The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, APRIL 8, 1946 Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 60, 8 April 1946, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, APRIL 8, 1946

Local and General

Waiewe Outlet ,The Whakatane Harbour Board, at its meeting last Friday, decided to extend the outlet from the Waiewe Stream which flows through a culvert under the Strand to the deeper water in the harbour channel. According to the Engineer, Mr C. H. Brebner, the silting up of the mudr flats, resulting from the main groyne constructed at the rear of the Strand has been the cause of the existing outlet being insufficient to carry away the flood water. Sanding Up Of Bar During the drought months, the local harbourmaster reports, that the depth at the Whakatane Harbour Bar was almost the lowest on record. At high tide the clearance was barely seven feet, and an effort to relieve the position, in order to allow coastal trading vessels to operate lay in the dragging of an ordinary set of harrows over the sand bed with the outgoing tide. This scheme proved effective up to a point, and enabled shipping to maintain an established schedule.

National Savings A new record in national savings was established last week when 275 of the 336 areas for which objectives have been allotted, including all the principal centres, obtained their weekly quotas with the exception of war loan periods when all places were successful. This' is the highest number recorded in any weeK since the inception of the quota scheme in October, 1941. The quotas are fixed on a population basis and provide a convenient means of noting in barometer fashion the extent of the regular week-by-week savings in the respective districts. With another week of the current financial year still to run 216 places have obtained their full annual quotas and in 19 of the 20 postal districts the full district objective has been attained.

Value of Ambergris * A piece of ambergris, found some years ago on the beach by a resident of Orepuki, has been valued at more than £3OO. At first (says the Southland Times) the resident did not realise the value of what he had picked up, and it lay in his house for some time. Subsequently he accepted an offer of £lO for it, but the transaction was not completed because the purchaser did not have the money. This has turned out to be fortunate for the finder, who will now receive a sum more than 30 times as large.

Warrants of Fitness

A recommendation to the Government that legislation should be introduced to prevent the owner of a vehicle applying to another testing authority when a warrant of fitness has been refused by the, authority in his'district was adopted after considerable discussion by the Municipal Conference at Wellington. The remit was put forward by the Christchurch City Council, representatives of which said that cases were known to them in which a vehicle owner had gone to four other testing authorities in an endeavour to obtain a warrant of fitness for an unsound vehicle.

Muddled Money Order That the method of sending remittances from Britain to New Zealand sometimes allows room for improvement is evident from the experience of an Aucklander who had been expecting a sum of money from his mother in England. As his address was uncertain he had some weeks ago asked his mother to forward the money care of a friend. The money arrived at an Auckland suburban post office addressed to a name consisting of his mother's Christian and surnames and his New Zealand friend's surname. The sender of the remittance, according to the post office, was himself! All the explanations of the Aucklander and his friend failed to satisfy the postal authorities, who, it is understood, cabled to England for clarification of the position.

Awakeri Monte Carlo Final The final of the Monte Carlo series at Awakeri was danced last Saturday evening at the sports dance when Mr M. Jensen arid Miss D. Claris were declared the winners and Mr Yates and Miss S. Downard the runners-up. Weekend Storm The easterly storm which blew throughout the'weekend and was responsible for high seas at the Heads and at Ohope, recorded a total fall of 2.27 inches in Whakatane, the heaviest consistant fall the town and district has experienced for over four months.

Delegates to P.W.D. Meeting At last Friday's meeting of the Harbour Board the chairman, and Mr H. G. Warren were appointed to attend a special meeting between representatives of Whakatane local bodies and Messrs. Thornton and Ronayne, District and Resident Engineers to the P.W.D. On Wednesday, April 17, when the new access road proposal for Whakatane will be discussed.