NEWS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 3, 4 January 1941, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Blind Institute. The Director of the Blind Institute, Auckland, has advised the Citizens’ Lunch Club that he hopes to pay a visit to his clients in this district about the end of January. Hay-making Operations No approach was made to the Department of Agriculture at Palmerston North over the Christmas and New Year holidays this year by farmers having hay-stacks burning through spontaneous combustion. Last year the trouble was more than usually prevalent. at this time of the season, owing to hay having been stacked when too damp, and two large stacks in particular suffered in this regard. The finer weather this year has proved a boon for hay-making operations. Car Plunges Into Harbour. A modern sedan motor-car plunged into Picton Harbour on Monday morning. One passenger, an elderly woman, was seated in the back of the vehicle : when it commenced its run down the j sloping embankment at the back of the launch jetties, but fortunately she was able to scramble out and was pulled to safety before the car reached the edge of the sea wall. The vehicle came to rest on the wheels in 10ft. of water and at low tide was secured to a punt. ATt full tide it was towed across the harbour and successfully dragged back to dry land. Eclipses in 1941. New Zealand is well served in eclipses this year, three out of the four occurring in 1941 being visible in the Dominion. A partial eclipse of the moon on March 13 will be visible in all its stages, while another, occurring on September 6, will be partially seen here in the early morning hours; The track of the annular eclipse of the sun occurring on March 27 moves across the Pacilie from east of New Zealand to Peru. At sunrise that morning the sun will rise with three-quarters of its diameter eclipsed, but the annular stage will not be seen here. The final eclipse of the year, a total one of the sun, occurring on September 21, will be seen only in Asiatic countries. Grass-seed Harvest

Excellent weather is now being experienced for the harvesting of the earlier ripening kinds of grass-seed and in various parts of the city activities in this direction have been noticed this week. At one place a woman was seen patiently picking over the tall cocksfoot in a vacant section, carefully taking the heads one by one. Roadsides and other ungrazed areas are providing their quota of seed, and one man this week received a cheque for over £lO for prairie-grass seed, ■which realised over £1 a sack. This seed was harvested from the roadside. In previous years there has been a demand for tall fescue, but this season the usual inquiry from South Africa is absent. On tlie Box Seat.

A good story is told in a letter recently received by a Napier resident from a relative “somewherfc in England” of the attitude displayed by the many “suicide squads'’—men engaged on the removal and demolition of unexploded bombs. “I passed an Army lorry yesterday,” comments the writer, “on which the words ‘Suicide Squad' were written and containing half a dozen laughing lads. The other day they were asked why they were silly enough to be sitting on a delayed action bomb, which was being driven away to be lired off. They said, 4 Well, if it goes off it just won't matter whether we are sitting on it or on the lorry. So we sit on it to keep it from rolling about! ’ ”

A Crayfish Story. Supported by the evidence of eyewitnesses, a Gisborne amateur rock fisherman claims to have set a record in crayfish catches. In a pot at Pouawa during the past week he entangled a crayfish which measured 3ft. in length with the tail extended. Its girth was that of an average infant, and in order to cram it into a kerosene tin for cooking it had to be stripped of legs and feelers. The incident occurred not far from a beaeliside residence whore until recently crayfish was sold to the public and supplied to town retailers, and where now stands a sign reading: “No crays. Blame Hitler!” Tho sign, states the Gisborno Herald, has reference to the departure of the professional fishermen to take part in hostilities against the Nazis and Fascists. Rush Army Order.

While most Aucklanders were enjoying their Christmas holidays to the full out in the open, the executive officers of one firm of manufacturers were busy iu their factory executing an urgent Army order. The factory operatives were on holiday. The firm did not receive the order until just before the holidays, and the first task of its officers was to rearrange the plant to enable the order to be undertaken. This in itself was no light job, involving the coupling up of machines in groups. For tho manufacturing process, all tho raw material available iu Auckland before Christmas was obtained, and on this the executive members <i the staff worked until it was exhausted. This meant working through the holidays uutil New Year’s Eve. Although further supplies could not be obtained to complete the order, a good start has been made, and an early delivery of tho full requirements of the Army from this firm ensured. The Centennial Stamps.

Had it not been for the war and the consequent shortage of paper, New Zealand ’s Centennial set of postage stamps would have been withdrawn from issue on December 31 last. That was the original intention, but in order not to waste paper they will continue in uso uutil stocks are exhausted. Some denominations will naturally be used up more quickly than others, but gradually each will be replaced by tho corresponding value in the pictorial set which was in use immediately prior to the issue of the Centennial set at the beginning of last year, lving George VI stamps will as before be used for the three lowest denominations, these having replaced the corresponding pictorial values some time before the issue of the Centennial set. The demand overseas for the Centennial stamps has been very large, and used copies of some values are comparatively hard to acquire. As these at present. are not allowed to be sent out of the country in quantity, many people tiro hoarding them until alter the war.