LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21219, 16 September 1940, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A Boat to Fit A heavyweight Maori who enrolled in the Home Guard was asked if he could manage a boat. “Yes, if it will hold me,” he replied. New Japanese Warship Officials at the Kure naval station announced that the new Japanese warship Ishigaki has been launched, says a message. The category of th'e vessel has not been disclosed. Prisoner of War Pilot-Officer lan C. Kirk, eldest son of the late Mr J. Kirk and Mrs Kirk, of Papatoetoe, who was posted missing on September 2, is a prisoner of war, according to advice received by his mother. Injuries To Chest Injuries to his chest necessitating his removal to the Waikato Hospital, were received by Riki Tukiri, aged 24, a miner, of Ngaruawahia, as the result of a football accident yesterday. His condition to-day was satisfactory. Tomato Ripens A self-sown tomato plant in a sheltered part of a garden in Mount Eden, Auckland, has borne a fullyripened tomato for about three weeks. Other tomatoes on the plant are now ripening. It is unusual in Auckland for outdoor tomatoes to ripen before December. Hamilton Singer in Auckland In its notice of the performance of “Judas Maccabaeus” by the Auckland Choral Society on Saturday night an Auckland paper says: To Mr J. T. Battersby (Hamilton) who sang the tenor part, high praise is due. His singing was consistently reliable, and his excellent vocal technique proved fully adequate to the difficulties of his numbers. Beneficial Rain After a fine but threatening weekend, rain commenced to fall in Hamilton last night. A steady fall followed which should have a valuable effect on gardens, and with milder temperatures growth should come away quickly. Up till 9 o’clock this morning .30in. of rain had fallen, bringing the month’s rainfall to 1.25in., compared with the average September fall of 3.88in. Two-headed Lamb Freak lambs have not been altogether uncommon in the Waikato, but a freak lamb recently born on a farm near Hamilton would take a lot to equal. First of all, it had two heads, the extra head being more or less balanced by the fact that it had six legs. A pair of tails completed the monstrosity. The lamb was alive when born and its actual body was reported to be normal. Parcels For Troops As Christmas parcels for troops have to be packed in Hamilton by the end of this week, the Hamilton Womens’ Patriotic Committee, which is responsible for Hamilton’s quota, is appealing to the public to send in their gifts as early as possible. Sealed tins of shortbread would be much appreciated to complete many of the parcels, while old newspapers for packing purposes are welcomed. Fruit Marketing Protest A petition of protest at the Internal Marketing Department’s standardisation scheme for stone fruit was widely signed at a meeting of Hawke’s Bay fruitgrowers, it being contended that any alteration in the present system would not return sufficient advantage to the grower to compensate him for the additional labour, time and trouble involved. The scheme would also prove expensive for the consumers. Church Thanksgiving Special thanksgiving services were held yesterday in the Presbyterian churches of New Zealand for the gratifying success of the year’s financial effort, in which £45,684, an increase of £14,388 on last year’s total, was raised by the churches, not only enabling all current expenses to be met but also reducing an overdraft from £16,000 to £BOOO. As a result of this sacrificial giving no retrenchment had to be made in any of the home or foreign mission enterprises of the church. Meteor Provides Spectacle The whole district surrounding Napier and Hastings was momentarily lit on Friday night by a flare from which is commonly taken to be a meteor, either unusually large or unusually close to the earth. Two minutes after the flare many people heard the distant rumble of minor explosions. People who saw the meteor at about 7.30 o’clock declared it travelled across the sky, then appeared to disintegrate in a fashion similar to the bursting of a big skyrocket, with streaks of light radiating apparently slowly from the bright nucleus. A Hastings student of astronomy, Mr L. M. Stevenson, described it as an unusually large and slow-moving meteor. Its height, he thought, would be between 30 and 70 miles, and its speed about 200 miles per second.