LOCAL AND GENERAL

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22790, 14 January 1944, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Successful Carnival Final figures for the Wellington R.S.A.'s holiday period carnival at the Basin Reserve are not yet ready but it is believed that the net result will be about £4400, which will go to the premises appeal. Fire in Empty Section A call to a fire in a vacant section in Beverley Road was answered by the Timaru Fire Brigade at 2.22 p.m. yesterday. While workmen were clearing the section, the fire became out of control and set alight the surrounding hedge, but the flames were quickly extinguished by the Brigade.

va Many Rabbits Trapped After a month’s trapping operations in the lower Wangaehu area (states the "Wanganui Chronicle”) a rabblter employed on contract by the Wanganui Rabbit Board has taken more than 2000 rabbits. The same rabbiter, over a period of five years in the Patea district, where he was previously employed, had a tally of more than 200,000 rabbits. Radio Amateurs

That many amateurs whose only knowledge of radio was through their hobby were now holding important positions in signals and allied branches of the forces in New Zealand and overseas, was disclosed at the annual conference of the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters in Wellington recently, when mention was made of the work being done by amateurs in the war effort, both in civilian capacity and with the forces. Ambergris Found

A piece of ambergris, weighing approximately 501 b, has been found by a Whangarei resident on the beach at Matapouri. The ambergris was discovered lying on the sand close to high-water mark and when found had commenced to melt through the action of the hot sun, a musky odour drawing the attention of the finder. When examined by a Whangarei bank manager the find was declared to be ambergris of high quality.

Mass Holiday Begins A party of 200 boys and girls from Taranaki have arrived in Auckland to spend a holiday in Auckland, during which time they will make a tour of the industrial and scenic features of the city. The group, which is under the leadership of the Rev. H. Irving, vicar of Inglewood, is composed of boys and girls drawn from Inglewood, Stratford and Whangamomona, and the ages range from nine to 18 years. The plan was conceived with a view to providing a holiday and simultaneously offering the opportunity to inspect industries and activities such as are found only in the larger cities. i

Warning to Waterside Worker “It would serve yon right if I made it a condition that you be not allowed to work on the wharves,” said Mr Harley, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court, Wellington, in admitting John Frederick Byrnand, water worker, to probation for 12 months. Byrnand rad pleaded guilty to stealing three tins of marmalade, the property of the United States Government. Mr A. B. Sievwright, in making a plea for leniency, said accused, who was a married man with a family, had taken the tins of marmalade from broken cargo on the ship on which he had been working.

Less Absenteeism

Manufacturers in the Wellington district on Monday reported a big improvement in the attendance of workers. many of them being very pleased with the way their employees have returned to work. One large factory reported almost 100 per cent, of their men at work and between 80 and 90 per cent, of the women, with letters ’rom an appreciable number of the latter who have been unable to return to work because of transport congestion. One employer who arranged a longer holiday period for his employees on the understanding that all of them should return promptly said that it had "worked out pretty well.” The “habituals” were, of course, still away, he said, but few of the others.

Plenty of Land Girls “There are more girls available for work on farms than there are positions offering,” said the secretary of the Otago Primary Production Council (Mr E. H. Calder), when commenting on a broadcast appeal for girls for land, work. The appeal, he said, should have been directed to farmers with a view to inducing them to make use of the services of the girls already available. Mr Calder added that the difficulty was that most of the girls willing to take up employment on farms were inexperienced, and in the rush of seasonal wdrk the fanners had no time to devote to their training. Most of the girls experienced in farming were already working. Judge Maning Letters

The Chief Librarian has accepted for the archives of Auckland Public Library about 12 sheets of typed material, being copies of, or extracts from, some of Judge Maning’s letters from Hokianga to his relatives in Tasmania between 1840 and 1860. The donor is Mr F. D. Maning. The records have come through a friend and correspondent, Mr C. J. O’Keeffe, of Mount Eden, who comments:— “Mr F. D. Maning, a much respected resident of Hobart, is grandson of Henry Thomas Maning, youngest brother of Judge Maning. The Maning family emigrated from Dublin to Tasmania in 1824, and founded the very early shipbuilding firm of Maning Bros., Hobart Town. Thanks are due to Mr Manihg for his courteous gesture in sending these records. He was for some years resident in the South Island and fought in the last war with the Otago infantry.”