on the hand-jig-ger jumped clear, but Mr Corlet received severe head injuries and was unconscious. He was admitted to the Waikato Hospital. A fractured skull u suspected. A Breakfast Club Something new in clubs was found in Los Angeles by Mr. G. H. Holford, of Wellington, during a recent trip abroad. Ho found himself asked by the New Zealand Government representative to address a Breakfast Club. It was near Empire Day and they had arranged foi a talk to suit the occasion. The club met at 9 a.m. The first part of the programme had been a high-class vaudeville show with ballets and everything complete. On his left had sat movie stars and on the right all sorts of georgeously attired officials, the chief of police looking like a vice-admiral that “had gone wrong.” The function took place at the Ambassadors ’ Hotel, which would be known to radio listeners. It had been a rather unique experience. Ho sat alongside the president of Mexico, who spoke to the club in Spanish.

Oil in Waikaia Valley Mr R. D. Coghill, a director of Imperial Chemical Industries, who has been visiting Eastern Southerland carrying out a preliminary survey of the natural resources for the extraction of petrol, oil, kerosene and paraffin wax from shale, is impressed with the possibilities of the district. “Both at Freshford and Mataura,” he stated in an interview, “there appear to be opportunities for the production of oil, kerosene, paraffin, etc., from the shale and lignite deposits in tlio respective districts.” He had prospected and pegged out an area of about 200 acres on rising ground near Freshford, and if the claim were actually developed it was not improbable that fame -would once again come to a district which half a century ago was the scene of great activity. Experiments with Freshford shale, he added, had shown that the samples were quite on a par with thost taken from Orepuki.

Pohutukawas Flower The mildness of the winter is reflected in tho vagaries of flowering trees and 6hrubs in the Whakatane district, states an exchange. Pohutulcawa trees in Otarawairere Baj', near Ohope, are showing * fair-sized patches of blossom, and, judging from the seed heads on one tree, which has just shed its blossoms, the display must have been comparable with that of the summer. Peach trees at the beach have also flowered, as have plum trees in Whakatane itself. The -weather still continues to bo very mild in tbe Opotiki district and the whole countryside shown a rich green. Feed is coining away at a good rate. Trees in this district also are commencing to blossom unusually early. As the ground is warm farmers are hopeful that there will be early spring growth. It is interesting to note that a red gum tree is in flower at the present time in Russell Street, Palmerston North. This is tho second time this tree has flowered this season and is an indication of the mildness of the winter.