Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 2, 31 August 1945, Page 4

Local and General

Rangitaiki Dairy Suppliers Ln tlic course of the annual meeting of Rangitaiki Dairy Company shareholders, last Wednesday, the Secretary-Manager, Mr R. E- Blair, announced that there was a total of seven hundred and six suppliers to the Company at the present date. Electric Light at Whakatane West At long last, the Whakatane West Railway Station is receiving the benetit of electric lighting. Power was turned on and passengers- by the Taneatua Express arriving last night received something of a surprise to ,s.ee the station almost floodlit by comparison. Electric lighting should certainly make a vast difference to the conditions under which passengers are expected to disembark At night and will be welcomed by all who are called upon to . use this connection. Sheep Population Interim figures supplied by the Government Statistician show that New Zealand's s>heep population increased during the year ended in April by 690 000 and numbered j33 800,000 —roughly 20 times the | human population. There were 19,041,000 in the North Island and 14 489 000 in the South Island. The 5 ♦ numbers, in the various districts, with the increases show a in parentheses were as follows: —Auckland 4 883,000 (90,000); Poverty Bay Hawke's Bay 7,160,000 (decrease 9) 000); Wellington, Wairarapa, West Coast 6 998 000 (151,000); Nelson, Marlborough, Westland 1,403,000 (32 000); Canterbury, Kaikoura 5,930'000 (286,000); Otago, Southland 7,511 000 (230,000). * 'The Horrors of Peace' Discussing the question of intei-es't-free money at the meeting of the County CouM'eil, Cr C. H. McCready introduced the recent action of America in terminating the lease-lend agreement. "It looks as if the war of aggression just being over, the new war of commerce is about to begin" he said. "In other w r or.ds, the 'horrors of peace' are upon us already. Why we can only be friends during the period of war is beyond me. The commercial interests seem to have immediately taken charge again and it looks as though they have got in first. Why can't we send our wool direct to Greece where they have the machinery for spinning it instead of going round collecting old coats? These things could be done were it not tor the almighty dollar. * Temperance Society Necessary business was attended to at the August meeting of the Bay of Plenty S.D.A. Temperance Society., and after a useful reading the question of events in connection with the celebration of Victory was discussed. With those in other places the Society felt deep-rooted concern at the apparent indifference of those in position of authority to. wards the appalling loosening up of public decency and the complete lack of self-respect that cries out from the published reports and more emphatically still from unpublished accounts f rom various centres. Thinking people it was claimed will see in these events one of the best proofs of the need for unceasing activity on the part of those who do understand the facts as revealed by common, sense and by modern science, 'The Burma Roa<f That section of the Wainui main highway now notorious as 'The Burma Road' was under discussion at the County Council meeting last Tuesday when the chairman stated that whilst in Wellington he had received a promise from the Minis-, ter of Works, Hon. R. Semple, that he would visit the site and interview the settlers when next in the district. He said that the Minister realised that it would be impossible for the Council to find the money and that it would be a departmental job entailing twenty to thirty thousand pounds. The Council, resolved to write the Minister again pointing out the extremely bad state of the road and also that after rain the highway was nearly alwaj 7 s closed to the travelling public. The expense of continually restoring the read indicated that the construction of the detour should not long be delaved.