LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6565, 13 September 1948, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Footballer Injured . A fracture of the left collarbone was sustained by Waiter Macky a junior representative Rugby footballer during the course of a game at Te Awamutu on Saturday. Mr Macky is reported to be progressing favourably Final Debate The North Island final debating contes', between representatives of the Carterton and Upper Franklin Itoung Farmer Club’s is to be held in Te Awamutu in a little over a fortnight’s time. The subject will be “What subsidies are a desireable feature of the farming industry in New Zealand.”

Fewer Wasps Collected Collectors of queen wasps have slackened in their activity last week, considerably fewer of the insects having been brought into 'the Department of Agriculture, where a bounty of 3d for each queen wasp is being paid. If the present sunny weather continues, the queen wasps will soon be on the wing and the task of catching them will then be a very difficult proposition. The Itotal number brought into the Hamilton office of the Department of Agriculture has now reached the 70,000 mark.

Full Costs of Production

The opinion was expressed in a resolution adopted a<t a meeting of the Gordonton branch of Federated Farmers (Waikato Province) that if food production was to be maintained or increased it was essential that the producers must be paid their full costs of production plus reasonable profit. To obtain this result the payment for butterfat this season must be increased by 3d per pound. The meeting resolved that full support should be accorded the costs committee of the industry in its submissions.

World’s Population If all known plans for an increase of food production were realised, all it would mean would be that the world’s food production in 1951 would be approximately the same as that in the years immediately preceding the war. The world’s population, however, was increasing at the rate of 25,000,000 a year, and there were no significant additional lands to be brought into production until great development plans had been realised. This was said by Lord Bruce at a luncheon in London recently to the World Trade Alliance Association, just after he had Returned from a meeting of the council of the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Washington.

Overcrowded Schools “W r e in New Zealand are concerned about the overcrowding of our schools, but in Malaya it is not uncommon to have 900 and JOOO children in each school taught by missionaries,” said the Rev, Father Bcurke, speaking at the Catholic Women’s League in Christchurch last week. Practically all these children were pagans and were of mixed nationalities. The native priests—• Eurasians, Chinese, Tamils, Indians —many of whom had been trained in a seminary in Penang, were wonderful linguists, speaking several languages fluently. From Penang, where the seminary had been founded 170 years ago, hundreds of these priests had gone ‘to Indo-China, Korea, and o+her countries and a great many of them had died martyrs’ deaths.

Grace Darling’s Exploit Tuesday of last week was the anniversary of the exploit of the famous heroine, Grace Darling, who, on September _7th, 1838, rowed with her father through a raging storm from Longstone lighthouse, on (one of the Fame Islands, to the Harker Rocks to rescue the five survivors of the wrecked steamer Forfarshire. William Darling, the lighthouse keeper, and his daughter Grace, aged 22, launched their small boat in the broiling sea, and after a hazardous journey they returned with five survivors. Mr Darling and some sailors made the return trip and rescued the remaining four. A few years later Grace Darling died of consumption at the age of 26 and was buried in St. Aidan’s Churchyard, Barburgh, where on a tablet to her memory are lines written by, Wordsworth.

Farming Practice When a Bay of Plenty farmer was giving evidence before the Land Sales Court in Hamilton -on Friday there were several references to butterfat production and the number of cows that could comprise a profitable herd. The Court was most inquisitive, and when a witness referred to sheep also being kept on the property “to keep i‘.he ragwort tin check,” the Court pointed out that several budgets had not made any reference to profits from the sheep. The witness explained in detail that it was good practice to run sheep, epecially five-year ewes, with Ithe herd, but profits were not expected. In reply to questions he said the sheep would be kept for a season or two, after which the ragwort could be easily controlled by applying sodium chlorate, which would mean more grass, ensilage or hay for the cows.

“Flagrant Breach of Law” The president and treasurer of the Hanmer Springs sub-branch of the Returned Services Association pleaded guilty before Mr R. C. Abernethy, S-M. in Christchurch recently to a charge of conducting a lottery at Hanmer Springs, by which prizes of liquor and money were won by various persons. A fine of £75 was imposed. The lottery had been conducted to raise funds for the establishment of Returned Services Association clubrooms and a bowling green at Hanmer Spring. The net proceeds had amounted to £2900. “Everybody will have the greatest sympathy with the object of the lottery, but the Court cannot wink its eye at this case,” said the magistrate. “That would simply invite all and sundry to embark on similar projects. It does not matter what I, as a returned soldier or a magistrate, think of this. It was a flagrant breach of the law.”