LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 22690, 18 August 1945, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Manpower Committee The next sitting in Hamilton of the Auckland Manpower (Industrial) Committee is set down for August 30. Crippled Children Appeal The total sum received in the recent appeal for funds by the Waikato Sub-Centre of the Crippled Children Society was £llOO. The response in Morrinsville, Matamata and other Waikato towns was as satisfactory. Fire Near Matamata Fire completely destroyed a cowshed and milking plant on the property of Mr J. J. Ryan, Turangamoana, last night, the outbreak being discovered at about 8 o’clock. There was an insurance of £IOO on the building and - £2OO on the plant. 71 Consecutive Frosts Seventy-one consecutive frosts were registered at Alexander, Otago, up to last week, the average having been 9.1 degrees. In 1943, which was considered the hardest winter for many years, 74 consecutive frosts were registered, of an average of 12 degrees. Illegal Shooting Most of the illegal shooting in New Zealand is done with the .22 rifle, states the Forest and Bird Society. Ammunition is obtained on the pretext of rabbit shooting, but reports from all over New Zealand prove that much of it is being used in shooting protected native birds. In the case of a farmer being prosecuted for shooting native birds at Paraparaumu, the Department responsible for issuing permits to purchase this ammunition says no permit was issued to him. Bandsmen Busy Hamilton bandgmen were busy during the peace celebrations and their services were appreciated by the public. The Salvation Army Band played hymns at the thanksgiving service on Wednesday and rendered selections in the street during the afternoon. As well as taking its place in the procession on Tuesday the band played later in the afternoon and returned in the evening to continue until a late hour. The Hamilton Caledonian Pipe Band was also smartly turned out and made a generous contribution of time and energy. Primary School Football A number of Waikato schools will be represented in the annual Rugby Shield which commences at Auckland on Tuesday. The final match will be played as a curtain-raiser to the North Island-South Island match on Saturday. Eight teams, three Auckland and five country teams, will take part in the competition. The Waikato team consists mainly of boys from Hamilton schools, but there will also be a number of country schools represented. The manager of the team will be Mr W. J. Earle, president of the Waikato Primary Schools’ Union. # Iwo Jima Stamps The commemorative stamps issued by the United States of America to mark the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima can be seen in the Waikato Philatelic Society’s show case in the Hamilton Library. The design of this stamp was taken from what is considered one of the finest action photographs of the war and shows the marines hoisting “Old Glory” on Broken Nose Ridge at Iwo Jima. This flag was salvaged from the flag locker of one of the bombed battleships at Pearl Harbour by an' American naval officer who had it with him when he landed with the marines. Where Rutherford Sat An ordinary pen stuck in the ceiling of a classroom at the South Havelock public school attracts the attention of those who enter the room for the first time. The immediate urge is to remove it, but it still remains, after many years. The headmaster told a recent inquirer that Lord Rutherford, great New Zealander and world-famous scientist, once sat in the classroom. One day, when holidays were approaching, the boys had a “rag” and things were thrown about. On the ceiling a large moth had alighted. Young Rutherford aimed at the moth, and missed it, but the pen stuck in the wood and had remained there ever since. Big Diamond The Imperial Institute has announced that a diamond weighing 770 carats and as big as a hen egg has been found in Sierra Leone. Stated to be the largest diamond in the world today, it has been flown to Britain, and when cut its value will probably be about £500,000. It weighs 44 carats more than the President Vargas diamond found in Brazil in 1938 and the Jonker found in the Transvaal in 1934. While, according to legend, one or two ancient Indian stones may have been bigger, so far as definite records go this new diamond has been exceeded in size by only the Cullinan and the Excelsior, both of which came from South African mines. The Sierra Leone diamond yield has developed with great rapidity since working began in 1932, its annual output in recent years having been about £1,000,000. It is only two years since two other big 'diamonds, weighing 350 and 250 carats were found in the same workings.