LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 19604, 9 January 1936, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Legal Offices Re-open. Legal offices in Thames, which have been closed during the holidays, reopened to-day. Farewell to Church Officer. On Monday evening a public farewell will be tendered Major Adams, of the Thames Salvation Army staff, at the Barracks, Pollen Street. The Mayor, Mr. S. Ensor, will preside, and members of the Thames Ministers’ Association will also be present. Rotorua Poll Carried. The poll of ratepayers of the Rotorua Borough, taken yeserday, in connection with the proposal to raise £l-1.000 for improvement work in the borough, was carried by a large majority, although only a small proportion of the ratepayers of a total roll of 1500 exercised the franchise. The final count showed 274 votes for the proposal and 94 against. Thames Contractors Successful. Messrs. Smith and Aitken, contractors of Thames, were the successful tenderers for the erection of a modern concrete bridge over the Ohinemuri River at Waihi, on the WaihiTauranga highway. The contract has been let by the Public Works Department, and it is understood that the construction costs will be £2500. Messrs. Smith and Aitken have in the past carried out many contracts for the Thames County Council and other local bodies in this district. Five-Year-Olds and School Extensions. lit his speech at Paeroa, the member for Thames, Mr. James Thorn, said the Government intended to admit five-year-old children to schools after the present holidays, and where there was insufficient accommodation it was intended to provide it, thus necessitating increased building activity with standard rates of pay, which would help to reduce the unemp’oyment burden. Inglewood His World! With Inglewood only 12 miles from New Plymouth, and transport so easy, it seems strange that a boy living in the centre of the town lias not yet seen the sea or New Plymouth (says the “Taranaki Herald’s” Inglewood correspondent). The boy is 10 years old and is fond of swimming, but next Sunday will be his first experience of swimming in the sea. He states that his only idea of a bigger town than Inglewood is from pictures. His who e life has been spent in Inglewood, with occasional visits to Tariki. Trams and boats he has not yet seen, so Sunday should be a red-letter day for him. White Butterfly Parasites. The parasites of the white butterfly in Gisborne are doing their work so well at present that further supplies will not he necessary (says the “Poverty Bay Herald.”) A statement to this effect was made by Mr. E. M. Bates, instructor in agriculture at Gisborne. He said the large decreaso in the number of white butterflies in the district recently was undoubtedly due to the rapid multiplication of the parasites and their effective work. As the result of the improved position, this year the entomological division had reported that no further parasites would be necessary for Gisborne. Taxi Men and Sparrows. “Whustle an’ I’ll come to ye, me lad,” is the sort of thing kept in mind by the sparrows who live at Thorn - don station, Wellington. These cheerful birds have been well trained by Hie taxi men at the station stand, who bring each day supplies of grain for their pets. The arrangement is that the taxi men whislte and the sparrows come in flocks to collect the food. Sometimes after the first whistle they sit on the fences watching for the gram to appear. That is against the rules. They must alight on the ground—or no grain. The game is played daily, and hundreds of sparrows take part. At the sound of the whistling they appear from everywhere, cheeky and eager. Cabbage Tree Blooms. The profusion of bloom on cabbage trees this summer has been freely commented upon; and not a few people have asserted this to be a sign of a dry summer ahead. “This is quite an erroneous Idea,” said an Invercargill resident, when questioned by a “Southland Times" reporter. “It is allegedly founded on Maori lore, but the Maoris would never be guilty of such a mistake. Cabbage trees do not bloom every year. They miss one year in two or three. Such a wealth of hloom as is seen this year indicates that the past summer was hot. It is the same with flax and other plants.”