Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 92, 24 November 1939, Page 4

Local and General

Crickct Draw. Matches for Saturday arc as follows: Paroa v Whakatane at Paroa, Hillcrcst v Central at the Domain. P. and T. a bye. Port Activities. Parry Bros "Altair" made port at 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning bringing a general and benzine cargo. She sailed on Wednesday afternoon for Auckland with consignments of timber, bottles and general goods. A Correction. In the list of donations to the Ambulance Fund which was published in the Beacon of last Monday, was included £? 2s in the name of R. R. Cleland. Mr Cleland advises that the gift was sent from Rangitaiki Cricket Association of which he is secretary. "Altair" Comes In.. Messrs Parry Bros well known vessel is undergoing a survey and overhaul. For the last week or two the Katie S has taken over t.he run from Auckland but on Wednesday the Altair carried the cargo. This vessel, which usually runs between Auckland and Gisborne, has not been in this port for two years. She is commanded by Captain Roth.

Lost Baby. Lost in a large establishment In Whakatane on Tuesday afternoon a baby was instantly adopted by the girl assistants. The youngster appeared to find nothing unusual Avith the experience and, doubtless this was due to the care of the shop employees. They gave biscuits to the baby and then presented a teddy bear off the shelves. Baby didn't mind that sort of thing as was evidenced when mother came along about three-quarters of an hour later. Mother gently but firmly relieved the infant of the teddy bear and placed it back on the shelf but this act provoked a good deal of loud disagreement, and baby was casting longing eves back as mother carried the youngster out ol the door.

Harvesting. Harvesting lias commenced in some places and reports received indicate that light crops are fairly general, the dry spell for the last four or five weeks resulting in poor growth. j Railway Timetable. The Railway Department directs attention to an advertisement appearing in another column in connection with the running of express trains during the forthcoming Christmas and New Year holidays. Maori Military Records. The Fast Coast record for Maori recruiting is lielid by the Pouf(u family, members of the Ngatipor.ou tribe, five brothers of this family having offered their services with the special • native unit. The record was previously held by the Waenga family, of Hicks Bay, five of whom have enlisted, but all five are not brothers. There is another Hicks Bay family that did well for the name! of the Maori people in the Great War of 1914-18. They are the Bristowes, six members of which family, Rua, Joe, Bob, Sonny. Te Poono and John s,erved with the Maori Battalion. They were the sons of two fathers, three to each family unit, and all six survived the w 7 ar, though three died from illness in recent years.

Welcome Rain. The fairly heavy falls of rain on several days of this week will be welcomed by the farmers and the maize-growers. Last Wednesday evening's fall was particularly sharp and penetrated the ground welL Church Tennis. The following is the team selected to represent the Methodist Eennis Club against the Presbyterian Club to-morrow: Messrs Cox, Darvill, McKenzic, Shaw, Lucas, Lichtwark, Steffert, Misses Jacombs, Print Blyth. Mrs Chrisp, Mrs Tennant, Mrs Sisam. Local Marksman. Private C. Young, of Toroa Street, has been attached to the Divi sional Signals since he left Whakatane. Private Young Avears a badge on his left sleeve which is not worn by every soldier. Few people know that the crossed rifles sewn on a soldier's sleeve mean that the man has qualified as a marksman by 55ecuring 80 per cent or more in his shooting. Private Young is to be congratulated. Tennis Court Marking. Trouble is sometimes experienced in marking out the lines on public tenuis courts. Painted or concrete lines are unsatisfactory for different but obvious reasons, and the most popular, material seems to be some sort of tape. On account of its incorrodibility lead has often been used, but this is liable to get turned up at the edges after a few weeks' use, added to which it rides up in front of the roller, loosening the nails and leaving loops which can be positively dangerous. To overcome this difficulty, a new type of reinforced lead tape has recently been placed on the market, steel wire being embedded at the edges of the tape under hydraulic pressure, thus keeping it straight and preventing it from curling. The reinforcing wires are not likely to corrode, as they are completely encased in the tape. Just a Toddler. Life begins at 40 for some men. but when a Maori aged 65 applied to be enrolled in Primer 1 at a country school in the Auckland district, the Auckland Education Board, at its meeting last Wednesday, felt it had to draw the line. The headmaster of the school in question washed his hands of the affair when the Maori insisted on attending the school, and decided to throw the responsibility on the board. There was a ripple of laughter when the letter was read at the meeting. "There is no school committee here, and I do not know what to do about it," wrote the headmaster. "The Maori is 65 years of age, and is in receipt of age benefits under the Social Security Act. He has never been to school' and is illiterate, but he is apparently sincere in his desire to learn. He insists on being enrolled in Primer 1, but I do not think that it desirable, because his own grand-children are in this class." The board agreed.