ABOUT TOWN

Northland Age, Volume XVIII, Issue 77, 8 July 1949, Page 1

ABOUT TOWN

Don’t forget tomorrow is the day when you hustle all those old clothes and dead marines out to the front gate for the collection the Nomads Cricket Club are making as a means of raising funds for their club. A worthy effort, and what a golden op- | portunity for you to get rid of all j your junk. What about those dis- | graceful old gardening clothes of hubj by’s Come on, do your stuff. ® I I expect any day now to see hordes l of people gathered in Commerce ; Street round about the new Power I Board Building. There have been men | at work on it lately again, and now, up go the decorations. Announcing j the fact that it is the office of the Bay of Islands Electric Power Board I in beautiful gold or bronze letters, j the place is taking on the appearance j of something important instead of a j glorified cowshed that it appeared to ibe for so long. It will be a pleasure to go there to pay the old account (he he) for you ar e bound to see there our friend Norman Senn, in top hat and frock coat. Nothing less i would do for such a nice building. , How about it, Norm ? ® | And just across the road, fast grows apace the building which will house the so-called work of one George ! McKenzie. ’Tis a structure of which | we, as citizens, can well be proud, by j virtue of the fact that we will get a I little more footpath on the main

street. George is proud of it also, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been granted a special petrol licence to enable him to drive past it at least ten times daily. Methinks he might have to do that for some considerable time yet. But here’s hoping, George. ® I’m disappointed, that’s what I am. No doubt there were of you who saw the Arr>v Recruiting truck standing on Commerce Street on Wednesday. Those of you who didn’t, can take my word for it that it was. Inside there were parked a full lieutenant complete with pips, a quarter sergeant of artillery, and a lowly corporal. All were busy studying papers, and I might miss my guess, but I think they were sorting them out for Trentham tomorrow'. Nevertheless, there they were, and there they stayed, 1 watched these goings on for some time, but nary a rookie did I see enter the portals where all abandon hope. Nor did this deter cur gallant warriors. Not on your life. They were there to do their duty as had the Light Brigade, only in different manner. They sat the whole thing out. Closer I went to

the truck cum recruiting office, expecting at any moment that the look* would rush out and tell me they had a spare job as a brigadier. But he didn’t. So here am I, pip and crownless, and weltering in this drivel to amuse myself, and, I hope, the hoi polloi.

Well, this is the night of the Golf Ball that all have looked for with anticipation. I was down the main stem the other day, and Father von Rotter mentioned th e fact that this was so. He also said in her presence that Violet Brljevich was going to the Ball, and had several dances free for those who were in need of an aid in the performance of the gyrations of the demented. He asked that I would

let this fact become known, and in accordance with the wishes of the cloth, I am doing the decent thing. Violet seemed perturbed about the suggestion. But there is no need for this, as I am always willing to aid beauty in distress. Though I think he might have been exaggerating a trifle, and she probably has only two dances available. 9 Now this is really good. I have heard on divers occasions, Bill Dawson make reference at County meetings to the portable crusher that was in the course of construction, so being curious, strolled round the other day to take a look at it. .It is still under construction, but when I had a look at it, I made a vow to myself that I would be there when it first started operations. To me it appeared to be Heath Robinson at his best, and immediately came the thought that here was a case where hope springs eternal in the breast of man. There are struts to which one could safely tie all Barnum’s elephants, in addition to platforms, wheels, pulleys and a motor which Queen Victoria launched at the same time as the Great Eastern. All that will be required is a gent with a bag of juniper berries to feed the machine, and the whole will be a great advertisement for a famous gin. It has possibilities, though. I think a few bags of fruit fed into it, and we would be world famous as producers of fruit salad. On the other hand, there might be some housewife who would like to purchase it a little later as a juice extractor. Far be it from me to doubt its capabilities, but ’strut h ! ! !