Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 40, 15 April 1942, Page 4

Local and General

Fainting of Municipal Offices The tender of Mr A. Grace for tho painting of the Borough Council Chambers of £99 has been accepted. Application for Grants Applications for grants from the Borough Council by the Caledonian Society, the Library Committee and the Domain Board, were last Monday evening held over for consideration when the estimates were being compiled. Large Stingray Caught A stingray estimated to weigh about 4001b was caught by a member of the. crew of a ship .moored at the Western Wharf in Auckland, and landed after considerable trouble. The fish was about sft across the broadest part of the back and was one of the biggest caught within the harbour limits. Disobedience of Maintenance For disobedience of his maintenance order in favour of his wife' and two children, which was in arrear to the extent of £22 10s, Keith Beale who failed to appear was sentenced by the Court yesterday to 14 : days hard labc.ur in respcct of the charge against his wife and 8 days in respcct of his children. Gorilla Warfare In the heat of Sunday's manoeuvres ti member of the Home Guard, the better to facilitate his freedom of fiction stripped off his shirt disclosing an ample, display of hairy masculinity. The humorist of the company convulsed the other members present bj' pointing to the cuiprit and in a stage whisper announcing "gorilla warfare." Penetration of Bullets j In view of tho number of trcnchcs and shelters which are being built as protection against possible, ai>* raids, the following figures, which Indicate the thickness of various materials which it requires to stop a .303 rifle bullet, will be of interest: Shingle 9 inches, brick walls 21 inches, sand (in bags) 27 inches, sand (loose) 45 incheis, earth 60 inches, clay 90 inches. Anzac Day Service The Internal Affairs Department notified the Borough. Council that the Government had approved the observation of Anzac Day services as usual. In Whakatane arrangements are now proceeding. The service will take the usual form but will if the weather is fine be held entirely in the open. Alternative Arrangements will be made ill the event of wet weather. Controlled Commodies An order in the Gazette prohibits tliei use of iron or steel for a number of purposes not related to war productions while owners of machine tools and engineer equipment suitable for war production are required to make a declaration of the same to the factory controller or munitions controller. A leather control notice prohibits the use of ox and cow chrome and tan hides lor any purpose other than the manufacture of footwear. Home Guard at Thornton • The Thornton Home Guard carried out musketry practice on its rifle range at Thornton Beach on Saturday. Some good scores were registered, indicating that the local guardsmen could take heavy toll of any invaders. The Commander introduced Sergt Frod Burt, of Matata, who recently returned to New Zetland after service with the Tank Brigade in the Middle It»ast. His address on tank and anti-tank tactics was much appreciated, and he was given hearty cheers for coming along and giving guardsmen the benefit of his experience overseas. River Access Road Seventy-nine Paper Mills and' cheese factory employees whose work took them daily across tho Whakatne river to Pupuaruhe petitioned the Borough Council requesting that the street off the 1 end of James Street giving access to thei river should be re-opened. It was pointed out that until this was done the petitioners were forced to go across private property which was often resented. The matter was referred to the Works Committee to> inspect.