NEWS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 121, 23 May 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Large Wedding Party When a bridal conple arrived at the i Palmerston North office of the Registrar) of Marriages yesterday, they were accompanied by about 50 guests with the; result that the Magistrate’s Court had; ‘to be requisitioned for the ceremony. Practical Patriotism Messrs J. C. Young and W. G. Black j addressed the men at the Longburn j freezing works yesterday morning on! behalf of the Sick and Wounded Fund, j After a full discussion it was decided ’ to give the King’s Birthday pay to the I fund. Although the number of men now employed is below the peak, with the inside staif giving similarly, the total is estimated to bo about £3OO. Demand for Dominion Honey. The ready demand which two recent shipments of New Zealand honey had met with in Australia was referred to on Monday by Mr. J. B. Unswortli, an apiarist from Rotorua who has returned from a visit to the Commonwealth. Mr. Unswortli said that honey in Australia mainly came from tree flora of the eucalypt variety and the Dominion pro duct, especially white clover honey, had been greatly appreciated. Rotary and the War. “ Rotary International expects its members, while co operating toward a cordial international understandings, to be thoroughly loyal to their religious and moral ideals, and to the higher interests of their particular country,” stated a message from the board of Rotary International, which was read at the Auckland Rotary Club luncheon. The message defined the movement’s attitude toward the war. Tne “Fifth Column.” The need for Rotarians to assist in keeping up the morale of the people, especially in view of the serious situation in Europe, was stressed by Mr. W. Fraser, president of the Hamilton Rotary Club, at its weekly luncheon. “Wc have a ‘Fifth Column’ in our midst—those people who are adopting a defeatist attitude,” said Mr. Fraser. “There is a good deal of this defeatist attitude about and Rotarians can do a great deal to offset it.” Quality of Seed. The sale of seed of inferior quality . was discussed at a meeting of the Auckland District Council of Primary Production on Monday. The opinion was expressed that, as an emergency measure for the duration of tho war, the I Government should be asked to introduce a Seeds Act to ensure that prim- I ary production would not be retarded ! through tho use of inferior seed. It j was also decided to draw the attention ! of tho director of primary production, j Mr. R. B. Tennent, to previous remits along these lines which have been forwarded. Tho Invisible Goiafisa.

Recently in Avondale the proprietor of a store exhibited in his window a glass globe containing water and an aquatic plant, writes a correspondent. It bore tho following notice. “This case contains invisible goldfish from China —not for sale.” Considerable interest was aroused. One boy is stated to have told his school teacher that he hud seen three of tho flsli. However, tho pro-; prietor got a surprise when one morning ho found attached to the outside of his ' window a letter in the following terms: 1

“Dear Sir, —We, tho undersigned, beg to tell you that wo have stolen your goldfish. Belonging, as we do, to the Master Crackmen’s Union, we cannot tell you how the deed was done, but look in the bowl for yourself, and if you find any of the invisible goldfish you can gloat over the failure of yours in the swim, Adolf, Joe and Benito. P.g.—We hope that you will have the Loch Ness monster in the bowl for us next time we are passing.” Coo* Strait Wlialing.

Whaling has begun again in Tory Channel. Tho first humpback of the new season was sighted at the end of last week passing northbound through Cook Strait. Whalers aro now keeping a lookout for the main annual migration, which is expected to begin within tho next fortnight. Whale oil is in great demand this year for war purposes. It is used extensively in the manufacture of munitions. Whales caught in Cook Strait aro almost all humpbacks. They come through Cook Strait on their annual migration north to the, warm seas, where they Dreed, from the cold Ross Sea, where they spend the summer months. Up to 40 whales a day pass through tho strait during the season. Tory Channel whalemen have taken as many as eight in a day, and their season’s catch is usually between 50 and 90 whales. They are mostly about 50ft. Jong, weight about as man}' tons, and produce three to six tons of oil each.