Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 25, 6 March 1942, Page 4

Local and General

Competition Winner The winner of the Runnerstruni competition for £1 worth of groceries in aid of Oliope Patriotic funds was Mr King of Wliakatane with ticket No. 26. Change of Time In this issue the N.Z.R. Road Services advertise the earlier departure of the 8.15 a.m. WhakataneWhakatane West motor service as from Monday, 9th March, 1942. Fewer Mushrooms Mushrooms are seldom found on pastures these days. Old residents of Whakatane recall that a generation ago mushrooms grew plentifully in paddocks and on roadsides about this time of the year. Apparently the modern practice of harrowing ,uxl topdressing grassland has killed out the mushrooms. Busy Time for Blacksmiths While benzine selling stations are having a quiet time the few T remaining- blacksmiths and wheelriglits in the Bay of Plenty are working overtime to cope with the rush of workRecently they have had plenty of curls, drays and waggons to recondition, and even a lew gigs and buggies to put in running order. Apparently farmers are making themselves toe- independent of cars and trucks. Milk Supply on the Plains Milk for the Pupuaruhe cheese factory has been collected only once daily during the past fortnight. Several truck loads of milk are collected in the evenings, but it ,is expected that soon the milk supply will have fallen to such an extent thai nil suppliers will have their milk collected in the mornings. This Avill eliminate a night shift, which has been Worked during the Hush months. Thornton Home Guard 1

The Thornton Home Guard continues to have good musters at its week-end all-day parades held at the Thornton Beash Domain. Guardsmen have been doing good work in "learning how to erect and take dc-wn barbed wire defences, a job in which the lil'e-long experiences of farmer members in putting up stock proof fences stands them in good stead. Now they arc getting their hand in at putting up "Jap-proof" fences. Hayriiaking in March Second cuts of hay from paddocks growing paspalum grass have been harvested by some farmers on the Rangitaiki Plains during the past few days. This is in striking contrast to the conditions prevailing on ether parts of the Plains where pastures arc "burnt up" after the long period of dry weather. The paspalum grass has not made as much growth as in normal seasons, but the crops, although light, will provide stacks of hay of excellent quality. Bright Morning Star Several farmers in the Whakatane district have, mentioned to l a Beacon representative the bright appearance of the planet Venus, which they see rising above the eastern horizon while starting their milking before sunrise. At present Venus shows up about 3 a.m., and is well up in the sky when daylight puts out its illumination. An astronomical note in another paper states that Venus is about 65,500,000 miles away from the earth. On recent moonless mornings its light has been equal to moonlight when the moon is Availing.

Importance of Courts "It is not necessary for me to emphasise the vital importance of the administration of justice in our democratic social system," said the Minister of Justice, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, opening the new courthouse at Invercargill. "It is essential that justice should continue to be administered under all conditions if chaos is to be avoided and the rule of law prevail. This applies equally, if not more so, in times of stress such as exist at present. The Avar has brought with it an inevitable and unavoidable amount of emergency legislation and regulations. Though many of these regulations are necessarily drastic in the public interest, it must not be forgotten that in their administration the same rules and principles of justice must be applied by the courts as in times of peace."