Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 63, 10 June 1942, Page 4

Local and General

£130 Worth of Fish Condemned An item in the Health Inspector's report to the Borough Council last Monday evening caused considerable speculation amongst councillors. It was, that £130 Avorth of fish had been condemned. A number of pertinent questions were asked but as no light could be thrown on the .subject the matter was dropped. Strange Skeleton What is considered a very strange skeleton was discovered in the, bush at the back of Woodlands byi Mr G. F. .Toblln recently. Resembling that of a very large snake, the skeleton is about six feet in length. The skull is about six inches across and most of the teeth are missing. Mr Joblin is making enquiries as to the nature of this unusual skeleton and the results of his enquiries will be awaited with interest. (News)

If Only We Had - - - Requests that the Borough Council should attend to certain roads which it was claimed by ratepayers making the complaints, "were in a deplorable state" drew the following comment from the Deputy Mayor (chairman of the Works Committee): "It's all a matter of what we would like to do if we had the money. Now if somebody would leave us £2000 or £11000 we'd give them a concrete path right away!" May Rainfall According to figures. taken by Mr If. Museutt, rain which fell in Whakatane on 12 days during May, measured 5.22 inches, against 1.21 inches for Maj* in 19-11, the driest on record. The wettest May occurred in 1928 with 12.39 inches. The total fall this year is now 10.06 inches, against 18.31 inches for a similar period last year. The driest five months occurred in 1939 (SGS inches) and the wettest in 1921 (3G.74 inchees).

New Library Books At the monthly meeting of tlic local Library Committee the following new books were selected: The Flickering Lamp, N. Muskett; Diamond Duel, S. G. Hedges; East of Athens, Eric GifTord;, The Pea Pickers, Eric Long Icy; Wild Rye, M. Hine. . Fishing Parties Permissable The Harbour Hoard has received information from the Sub-district Oil Fuel Controller to the effect that there was no reason why the board's launch could not be used for fishing parties etc. The Harbourmaster has been advised cordinglyRoad Improvements Wanted 1 Residents o.f Landing and Clifton Roads approached the Borough Council last Monday evening for much-needed Improvements to their respective thoroughfares. The council in both cases reeferred the matter to the Works Committee for sympathetic consideration. Awake N.Z. Socials The committee promoting the Awake N.Z. social evenings which were planned to occur every fortnight on Sunday evenings are now considering the desirability of holding them every month. A decision in this connection will be arrived at, at the next committee meeting which will be held early next week. For the Boys in Camp A story is going round Rotorua j that a shopper approached the proprietor of a large sporting goods firm asking for a discount o.n a cricket set, Avhich he said he was buy- j ing for "the boys in camp.'" When the rebate was promised and the money paid over the customer with a nonchalant air, said "1 guess I can leave it to you people then to send it on to Strathmore." Hos'pital Rates The Whakatane Borough Go.un-; cil has agreed to support the move' made by the Waikato Hospital Board to call a conference of Boards and contributing local bodies, to consider the growing incidence of hospital rating. While discussing the subject last Mionday the Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry, said that a point raised by the council had been the unfair basis of valuation of Borough and County upon which the rating incidence was based. The ce.unty had not been re-valued for many years while the borough valuations w r ent up annually in accordance to the number of new buildings erected. He quoted the Paper Mills as a glaring example and said that this aspect would have to be raised at the conference the Hospital Boards had in view. A Wonderful Transition In the course of his annual report the chairman of the Bay of Plenty Power Board, Mir W. T. Burrett, said: When we consider that it is but a few years since electricity was practically unknown beyond the confines of the two boroughs, the development of our rural area has been wonderful,, and Ave must not lose sight of the fact that a large proportion of cur rural population are more than ever dependent on the satisfactory operation of the board's services. From the figures submitted in the engineer-manager's report, I doubt if it will be advisable to extend any concessions or reductions to consumers during the coming year, but I feel certain we can assure our consumers everything possible is being done, and certain definite provisions have been completed, to try and determine how I best our services can function | through the troubled times ahead.

Harbour Board Employees

At the meeting of the Whakatane Harbour Board last Friday the Secretary, N.Z. Harbour Boards' Industrial Union of Employers wrote enclosing copy of a letter from the Minister of Labour dated 7th instant which advised that oa the 12th March the Industrial Emergency Council recommended the Minister of Labour to grant exemption to the workers whose employment was governed by the N.Z. Harbour Boards' Employees Award from the provisions of the Overtime and Holidays Labour Legislation Suspension Order 1941. Variation of the Order came into force on the TStli idem. In addition the Council expressed a strong desire that any workers be recompensed who hat! been short paid since the coming into operation of the Order viz. J 7th December, 15)51. In this respect the Council's recommendation was endorsed by the Minister of Labour who ask«>d that the matter be brought before the organisation, and if the recommendation could be given effect to regarding the Harbour Boards' Employees. The letter was received.