The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1946 Local and General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 61, 10 April 1946, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1946

Local and General

Cockayne Memorial Fund The Forest and Bird Protection Society announces that it has received to date subscriptions to the amount of £179 11s towards the erection of a memorial to the late Dr. Leonard Cockayne,, the famous botanist.

Edgecumbe Boxing School The Nicholl Brothers, who have recently returned from overseas and settled in Edgecumbe, have opened a school of boxing. Both brothers held titles whilst in the services, and their gesture offers an excellent opportunity for Edgecumbe lads to learn the art of ‘leather pushing.’

Penalty For Firing Bush One hundred years ago, states a correspondent of the Forest and Bird Protection Society, setting fire to any scrub or bush in New Zealand was more seriously regarded than it is today. A notice in the New Zealand Gazette early in 1845 warns that “any person setting fire to fern, or wood, or bush, maliciously, is liable to transportation,” apparently to one of the Australian convict stations.

Short and Sweet

“Justice in this country is the same as it is in England—short and sweet!” Thus did Mr Herbert Smith, an American visitor to Whakatane, sum up the situation after t the sitting / 6f the Whakatane Court on Tuesday morning. Continuing, he said that out of nearly four hundred cases of murder, which had come to trial in the States during the past few years, only nineteen persons convicted had been sent to the electric chair. He instanced one case in particular, that of a murderer named Crighton, whose case dragged on and on for fourteen years, and was finally dismissed. The man went to England shortly after, where he committed another murder. “And what happened?” Came the laconic reply: “They hanged him in three weeks!”

Parent-Teacher Association For the benefit, of those parents who were unable to attend the last meeting of the Whakatane ParentTeacher Association, the next meeting is to be held on June 10, at the school at 7.30 p.m. The annual subscription is 1/-, and general meetings are held on the second Monday in each alternate month.

A Remarkable Response Commenting at the conclusion of the meeting of the Parent-Teachei Association held at the school last Monday evening on the remarkable public response, the Headmaster, Mr I. B. Hubbard, suggested that in future, the headmasters of the surrounding schools be invited to the meetings. The suggestion met with the warm approval of the Association. Fertile Ohope Beach

A tomato weighing 20oz which was brought into the BEACON Office yesterday is only one of a giant crop grown by Mr G. Jennings of Ohope Beach. Mr Jennings who is justly proud of his garden has another tomato plant which is no less than 13ft. high and is still throwing out fruit spurs. He wonders when it will stop growing. Also on a maize stalk 9£ft. high there are no less than four cobs growing, whilst a nearby runner bean reaches the record height of 22ft. We wonder if any other gardener in Whakatane can beat this.

Adult Education Week

Notification was made at the meeting of the Parent-Teacher Association on Monday evening, that an Adult Education week would be held in Whakatane from May 6 to 11. The week is to be run by the Auckland University Council for Adult Education, and speakers will be present to deliver lectures upon music, art, literature and world affairs. A general meeting is to be held at the High School on Thursday, April 11 at 7.30 p.m. for the purpose of discussing arrangements for the week. All parents and others interested are asked to attend.

A Universal Answer Book A question put by one parent to the Headmaster at the recent meeting of the Parent-Teacher Association, was whether there was in existence, such a thing as a universal answer book, to assist parents in answering all the hundred and one odd questions their children came home from school with. A laugh went round the meeting, as the Headmaster replied: “I’m afraid not, they’ve got us bluffed too!” The Shining Cuckoo

The old-time Maoris knew the shining cuckoo stayed a short time in New Zealand and then left the country, states Forest and Bird. They were, however, unaware of the biid s powex’S of flight, and, knowing of no land in which it could fly, concluded that it spent the winter off a whale’s back. This conclusion was quite justifiable from the knowledge at their disposal, and its inaccuracy is no greater than that of the pakeha concerning many phases of bird life in New Zealand, especially concerning such birds as the harrier hawk. Even in England a hundred years ago country people thought that swallows and swifts, when they were not to be seen about the countryside, were hibernating at the bottom of lakes, so the Maoris were even further advanced in nature lore!