News Of The Day

Northern Advocate, 16 May 1939, Page 6

News Of The Day

National Party. Parliamentary members of the National Party will meet in Wellington on Friday for a caucus. The party leader, the Hon. A. Hamilton, will arrive in Wellington on Wednesday, and will leave for *Palmerston North to attend the annual conference of the Wellington Division of the party.

Schnapper Swallows Seagull. When cleaning fish caught off Guana Rock, those aboard Mr T. Wakelin's launch Valencia were astounded to find within the paunch of a 151 b schnapper a complete seagull. The bird had evidently been swallowed whole by the “old man" schnapper, either when diving for fish or when floating dead upon the water. It was in a good state of preservation. * * * ’Flu Closes School. On account of the prevalence of influenza, the vacation course of the Education Department's correspondence school, which has been in progress at New Plymouth Boys’ High School for a week, has been closed. Some pupils left for their homes yesterday, and those who are indisposed will be sent home as soon as they are well enough to travel. A number of children from Northland have been attending the course.

Power For Rural Areas. A solution of the difficulty of reticulating sparsely settled back-country areas, owing to the proportion of the revenue to cost, was advanced at the annual meeting of the Taranaki Electric Power Board by the chairman, Mr N. H. Moss, who proposed a small percentage levy on the revenues of all supply authorities throughout New Zealand, and the money used to subsidise the payment of annual loan charges on reticulaton into sparselysettled rural areas. * -x- *

Power Progress in North. Good progress is being made in the laying of electric power lines in the Bay of Islands Power Board’s area. A large pole gang is now employed on the Ohaeawai-Okaihau line* and poles have been erected along the biggest portion of the road to Okaihau, and a wiring gang is shortly to be put on the line. The wiring of the Ohaeawai township has now been completed, and the low-tension wiring of the Kawakawa town area is also nearing finality. As soon as the Kawakawa wiring is completed the gang will be transferred to the Okaihau route, which is expected to be completed very shortly.

Kaitaia By-Election. j The by-election to fill the vacancy on j the Kaitaia Town Board, caused by the | resignation of Mr T. S. Houston, result- \ ed as follows: —D. Archibald, 144; A. H. ; Stanton, 138; Mrs Kathleen Buckle, 37. i * * * Visitor Impressed With Mt. Denby. Favourable comments on the golfing facilities ,at Mount Denby were made by Mr N, von Nida, Australian professional, after playing in an exhibition match on Sunday. Both the layout and the condition of the course impressed Mr von Nida. The fairways, he said, were better than any other he had played on in New Zealand while the greens would bear comparison with the Dominion’s best. * * * Men For Mounted Rifles. “With the increase in population, there must be many more men now available in Northland than in 1913, when the district had a strong mounted force,” said Lieutenant-Colonel C. J. Pierce, officer commanding the an- 1 nual camp of the First Composite | Mounted Rifles, this morning. He considered that, with more attention now , being paid to the land forces,'it should be possible :to build : up the North Auckland Mounted Rifles to its former strength. f

Motorised Squadron Leaves, The most up-to-date land force in New Zealand, the Fourth Motorised Mounted Rifled, left Whangarei this morning after a two-days’ visit to the annual camp of the First Mounted Rifles. The big column of cars, trucks and motor-cycles, in all carrying 160 officers and men, moved out from Kensington Park at 10.30 a.m., to the strains of the band of the Auck-land-Fast Coast Regiment,, and will proceed to Narrow Neck 'Military Schogl, Auckland, where the men will disperse to their homes. The two Bren gun carriers attached to the squadron were loaded on to railway waggons for transport to the south.