LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 20091, 20 August 1937, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Thames Garages. Thames garage owners publish an announcement to-day to the effect that no repair work can be done on Saturdays owing to Labour' Department restrictions. Service stations will be permitted to sell petrol and oils, however. Shortage of Steel. The shortage of steel is responsible for the fact that Avork on the OtAvay bridge near Springdale, has been held up pending the arri\ r al of steel joists which have been on order from Australia for oA'cr six months. To Protect Itself. To protect itself, the Piako County Council has taken out an insurance policy covering passengers travelling in foremen’s trucks and the engineer’s car. tit is the custom for county Avorkmen to be given rides to jobs in county lorries. Chestnut Tree Planted. A young chestnut tree has been planted on tho half-moon section of grass fronting the dental clinic in Mary Street by the Beautifying Society. TMb should, Avhen grown, add greatly to the appearance of the Hospital surroundings. Three Sets of Tuvins. Mr. Denis Mullally, of Mount Linton, Southland, has a Fricsian-Short-horn dairy- coav which is uoav five years old and has already had seven calves, all strong and" healthy. Her first calf Avas born when she Avas tAVo years old, and this Avas followed by twins in her third, fourth and fifth years. Old Miners’ Mortars. If any old-timer has a mortar and pestle which is no longer needed, and Avould care to donate it to the 016 Pioneers’ collection, being formed b"y the “Star,” grateful thinks Avill be extended and arrangements made for delivery. In the early days of the town, many individual mortars Avere used for testing claims, and it is desired to obtain one for the collection. “Eternal" Combustion. The small, mistakes of school children have produced some of the best jokes of the year, and a real gem is contained in a letter to the Port Lin# motor vessel Port Gisborne from an English school which has “adopted” the vessel. “Our ship has eternal combustion engines,” Avrote the child. Tho chief engineer AA-ished it had. Thought She Was Dead! A woman Avitness in a motor collision case in the Supreme Court at Ncav Plymouth, in describing her injuries, prompted the question by- counsel: “You were pretty badly hurt, AverCivt you?” To this she replied: “Yes; 1 put my band to my head, and when I saw it covered Avith Wood, I thought 1 Avas dead!"

“Drastic Increases in Power.” Because of “drastic increases in the cost of poAver uoav proposed by the Government,” the electricity committee of the Christchurch City Council has doubts about the Avisdom of continuing its campaign for the sale of elecFric ranges. This Avas stated in a report presented to the council by the committee. The committee, hoAvevcr, made no recommendation, and there Avas no discussion on the report. Playing Trains. Small boys seldom secure a more enviable job than tTio tAVo youngsters avlio ha\ r e been busy during the last fcAv days playing trains in tho windoAv of a Wellington shop. They Avere doing it for the purpose of denionstrating the toys, but none the less it appeared to be much more in the nature of play than Avork, and it attracted no small attention from passers-by in tho street. One Avas manipulating a roalistic electric train, which by means of a SAvitch he started, stopped and reversed, Avitliout ever laying a hand on it. Daylight Saving. “Daylight saving” Avas briefly referred to at a meeting of the Morrinsvillo branch of the Farmers’ Union. Some speakers thought the clock should bo put on half an hour all the year round or else kept at standard time all the year. Others remarked that with tlfe 40-hour week noAV in Operation in the toAvns there Avas not so much need as formerly for the extra half-hour of “daylight saving" to enable toAvn people to get their recreation.

Crawfish or Crayfish? Colonel W. J. C. Stephan, the cxMayor of Capo Town, who is touring with the Springboks and is concerned in a very large crawfish-canning concern operating at St. Helena Bay and Paternoster Bay, South Africa, said that in that district they called those fish crawfish, and not crayfish. Dictionaries spelled the world in both ways. Mr. Stephan added that in the season the factories mentioned dealt with a» many as 80,000 fish a day.

A Dangerous Mixture. While waiting in Cathedral Square for a tram recently a man was startled when his trousers and overcoat caught on fire, says the Christchurch Star-Sun. He hurriedly pulled out a box of wooden matches; but it was found that the matches had not ignited. Inquiries revealed that the man had bought a bag of potash tablets to relieve his sore throat. Some of these had come out of the bag and had com© in contact with the side of the matchbox, which is coated with a compound of sulphur and saltpetre. This, in conjunction with the potash, had formed gunpowder, which apparently caught alight.

Residential Suburb. Grahamstown must ultimately becomo a modern residential suburb, as its proximity id the parks warrants. It would be hard to visualise tho Grahamstown of ten years hence, but it should be something of vast improvement to existing conditions.