LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 78, Issue 7025, 28 February 1949, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Grass Fire on Railway The fire brigade turned out very swiftly to fight a grass fire shortly after 2 p.m. last Saturday. The fire, which was rapidly approaching the Te Awamutu Dairy Company’s offices along the railway was the cause for some worry until the brigade arrived and efficiently coped with it. Dancing Successes

At the Te Miro (Cambridge) sports held on Saturday, Anne Wallace won the Highland Fling and Irish Jig classes. She was second in the Seantriubhas under 12 Julia Wallace was second in the Irish Jig and third in the Highland Fling, novice class. Barbara Bent was third in the Irish Jig, novice class. The girls are pupils of Miss Elaine North. Palmerston North Shops Te Awamutuites who were in Palmerston North over the week-end did a spot of “window shopping” and they were impressed by the variety and cheapness of many articles that were displayed. Grocers’ shops had windows full of imported tinned fish, figs and dates. Men’s outfitters were feaj turing dressing gowns and sports i coats at bargain prices. Several resij dents from Napier also were impressed i by the above-mentioned factors. I I Few Dissatisfied Immigrants ; Of 1928 Government assisted immi--1 grants since the inauguration of the I scheme, only 37, barely 1.3 per cent, have been released from their contracts to return to Britain according to a statement by the Department of Labour and Employment. Twentyeight had been released for domestic or compassionate reasons, four were unsuitable and only five had returned to Britain because they were dissatisfied.

Road from Mangakino A move is being made in the. Te Kuiti-Mangapehi area to press for construction of a good road from Manga pehj eastward to Mangakino hydro-electric works to tap considerable timber resources, the claim being made that a road 35 miles long would give better service for the milling industry than road or railway toward Tauranga. From Mangapehi the timber could be railed to New Plymouth for despatch overseas, especially to Australia.

Power Supply Failure Break-downs in power supply are not confined to the Waikato area, for a cessation of power occurred at Palmerston North on Saturday afternoon. The announcer at the North Island marching girls’ championships described the failure as being widespread over the Mflnawatu district. Cessation of the supply continued for several hours,, preventing a continuance of the broadcast description of the marching displays. Curiously enough, not a word of the break-down or its cause appeared in Palmerston North’s evening paper.

At Right Angles When th? Waipa County Council, at Monday’s meeting, was informed by the Department of Internal Affairs that a grand jury at Palmerston North had drawn attention to the danger of leaving a high ridge of metal in the centre of county roads after grading, a councillor suggested that a reply be sent to the department pointing .out that in Waipa County “the ridges were habitually left at right angles to the run of traffic on roads.” The reference to road corrugations was appreciated by councillors.

Shortage of Engineers A visiting engineer, .after inspecting the Maraetai hydrQ-electric construction work and hearing a brief address on the main features by Mr J. T. Gilkison, the engineer in charge, commented that wonders had been achieved in view bf the fact that there was a shortage of fully trained engineers. He added that the shortage of professional staff, particularly construction engineers, was going to be costly to the country, as adequate inducements were lacking for young men to advance their studies in the Dominion. Consequently some of them went overseas, and did not intend to return, having secured more attractive employment in other countries. Primary School Sports

Over 2200 entries have been received for the annual athletic sports to be held at Albert Park, Te Awamutu, next Thursday, and it is expected that all parents and friends will attend in full force to encourage the young athletes. Races for boys and girls from eight to 14 years of age, boys’ and girls’ ball games, relay races, and intermediate and senior marching contests will take place from 10 a.m. onward. Children are required to bring their lunches to the ground. Boiling water will be available free. Fourteen intermediate and eleven senior teams have entered for the marching contests, and they will be judged by Messrs W. Tootill, R. S. Sinclair, and A. R. Hill.