Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 132, 21 July 1941, Page 4

Local and General

Prisoner of War. Kenneth E. S. McShane, of Whakatanei, who in our last issue was included in the missing list is reported to be wounded and a prisoner of war. "Tigers* Milk" —the Greek Version. Soldiers in Greece stopped by n roadside to watch a shepherd milking goats. The troops gasped when he finished with the goats and started on sheep! They thought he had mistaken a ewe for a goat, but the shepherd said the sheep produced good milk. His invitation to the troops to sample the product was politely declined.

Slippt-ry Footpath. Pedestrians approaching town from the Kopeopeo area in the mornings have to exercise care when oassing the cemetery, where on frosty mornings the footpath sheltered by the hedge becomes a sheet of ice and is very'treacherous. Theft of Bayonet. Christie Apanui was charged at Opotiki last week that he stole a bayonet and sheath, the property of the New Zealand Government. The accused was described by the police rs a labourer aged 21 years. The police had occasion to visit accused's hut and saw a bayonet used to fasten the door. It was found that the bayonet was supposed to be in the possession of Parkinson, and was stolen from the oow shed. It was valued at 15/6. A fine of £4 was imposed.

Further Tributes. A close friend of the late Mr Frank Reynolds, in discussing him with a press man yesterday said that he could find no more fitting tribute to him, than a quotation from Shakespeare's 'Caesar.' Mark Anthony, in the funeral oration in speaking of Brutus said: "'His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed up in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, 'This» was a man'." This he claimed could be honestly applied to the late Mr Reynolds. Drawing by Italian Prisoner. When taking part in the fighting in Libya, Lieutenant X. Beasley, of Whangarei, showed a photograph of his wife and daughter to an Italian prisoner of war. The prisoner, a talented artist, asked for a loan of the photograph, and a few days later presented the New Zealander with « beautiful enlarged pencil drawing of it, which has now been received by Mrs Beasley. The drawing and a photograph Averc shown at the weekly luncheon of the Whangarei R,otary Club. "Dominion Still Prosperous." "It is pleasiing to record that the internal organisation 'of the Dominion and of Canterbury has asi yet suffered relatively little from the dislocation and disturbances tha.t accompany war on the present scale/' states the annual report of the Canterbury Progress League. "Some difficulties have had to be met, including shortages of important imports, and road transport has suffered severely, but on the whole the. internal dislocation has been surprisingly small." Bonus to Managers. Some of the managers had shown their willingness not to accept th#» new bonus, and were prepared io hand the amount over to patriotic funds, said Mr G. J. Parlane at a meeting of the South Auckland Dairy Association, when the new bonus payable to dairy factory managers under their award was bein;* discussed. It was stated by another member that the bonus had fought for more by the union secretary than by the managers themselves. Radio Research im Australia. Radiophysical research, with devices of a secret nature, is beini? carried out in Australia, in coll?w boration with Great Britain. The Minister of Labour and National Service, Mr Holt, revealed this in the House of Representatives recently. He said that the research included radio-location work, and that the board comprised Sir John Madsen (chairman), the chiefs of the navy. General and air staffs, the chief executive officer of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs.

Fire Destroys Mill. Fire completely destroyed the State mill at Mamaku operated by the Railways Department on Wednesday night. Within three-quart* ers of an hour of the discovery of the outbreak damage estimated at many thousands of pounds was done and all that remained of the mill, cutting 17,000 feet of timber a day, was a heap of twisted iron and smouldering wood. Only the fortunate circumstances that the light wind was blowing from the direction of the yards prevented the destruction of between half a million and three-quarters of a million feet of sawn timber. Schools Need Reforms. "I: have to deal with a good many applicants for jobs/ in the course of n year, and no doubt some, of tho brightest scholars turn towards journalism as a career, but the older 1 get the stronger grows the ctonvic tion that schooling, at any rate in the immediate post-primary stage, stands in need of radical reform," said a speaker at Ghristchurch. "Hundreds of pupils are receiving no oenefit from the time and money and teaching energy expended on them. The,re are children who can absorb abstract ideas readily, but for the majority the curriculum ought to ba entirely practical." Mayor's Horse and Gig". The reductions in Australian petiol quotas are expected to increase still further the use of horses by formers and carriers. Prices for draught horsesi have risen in the last few months. Saddlers are working at full capacity, and waggon builder? ire unable 1 to meet the demand. Tho Mayor of Goondiwindi, and the chairman of the Waggamba Shire Council are going back to the horse And sulky for transport. They have arranged to buy sulkies and horses and their cars will probably remain locked up for the duration of tlie «rar.