LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 20036, 17 June 1937, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

New Houses on tho Plains. Several hcav houses are either in course of erection or are to be erected shortly, on the liauraki Plains. To Play in Auckland. The Thames American Basketball representative team is to play in competition matches at the Auckland Town Hall to-night, Air Mail Arrives. The Chief Postmaster at Thames advises that the air mail despatched from Auckland on May 28, via Sydney-Singa-pore air service, arrived in London on o'uno 14. Plains Buildings. During the past month nine building permits Avere issued by the liauraki Plains County Council, the estimated cost of the buildings being £IO4O. Thames Wharf Tonnages. For the four months ended April the total manifest tonnage of cargo handled at the Thames Avharf was 2297 tons. Inward totalled 1500 and outAvard 731 tons. Totalisator Returns. > Por the nine months ended April 31, there had been 202 days' racing in the Dominion, and the totalisator investments amounted to £5,070,112. The amount paid in dividends Avas £4,191,225. Peace Cup Challenge. The Paeroa Rugby Union decided at its meeting this week to challenge for the Peace Cup. The Thames Union is to be asked to arrange, if possible, that the Paeroa team does not have to play an elimination match owing to the loav finances of its Union. Road in Bad State. Tho Wharepoa Ferry-Kerepeehi Road is in a shocking state at present, many parts of it being nothing but a sea of potholes. It is understood that metal is to go on this road, and motorists will say, "The sooner the better!" Illuminating Railway Figures. Tho number of passenger journeys in New Zealand by rail in 1930-37 was 21,235,428, an increase of 4.3 per cent, over the total during the previous financial year. The net ton-miles run by the railways was 496,400,000, an increase of 11.9 per cent, over the previous year. Sales Tax Collected. The amount of sales tax collected during April was £295,082, which showed a slight decline from the record figure reached in March, £290,037. Sales tax collections during the financial year ended March 31 totalled £3,050,985, according to figures appearing in the latest Abstract of Statistics. He Hates Dictators! According to a report in a Christchurch contemporary, Mr. li. Semple, Minister for Transport, does not like dictators, and he expressed his opinions on the subject very forcibly at a conference of local body representatives. "I'm not a Mussolini. I hate dictators," he said. "If I had my Avay they would all be behind bars." No Swings for Children. "The Department is definitely opposed to the erection of swings, horizontal bars, etc., on the school grounds," ran an intimation to the Te Aroha School Committee last Monday night. "Any of these devices Avhich may be contemplated are erected entirely at the com* mittee's oavu risk." Cooking by Electricity. In a report on borough electricity charges in the "Thames Star" yesterday, a typographical error appeared which attributed the Commissioner, Mr C. L. Grange, with saying, Avhen asked regarding complaints in connection with cooking by electricity, that "more" had been received. Tho Avord "more" should, of course, have read "none." Kauri Gum. Several residents of the town possess soma unique examples of carved kauri gum. At one time carving in gum was a popular hobby, and some of the pieces so treated Avere most artistic and displayed great care and ability. One lady is the possessor of a miniature cathedral made entirely from this gum. Advice to Farmers. "If ragwort is not in iioAver, it is not ragwort to some farmers," said Mr. VV. Chapman, noxious Aveeds inspector, at yesterday's meeting of tho Hauraki Plains County Council. "If farmers would deal Avitli ragwort noAV in its young stages, it Avould save them a lot of trouble in the spring," added the inspector, who stated he hoped to educate- settlers in time. Rugby on the Plains. Keen interest is being taken in Rugby ©n the Plains this year, with the Peace Cup challenge coming along, and senior players selected for representative honours held their first night practice under the recontly-erected training lights on Tuesday night, Some players travelled 26 miles to attend the practice. Rats. More than 2000 rats Avere caught in Wellington during the year ended March 31 last, according to the annual report of the chief sanitary inspector Avhich Avas presented to the Wellington City Council on Thursday last. Tho figure, it Avas pointed out, did not constitute the total number of rats destroyed, as it Avas impossible to estimate tho number of deaths caused by poison set by tho rat-catcher.

Hiking to Tairua. It is understood that mext summer quite a number of hikers are planning to make the trip through the Kauaoranga Road to Tairua. Reports of camping spots aiTd beaches from that side of the peninsula are making a strong appeal. When the roadway is completed for ears, it is said the beaches over there will bo crowded each summer. Butchers Concerned. Auckland butchers are concerned about unexpected difficulties in the collection of the 2d levy on pigs, which was imposed by the Government at the request of producers to provide for tho establishment of an instructional and advisory service. Because they regard it as impossible to pass the extra cost on to the producers, tho incidence of payment in the ease of stock is stated to have, fallen upon their shoulders. An Old Letter. Some interesting things happen in Thames. Just recently a garage in tho town purchased a door which had been in uso in a building erected somewhere about 1869. This door had a slit with a letter-box behind it, and not needing the letter-box, this was removed. Wedged in between the box and tho door panel was a letter dated 1871. It had lain there all those years, and both the man who posted it and the man it was addressed to have long since passed away. Those Running Shoes. When the Minister for Transport, Mr. R. Semple, decided that sharppointed radiator mascots must bo removed from motor-cars in the interest of public safety, motorists with a decorativo turn of mind were probably grieved, but at least one has managed to comply with the regulations without dispensing with his mascot. This motorist drives a truck, and his vehicle was seen on tho street in Wellington last week with a pair of running shoes neatly tied to the top of the radiator. Money Invested in Glasshouses. "It's appalling to see the indifference shown by Governments these last ten years in our industry," said Mr. D. J. Falla, of Christchurch, at the conference in Wellington of the Dominion Council of Tomato, Soft Fruit and Procluco Growers, Ltd. "They don't seem to realise the extent of the business or of the money involved in it. In Christchurch there is a capital of £750,000 alone in glasshouses. What must it amount to in Auckland and Wellington?"

The Pipiroa Bridge. The break between the full development of the Thames Coast as a motor camping resort is the Pipiroa ferry. Motorists from Auckland find that the ferry is the bugbear in the trip. Once upon a time there was some talk of a bridge being built, but everyone has forgotten that now, and, besides, the ferry is such a revenue-producer that it must be maintained at all costs. Still, some day—perhaps next century —a council will arise with a vigorous policy and a bridge will really be constructed. By that time it is possiblo that motor-cars will have gone out of fashion!

The Hunter Hunted. Mr. Fred Hingston, of Thames, who in his younger days was a keen sportsman, relates his first experience at deer-shooting in the South Island. He was on top of a ridge covering a track with his rifle, and his companion had made a detour, explaining that when the animal heard him it would rush up the track and prove an easy shot. Mr. Hingston knelt in position behind some short scrub. He heard the galloping of the deer and raised his rifle. But instead of appearing on the track the animal dashed up from behind him and nearly ran him over. He jumped to one side and fired, but was so excited at the turn of events that he missed. "When I turned my head and saAv the beast with his big branching antlers nearly on me, you bet I jumped," he said.