Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 77, 20 October 1939, Page 4

Local and General

An Earthquake. A light earthquake is reported to have occurred at 10.30 p.m. on Tues day, but it does not seem to have been widely felt. Opotiki's Ohope. Just a blow to Whakatane's pride is the caption appended to a colour plate of Ohope Beach in a Christmas dnnual which praises the shining scimitar of sand "near Opotiki.' Wars have been waged for less! Cargoes. The Vesper nnd the Clansnian both made port on Wednesday, the Vesper sailing again later with timber and empties. The Clansman was about three parts full of benzine and general goods when she came in. Her loading foi Auckland included over 4000 boxes of butter and 300 crates of cheese. She sailed yesterday. Gisborne Honey Yield. A good honey yield is expected in the Gisborne district during the coming season and prospects have been considerably improved by the rain last week. Last season was a poor one for honey production in most parts of the Dominion, and the Gisborne district suffered with the rest of the country, but there is improved blossoming this year, and prospects for much better clover blossom being available have helped the position considerably.

Misguided Law-making. "It is a great pity for the general good of New Zealand that there are not more experienced businessmen directly connected with the government of this country," said the retiring president, Mr F. H. Bethwaite, at the annual meeting of the Wanganui Chamber of Commerce. Members, he said, had seen laws and regulations, probably all in good faith, brought into force overnight, which though intended to be for the good of the community, had had so many repercussions as to be almost negative instead of constructive. The Willing Guest The old Wellington story about the prisoner released on parole who was locked out of the Mt. Crawford prison and was found anxiously ham mering on the door and asking l'or admittance, is recalled by a Rotorua story of a Maori delinquent who, on a number of occasions, lias enjoyeo His Majesty's hospitality as an inmate of the colls at the Ro l ormi Police Station. Viewing the preparations for the erection wf a new police station with a.a appi .'unlive eye, the occasional guest made r.n eloquent appeal to the authorities lo be admitted as the first i'.vnnte of the new cells. Askeu for a reason for this sudden anp t -i-iafi.;ri of official hospitality, the Maori said thai he would like to be the first to write his naine on the walls of the new cells.

Cricket. Cricket matches to be played on Saturday are: Whakatane v Paroa at Whakatane; Central v Hillcrest at Central; Post and Telegraph a bye. Delivery of Beacon. The BEACON will be published as usual on Labour Day, Monday, October 23rd, and there be the usual delivery to town subscribers. Owing to the fact that the Rural Delivery service will not be running it will be impossible lo send the paper ouL to country readers, who will receive their copies on Tuesday. Labour at 7d an Hour. Hawke's Bay fruitgrowers were keenly interested to learn from Mr A, Osborne, general manager of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Association at a meeting in Hastings recently that wages paid in the orchard in England were about 7d an hour. They were forced to smile, however,, when Mr Osborne added that they received only about 7d worth of it, too. Soldiers' Mail. Handling the mail of the -1000 odd soldiers in training at the Hopuhopu Camp is a big business and, from the point of view of the troops, is one of the most important. When the camp was first established a post office was opened in a tent. The volume of business was extended considerably and the Public Works Department is at present erecting a building to house the post office. The framework has been completed.

Rotorua in 1889. "Mr Lewis, under-Secretary, has taken a box Avith £9000 to Rotorua to 13ay the natives for the township. We trust he will not be bailed up on the road, but will get this very welcome sum put into circulation there. It ought to make things brisk for a. time in Rotorua; and the acquisition of the town by the Government, the re-erection of the sanatorium, and the unlikelihood of another Tarawera for a long time, should induce valetudinarians to buy freeholds with a view to permanently residing there" said a Bay of Plenty paper of 1883.

Cool Store Job. A small job on the wharf which is now being done is the erection of a hood over the door in the side of the butter room from which the dairy produce is sent down on the chutes to the ship's hold. The Rain. Tuesday night's rainfall in Whakatane amounted to 1.32 inches, bringing the total for October to 3.71 inches, Mid the total for the year to 30.02 inches, These figures are .supplied to the BEACON by Mr H. Muscutt. Inflamambie Gas from Ruawai Bore. Northern Oilfields, Ltd,, report steady progress with the bore which is being put down on Messrs Finlayson Bros' property, Access Road, Rua ■wai. Considerable and increasing quantities of inflammable gas, with a strong petroliferous odour, are issuing from the bore, which, recently, reached 1001 feet in depth. Drilling is proceeding at the rate of about 20 feet daily through an excellent cap rock. The company's geologist, who is at present on the field, is entirely satisfied with results to date.