Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 65, 16 April 1943, Page 4

Local and General

Paper Collection To-morrow A collection ol waste paper will be made throughout the business area of Whakatane to-morrow. Businessmen are asked to co-operate by 'having their waste paper handy for the. benefit of the collectors. Rehabilitation Representative At its meeting last Monday evening the Whakatano: Borough Coun-> ?il decided to endorse the suggestion of the Chamber of Commerce that the .Mayor of the town be elected as representative of the busTness interests on the newly constituted Whakatane Rehabilitation Committee. Deputation to Hospital Board A deputation of some thirty prominent. county residents waited on the Whakatane Hospital Board yesterday urging the deferment of the Board's application lor its. proposed loan of £45,000. Owing to pressure on our spacc to-day the whole report. has been held over till Tuesday. Fire Superintendent's Report A particularly full and capable report on the recent Fire Brigade conference which lie attended was submitted to the Whakatane Fire. Board by Superintendent F. H. Stewart last Tuesday evening. The report called for the highest praise for the writer who must have gone to considerable pains to collcct and frame his data so ably. St. John Ambulance Association The Red Cross shop is staffed to-day by St. John Ambulance. Association officers. Proceeds arc to be donated to the local association's funds. Donations of cakcs, preserves etc. will be thankfully received. The shop will be open until 9 p.m. Please, ring Mr A. J. Canning 33) and. 52 if donations are to be called for. Paeroa Ditch Popularly known as 'Paeroa ditch' on account of the military wisdom which demanded, its creation, the tank traps, Hanking the Commerce Street road block came in for some cynical remarks at the meeting of the Borough Council last Monday. "It's a .stupid thing from what I sec of it," said Cr Canning. The Maj'or reminded the Council that, the Army authorities regarded it as necessary, and in spite of what they thought, it was not for them to criticise. "Rats of Tobruk" ' "Lord Haw-Haw, the Berlin commentator was the first to call us the 'Rats of Tobruk," and we accepted the name as. an honour," said Sergeant Esmond Sharp, of the Austra-* lian Ninth Division, who was a member of the Australian force that occupied Tobruk for eight months, despite constant German attacks. Interest in New Zealand Requests for descriptive matter about the Dominion* from persons overseas who■ intended visiting New Zealand after the war gave increas:ed evidence of the position won'by New Zealand in workl affairs and of the interest in its attractions, said the Minister of I'nternal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, at Auckland. Unfortunately, owing to the shortage of papcy and printing materials the Tourist and Publicity Department was unable to produce many of its former publications. "It seems unpropitious," added Mr Parry, "to refer to tourist traffic to-day, but sound to predict that New Zealand will have overseas visitors by the thousand." Newspaper from- Tripoli A copy "of the Tripoli' Times has been received from a Te Kuiti soldier. I/t is just, one small sheet, one side printed in English and the 1 other in Italian. The soldier writes: "How happy we were to reach Tripoli. The people told us that the Italians said before tlicy left, they, would be back in eight days, but I don't think that is likely to hap-; pen! It was a great thrill to see the first houses wc had seen for seven months with white. Hags Hying and the men wearing white armbands. When we camped, under lovely green fruit trees, did the boys make merry! It was, not long before the residents were around, bartering eggs for tea and sugar. The weather at present is very cold, just like a New Zealand winter."