LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 62, Issue 4378, 15 January 1941, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A check on persons requiring charts of New Zealand waters is now being made in New Zealand, according to an official statement issued in Wellington last night. No person who cannot satisfactorily prove his identity or his connection with a commercial vessel can procure a chart from the Marine Department in Auckland.

Speaking at a social gathering at Westport, the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W'. Nash, said the first call on wealth was embodied in care of the aged, care of the young, and care of essential workers. The Labour Government had done more to bring about these ideals than any other Government in the world.

Advice has been received that letters, packages, etc., posted in Te Awamutu district between sth and 22nd November for England were included in approximately 1600 bags of letters, newspapers, and parcels, including both civilian and Expeditionary Force mails for Great Britain, which have been lost through enemy action.

Throughout the Te Awamutu district record quantities of hay and ensilage have been saved this season, and the crops have been harvested in splendid condition. The growth has been phenomenal everywhere, and some paddocks cut earlier in the season for ensilage are now bearing fine crops of hay.

The big fire in the Monavale swamp during the recent dry spell has now abated, leaving only the smouldering peat. The extent of the fire can now be realised, thousands of acres being merely a blackened mass, with fires here and there still smouldering—and that despite the rain at the weekend.

A meeting of members of the Te Awamutu unit of the Home Guard will be held on Monday evening next, when the leader, Mr H. A. Swarbrick, will disclose the plans for the future operation of this body. It is pleasing to record that enrolments in the local unit continue to be received at a satisfactory rate.

Nature can always be relied upon to produce some splendid sunset effects over the Firth of Thames at this time of the year, but during recent nights she has been putting the moon to use in a picturesque way. One moonset down the harbour was the finest seen in years. There was just enough cloud lying in wisps to make a most picturesque scene.

In connection with the labour trouble which has arisen on the Wharepapa small farms’ block, a meeting of the occupiers and unionists will be held to-night, when the union organiser will be present. It is understood that the matter has already formed the subject of direct communications to the Minister of Lands (the Hon. Frank Langstone).

An exceptionally good lambing season is reported from the Walton district, from which area approximately 10,000 lambs, half the estimated output, have already been forwarded to the freezing works. The lambs this season are of fine quality and high average weights. Among recent lines sent from the district the following dressed weights are examples:—soo lambs averaging 4311 b.; 1100 averaging 391 b.; 900 averaging 3811 b.

As the dust had been very troublesome at the local school, tennis courts and hall at Roto-o-Rangi, which are situated at the corner of the main Te Awamutu-Cambridge highway and the road to Kairangi Settlement, the authorities are now engaged in getting the road ready for tar-sealing, which should effectively abate the nuisance. The work is in full swing, and will be carried on to completion at once.

At a special meeting of Te Awamutu branch of the Democratic Labour Party, held in Gifford’s Buildings on Thursday, 19th December, it was unanimously decided to withdraw the branch’s affiliation from the Party. After a prolonged discussion covering both the constitution and the statement of principle this decision was reached because the opinion was held that “it was impossible for this branch to subscribe to the constitution.”

The Empire Theatre was well filled on Monday evening, the occasion being the visit of the Hawaii Sings Company, under the direction of Honolulu Enterprises, to Te Awamutu. It was an appreciative audience, and recalls were frequent. Novelty, from the point of view of a New Zealand audience, was the outstanding feature of the two-hour programlme, which ranged from a variety of instrumental items to graceful dance numbers. Miss Momi Kaaimoku won acclaim for her presentation of hula dances, and the othei- members of the company were deservedly popular.

Agreement to permit all members of The Waikato sub-provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union to attend his meeting with the Whatawhata branch of the Union to discuss the Small Farms Amendment Bill was expressed by the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, to the secretary of the Whatawhata branch, Mr A. W. Moore, on Monday. The' meeting, which is tentatively arranged for sth February, was first of all limited to members of the Whatawhata branch, but in view of the wide interest being taken by farmers the Minister agreed to broaden the scope of the meeting.

The rain experienced this week has been of immense benefit to the pastures in and around Te Awamutu and the rapidly declining milk supply from the dairy herds shows definite signs of having been arrested. In regard to the production of baconer pigs, the spell of dry weather had caused fears of an early end to the season, dependant as it is largely on the production of milk, but the outlook is now regarded as much brighter. The supplementary crops of turnips, carrots, artichokes, etc., which farmers had put in for pig feed will be better off now that rain has occurred, so that this food will prove a valuable adjunct to milk in fattening pigs for the market.