LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 20428, 3 October 1938, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Pohutukawas Showing Bloom. Polintukawa trees along the Thames Coast are already showing signs of blooming. Later in tho season they will be a glorious mass of colour.

Sun and Sea Bathing. Sun bathing was in vogue at Thames beaches yesterday, and one or two keen bathers were in for a brief dip. The water is still too cold for swimming to be enjoyed to the full. Old Thames Girls' Association. Thames residents visiting Auckland on Saturday, October 8, are invited to tho Old Thames Girls' Association 12th birthday party, which will lie held in the Lewis Eady Hall'at 2 p.m. Afternoon tea will be served and a good programme will be provided. Chinese Children's Relief. As the result of a concert arranged by the combined Sunday schools of Thames, held last month in aid of tho Chinese Children's Relief Fund, a cheque for the sum of £l6/6/- has been forwarded to the committee in Wellington by the treasurer of the Thames Sunday School Union.

Voluntary Unionism Supported. "I believe in voluntary unionism," said Mr. W. L. Barker, National candidate for Wellington East, in a recent election address, "but one of the reasons why compulsory unionism should be abolished is because the trade union secretaries have too much power. It is the primary producer on whom we depend for a iiving, but he is being exploited by these organised sections."

Rowing and Eating. "You can't row on a full stomach," said Mr. 11. C. Collier, at the annual meeting of the New Plymouth Rowing Club, when the subject of training after tea was being discussed. "Wrestling seems to be the only sport in which men can succeed after heavy meals," he added. "A wrestler can eat a meal of 14 eggs before going into the ring for a bout, and still wrestle well." Tagged Fish. Complaints that fishermen catching fish which had been tagged for information purposes were throwing theso fish back with their tags on were mado at the monthly meeting of the Taranaki Acclimatisation Society. Tho president, Mr. W. 11. Moyes, made tho request that fishermen catching theso should send the tags to the society, together with particulars of the size of the fish and date of locality of tho catch.

Champion Pasture Competition. ; A suggestion' that North Canterbury should follow the lead of Otago and hold a field competition, in grasses and root crops, was made by Mr. C. Bassett at a meeting of the provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union. A number of branches held their own competitions, Mr. Bassett said, and the proposal was that theso branch winners should compete in tho provincial competition. General support was given the proposal by bers.Hard Luck. Having contributed regularly to an Australian lottery over the past eight, or nine years, during which time they secured only two small prizes, a Dannevirke syndicate is now beginning to resent the treatment it is receiving from the goddess of chance. The last drawing of the lottery yielded £SOO to "Doc," Dannevirke. The syndicate has the ticket with the four numbers coming immediately before this prize-win-ner, and gets nothing! Birds In Government Houses. There may be laws against keeping cage birds in Government houses, but for this regulation the birds of the air have a complete contempt, says tho Northern Advocate. For example, in a State house at Whangarei, the occupant, on lighting the wash-house fire, found the smoke forced back through the firebox. The flames were quenched, and investigations showed that starlings had built in the chimney. Tho houseis brand new and has been occupied for under three months Sinister Coincidence. Nino years ago, when the first Williamson company to play "The Desert Song" was approaching the shores of New Zealand, the then general manager for J. C. Williamson, Ltd., in this country, Mr. Bert Boyle, died of pneumonia. On the occasion of tho visit, of the Royal Comic Opera Company recently, also playing "Tho Desert Song," the newly-appointed general manager for the J. C. Williamson Theatres, Ltd., developed pneumonia and died "a week ago. N.Z. Bowlers to Tour. A tour of Great Britain and possibly Canada is to be made by New Zealand bowlers next year. The executive of the New Zealand Bowling Association this month accepted the invitation of the International Bowling Board for n representative team from New Zealand to tour Great Britain during the summer of 1939. An invitation from tho Canadian Lawn Bowling Council for the proposed team to return via Canada was tentatively accepted. Tho secretary was directed to obtain an estimate of tho overall cost, including return via Canada, from a London • travel agency.