Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 99, 2 September 1942, Page 4

Local and General

Chtatrge of Drunkenness In the Wliakatane Court yesterday Tui Moengaroa was fined 10s and costs 20s for being found in a drunken condition at Matata on June 29 last Big Pricesi for Super The difficulty experienced in obtaining supplies of fertiliser supplies is reflected in the very high prices which have been paid for it at recent auctions. At one recent sale cobalt superphosphate was sold at £1.1 2s (id a ton and basic slag reached £12 7s (id a ton.

Investor's Lucky Mistake There is a certain prominent citizen of Hamilton who lias every reason for gratification that he consented to execule a commission for a friend last Saturday. He had been requested to invest £1 on Wee Pay (No. 20) in the third race at JEl'lerslie, and in the bustle of purchasing the ticket asked for No. 21. Noticing his mistake before the totalisator closed, lie hastened to remedy it. Any annoyance he may have felt at having to expend £1 needlessly changed to a mood of jubillation when Lord Chancellor (No. 21) won to the tune of a win dividend of just over a third of a century.

Teaspoon Substitute Slivers of wood, evoking* from most customers a first thought of chopsticks, are being served with cups and saucers in some Auckland tearooms as substitutes f'or irreplaceable metal teaspoons. These Avooden stirring implements are 4in long and %in wide, with rounded ends. Judgment Summons The only civil case dealt with by Mr E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Whakatanc Court yesterday was that of the Farmers' Trading Company v R. J. Twoomey for £15 15s. Judgment was entered for the full amount, in default 15 days in the Wliakatane Police gaol, warrant to be suspended so long as defendant paid the sum of £2 per montli.) August Rainfall

The total rainfall recorded at Edgecumbe for the month of August was 10.44 inches. There were 17 days upon which rain fell, the heaviest being on the 12th when 2.03 inches were measured. In August 1941, 8.31 inches fell, and a total of 4,5.33 for the first eight, months of the year. Nine frosts were experienced at Edgecumbe during August. Cosft of Living Index The official cost of living index figure on August 1 was 101 points above the level of July, 1914. This compares with 100 points a month earlier, the rise in the figure being the result of general increases in coal prices. There has been no> appreciable change in food jjriceiS (for which the index figure remained al 60 points above the level of Ju'ly, 1914), or of any other articles covered by the statistics. Loss of Field Pay

The loss of field pay whan the New Zealand troops were serving in Greece last, year is referred to in the annual report of the Controller and Auditor-General, Mr Cyril G. Collins, which was presented to Parliament recently. "I|n the course of the campaign in Greece," states the report, "some of the New Zealand field cashiers were made prisoner by the enemy, and it became necessary to reconstruct records lost there and in Crete. This reconstruction has proceeded as far as possible, and the results have been audited. The monetary loss ascertained to date which it will be necessary to write off as representing cash unaccounted for or destroyed to prevent its falling into enemy hands amounts to approximately £>0,000."