ITEMS OF INTEREST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 72, Issue 7, 12 May 1944, Page 3

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Missionaries Disappear The great mysterious hinterland of the Amazon Valley apparently has claimed nine American missionaries who entered the Bolivian jungle near the Brazilian border last November. The missionaries, eight, men and one woman, plunged into a region inhabited by wild Indian tribes, who are completely untouched by civilisation. Sleigh Rid'ing Whether it is the ancicnt instinct inherited from our forbears in the grip of the ice age or whether it is just another custom, is uncerit s just another custom, is uncertain; sufficient it is to say that every year at the same time without fail, the consuming passion.for sleigh riding in one form or another, takes hold of the youth of our country, and causes them to risk their necks gaily descending terrifying grades on flimsy contraptions at breakneck speed. Whakatane is no exception. The hill at the entrance to Valley Road seems to be the favourite "sleighing spot" this season, and every day youngsters can be seen enjojang themselves in this manner skating wildly down a dirt track on the. side of the hill.

Vacation! in America The audience at a meeting addressed in Timaru last week by Miss Margaret Dunning, director of physical education and training courses for the Young Women's Christian Association of New Zealand, was warned to prepare itself for a shock when Miss Dunning was asked how much it would cost to send a child to one of the, betterchildren's camps in America. The cost of a vacation of four weeks in one of these camps, said Miss Dunning,, was £80 in New Zealand currency. Honour System in Cafe When lie could no longer engage stgfT, because of the demands of war, the. proprietor of a Sydney cafe installed an honour system. Patrons clear a tabic for themselves and set it up, go to the kitchen and lay out their own meals, make their own tea, leave payment on the desk (taking change when necessary), and ring the bell as they go out. Old hands show newcomers the routine. In 12 months there have been no losses.