The Bay of Plenty Beacom Published Tuesdays and Fridays. TUESDAY, FEB. 29, 1944. Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 52, 29 February 1944, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacom Published Tuesdays and Fridays. TUESDAY, FEB. 29, 1944. Local and General

Little drops of water Little grains of sand j Will make Edgecumbe's Gymkhana The best in all the land.* Waimana Man Wounded Included in the'latest casualty list released by the War Office s the name of Bmdr C. J. Menzies, ol Waimana, avlio is listed as wounded. Ambulance Fund Donation The Whakatane County Council has decided to donate the sum of £10 to the St. John Ambulance Hall Fund. Flood Depredations Evidence of the depredations in some household caused through flooding Avas seen on Friday afternoon, when a stool Avas seen floating doAvn the river. Although it Avas upside down it could be plainly seen that it Avas of good A*alue as the legs Avere of highly polished oak. The Wrong End' I Maori humour relieved the dismal picture, of stack of hay which Avas Ave 11 surrounded by Avater at Onepu last week. A passing pa'kelia enquired of a Maori in a joking fashion "What Avrong Avith the haystack eh!" "Nothing," rejoined the Maori in a nonchalant A\*ay, "We only put the tin on the Avrong end eh!" Drying Off A subject of interest for spectators has been the "drying off" of the fittings and interior of the. yacht "Naoma," owned by Miles Hamill. The "Naoma" is the biggest craft of her kind 'in the harbour but from the look of her deck piled high Avitli the contents of the cabin, she certainly got. AVCt! Mud; Deposits Since the he.Tvy Hooding last Aveck, the sea has been showing very ob-« A-ious signs of the amount of material carried doAvn by the river. All along the coast, the colour of the water is a muddy brown, Avliile on Ohope Beach some quite thick deposits of mud have occurred —evidence of the erosion Avhich has taken place in the district. Unveiling Ceremony On Saturday, March 25tli the Matata Maoris have planned a great hui and social gathering of the local tribes to mark the unveiling >>f the memorial to the late Lieut Aubrey Rota Avho Avas killed in action in the Middle East. It is anticipated that something like I>0()0 people Avill attend including many prominent GoA r ernment officials. The general public is Avarmly invited to attend. Losses at Heads The cxcessiA'e water at the Heads caught many people napping, Avitli the result that some suffered, severe, losses in regard to boats and fishing equipment. Mr Sheatlicr in particular suffered the lieaA'iest depredations from the flood Avliich carried away not only a fishing net in perfect condition,, but also a good Hat bottomed dinghy—neither of which can be expected to be seen again. Medical Situation Thinking along the lines of inedi-< cal practitioners, work this one. out: If a doctor fell ill, and required the services of a felloAV practitioner, would the doctor doctoring the doctor,, doctor the doctor the Avay in which the doctor being doctored by the doctor wanted to be doctored, or aa'oilld the doctor doctoring the doctor, doctor the doctor by his own method of doctoring. Probably when it came to the point, if the medical services Avfcrc in such demand as they are at present in Whakatane, the doctor would, probably have to doctor himself. Total Immersion —Almost Although for many the: flood is a major catastrophe, it nevertheless has its lighter side, as for instance the experience of a school teacher from Poroporo avlio av&s returning home through a paddock when she came face to face Avith an infuriated bull. Choosing the better part of valour, she fled for the nearest fence, but inadA'erdantly stepped into a ditch —up to lier neck in Avater. Extricating herself, she was picked up by one of the bus drivers and given a lift. HoweA*er the bus met difficulties Avliei* it -came to a stretch of flood water of unknown depth, so the young lady volunteered to go ahead on foot, and led the bus safely through Avithout increasing her own state of dampness at all.

Shelter at Heads The Whakatane Chamber of Com-, mcree has decided to write the Borough Council urging that a shelter be constructed at the Heads, for the benefit of people who may be picnieing there, in the event of rain. The Cause of Fires Experiments in this and other j countries, states "Forest and Bird," I demonstrate that cigarette: buts are not the main cause of fires» Most fires arc due either to the deliberate acts of vandals or the careless casting "away of wax matches. It is suggested, that the use of wax matches should for this reason be prohibited. High Tides Evidence of the very high tides has been left on the beach at Ohope in the form of logs, and debris of all kinds. Some of the driftwood has received such a beating that it has been smashed, to pulp, and the result is that a large stretch of the beach :it the Western end is covered inches deep with a kind of watersoaked carpet of small twigs and bark, covering the sand entirely and making a very unpleasant surfaeo to walk 011. Wind Chargers Although the war has increased the cost considerably, the ~alc of Windchargers to supply electric current lis been rising steadily. With the 'increasing number of baches being built at the lakes and other holiday resorts where there is no power supply, a Windcharger is an excellent substitute, and it is much more preferable to install one of these than to endeavour to make do with an open lire or primus stove, as many people have discovered. The 'ole in the Road Difficulty was encountered just this side of the Te Teko bridge, A/here the flood had gouged out. a big hole in the road and left, it covered with water so as to be invisible to motorists. Several cars encountered difficulty but managed to negotiate, it. A cream lorry, however, was not so fortunate. It endeavoured to follow the cars through but tho> hole was too deep for it, and it. came to rest on its axles, remaining there till two other cream lorries came along to pull it out. Rarrafckis Week The annual Barracks Week commenced yesterday at the school, three staff instructors being present to put the cadets through a week's intensive training. The institution of an annual Barracks Week several years ago added a new importance to military drill at school, and thus, combined Avith regular periods at military training camps and regular supplies of neAv equipment for the school units has helped to make the training much more interesting. During Barracks Week, the cadets are not actually in camp, but undergo continuous training in school hours, instead of having lessons, as usual. Novel Window Display One of the first automatic moving windoAV displays to be featured in Whakatane Avill .shortly make its appearance in the window of the dying and dry-cleaning receiving depot at the upper end of the Strand. "Bertie," as he is affectionately called, avsis created by Mr Len Thompson, the well known local art and decorating specialist, and is something entirely new for Whakatane. The display consists of a man working a presser—the head, arms, and legs all moving in co-ordination Avith one another. The. Avhole outfit AVith the exception of the electric motor is fabricated in wood, and the effect is so life-like that one is forced to stop and look twice to make sure that "Bertie" is not actually human.