Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 115, 9 June 1941, Page 4

Local and General

Harbour Board Finance. ' Accounts totalling £280.7 0s lid were passed for payment at Friday's meeting of the Whakatane Harbour Board. Painting of Wharf Sheds. The contractor has commenced painting the Harbour Board's wharf sheds the cost of which work will be £125. Diving Board. Recently the Harbour Board built ft small jetty to accommodate! the diving board at the old wharf. This was done to keep the board clear of the launch jetty. Mock Battle at Thornton. Tho Thornton Home Guard carried out practice in attacking and defending positions on Saturday. The "battleground" was round about the sandhills near the Thornton Beach. In turn each platoon played the part of attackers crawling along under cover, or of defenders countering these moves, while the company commander acted as referee. Wharfage Fees. The port of Whakatane has befen busy this year and a considerable increase in wharfages for May resulted. The figures presented at Friday's meeting were as follows: April 1939 (£340 14s lOd), 1940 (£285 lis 8d), 1941 (£274 19s 2d); May 1989 (£321 Is lOd), 1940 (£334 13s 8d), 1911 (£350 16s 4d).

Honorarium Fixed. At the annual meeting of the Harbour Board held on Friday t'lie chairman's honorarium was increased from £60 to £75, travelling expenses to meetings additional New Members Welcomed. At Friday's meeting of the Whakatane Harbour Board the chairman extended a welcome to the new members, Messrs G. R. Kent and Richardson. Maoris in EnglandL "They are just charming," was the opinion of an English correspondent writing to the Bay of Plenty after entertaining a number of Maori soldiers. "We have met scriie of yom Maori boys when a friend Was c*n 7 tertaining two of them for a long, week-end," stated the writer. "Winter Time" by the Clock. Early risers on recent frosty mornings have had cause to remember that the clocks are still half an hour ahead of standard New Zealand time. In other winters the sun has peepsd over the horizon at about 7 a.m. at this time of tjlie year, but now it doesi not put in an appearance till 7.30 or so. By the end of June the sun will be rising at the fashionable hour of 8 o'clock like many "g to 5" workers. In the meantime milkers and people who have to be on the job early are wishing the. clock and the sun were not "under new management" Of course, there is some compensation in having half an "hour's more sunshine in the late afternoon.

Launch Jetty. The construction of a concrete wall and hand rails to complete the wharf jetty has lately been carried out. A stone wall to conform with the wall facing the Strand back road has yet to be constructed. The whole area can then be levelled off and generally tidied up. Mules Prefer Italian. Among the booty taken from the Italians by the Greeks in their drive across Albania were thousands of mules, used lor transport by the enemy. Stubborn beasts at the best of times, the mules proved completely worthless and had to be shot, eventually finding their way into the Italian prisoners' dixies. The cause ? The mules had been trained to take commands in Italian, and would not budge, an inch for Greek. What Goes Up Must Come Down. "It is not only enemy bombs we, have to look out for in air raid.si, but what our anti-aircraft guns send up has to come down again," said Mr W. Holmes, the visiting British trade union leader, in an address. "My son had one of our own slums come down and bury itself 12 feet in the ground beside his hohse. 1 have had several bits of our own shells come through the roof of my .house..? Centennial Park. Serious erosion continues; to lake place at the foot of the stone wall fronting the Centennial Park. The level of the bed of the harbour at the point has now dropped about 9 feet and erosion is still taking place. It will be necessary to carry the concrete wall down to a lower level, probably to the rock, to ensure the safety of the Park. The position is being closely watched.—-Harbour Board Engineer's report. Outsize in Army Boots. The largest boots yet handled at the King Edward Barracks, Christchurch—two pairs of size 15—were issued recently. They have been specially built for a Territorial of the Ist Battalion, the Canterbury Regiment, who is training at Wingatui. He comes from T'aran&ki and stands 6ft 6in highj His boots, are 13% in long. The smallest boots issued from the depot were size 3, for a jockey. Army Allowance for Wife. A single man called up for military service who marries before going into camp is entitled to claim a dependant's allowance for his wife, and in future when single men are being medically examined they will be advised of this regulation. A single man will be informed that, if he should marry before proceeding to camp, he must advise the local area officer of his new status, and also give the name and address of his wife.

A Veteran on the March. One of the members of the Hastings Home Guard Battalion Avho route marched to Raupere and back recently and during the day took full part in the field exercises carried out, was a veteran of the South African War. He stepped it out with the best of the younger men in the battalion, and his enthusiasm was a real challenge to much younger men who have failed to join the Home Guard because of a feeling that the work might be too strenuous for them, 01 foi othet reasons. Letter on a Biscuit. j The wife of an Australian soldier serving in the Middle East and now residing in Dunedin has received a unique war souvenir by post. To convey greetings to his wife he used a large army biscuit, writing the address on one side and a mesasge on the other. Although this biscuit, measuring about 6'in square and %in thick, was damaged in transit, it was safely delivered by the recently. "Now you can *tjEp?the army biscuit yourself," said the soldier. "ft is very useful for building dug-outs, also vetry useful for a stepping-stone In swamps. It is useful, in fact, for almost anything except eating."