Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 31, 20 March 1942, Page 4

Local and General

Attendance at Film Theatres During the year ended March. 1941, 31,491,811 persons paid l'or admission to" picture shows in the Dominion. This means that the avciage number of attendances 1 per head of population during the year was 19. According to the latest statistics, the number of theatres screening, including all institutions such as Y.M.C.A., military camps and P.W.D. camps, is 572, including 189 on circuit. Praise for New Zealand Roads l "New Zealand roads rank among the best I have driven over,'* sai;d Mr A. D. Charge, Wanganui, who Will shortly return to Australia on transfer. "In Queensland if you drive 50 to 60 miles a day on business you are absolutely tired out. The roads are shocking. New Ze'alanders complain about their roads, but you can take it firom me they rank with the best in the Southern Hemisphere. A 200-mile journey in this Dominion is an easy day's work" Penguin Tenants "Any human being who erects a seaside house near an ocean beach is likely to have penguin tenants in the basement," writes Dr R. A. Falla in "Forest and Bird." "Perhaps because they are unable to-pay rent, the birds make up for it by giving voca\ performances at night—father penguin, mother penguin and the chicks all braying in a different key. Unappreciative owners have been known to tear up the floor boards in desperation and to eject the tenants without notice." Vocational Education (?) It happened in a local bar and j collapscd all who heard it. "What a week-end," quoth the genial Alfred to a coterie of listeners. "First Foxola and River Plate roll in at Paerca; then 'Harold' comes home from overseas. Hope that boy can take over his job again after he gets out of uniform, it will be nice to. have him in the private bar again." "Yes sir," cracked back one of our imitation humourists, "he might bring a little battle deportment to the bottle department."