NEWS IN BRIEF

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 22, 30 April 1947, Page 7

NEWS IN BRIEF

Shooting Season With the opening of the shooting season on the 3rd many visiting shooters staying at the local fishing lodge have been getting their eye in with much practice on clay birds. The proprietor has installed a clay bird trap for his guests and the novel idea has certainly been appreciated. It would appear that if sufficient interest is forthcoming there is a possibility that the trap could be used for a local gun club. The Future Market

Another very serious aspect of the present decline in pig meat production is the probable effect on the future market for the Dominion’s pig products in Britain. Although at present there is no competition on the overseas market, the reverse is likely to be the case in a few years’ time. The more pigs that New Zealand can send to Britain during the next few years the more consideration is Britain likely.to give to New Zealand when competition commences in earnest again on overseas markets. Maoris’

While he had always heard that the Maori race had produced great orators, said the Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev. R. W. Owen, when acknowledging his first Maori welcome at Ngati-Poneke Hall, he had been surprised and delighted at the quality of English used by its speakers, and by their eloquence. “You use such excellent English that I think it would be a good move if some of you went to England and taught our young people how to speak their own language,” he remarked amidst laughter.

Hawk Kills Pigeons A killer hawk is taking a heavy toll of pigeons of New Plymouth. Fanciers in several parts of the town have experienced losses during the last fortnight, and recently a man watched the hawk attack and kill one of his birds while in flight. It is stated that the hawk- has already killed more than a dozen pigeons. The hawk, which on occasions has been accompanied by another, is of reddish-brown colour. When pigeons are released for exercise it appears as if from nowhere, singles out a pigeon, swoops down and deals it a stunning blow, seizes it in its claws in a second swoop and glides to earth, where it devours its prey.

Community Buildings “While voluntary organisations foregathering in spare rooms at 'schools can be of very great value, it has to be borne in mind that schools were not designed for this extended use, and the ways in which they can be used for adult education are limited,” states the report of a consultative committee which investigated the demand for adult education. “The same limitation applies to village halls, which are equipped in the main for dances, suppers, concerts and occasional political meetings. Few have a stage suitable for drama; fewer still have small rooms for study groups, discussi’bn circles or quiet games. It is incumbent on localities contemplating building public halls to see that they provide for minority activities as well as more obvious uses.”

Colonial Independence A New Zealand soldier at present on leave in London handled a lug-gage-moving job in typical colonial manner. He writes: “When the baggage arrived from Venice it was delivered to New Zealand Military Headquarters. I asked at New Zealand House if they would store it for me till the boat sailed. They agreed, so I had to seek a carrier to move it a few hundred yards. The price was too tough for me and my pay book, so off came the coat. I borrowed a hand trolley, and away up the middle of the Strand. It was almost midday, too. I had to make two ti'ips, as the trunks are about 2cwt. each. You should have seen the looks I got from cab and bus drivers, as well as people. The Strand is about a six-way traffic street—one of the busiest—and I had to cross it several times to deliver the goods.” Blow To Ice Cream Industry “Abolition of the sugar subsidy is the last straw,” said Mr G. Martyn Renner, secretary of the Wholesale Ice Cream Federation, in commenting in Wellington on the Government’s order that the subsidy of £22 a ton on sugar for manufacturing purposes will be cancelled on April 14. He declared it was “one of a run of moves aimed against the ice cream manufacturing industry though this time with a broader application.” Sugar and butterfat were the main ingredients in ice cream, and the industry, which, with the exception of the sales, had absorbed all production costs for the past eight or ten years, was now “at the crossroads.” The public would have to “pay the piper.”