Local & General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 31, 21 May 1947, Page 5

Local & General

Conditions at Bar Conditions at the bar are once again bad. The motor vessel Seagull, with a load of sand for Auckland, is waiting in port for conditions to improve before she can commence her journey. The tides are making and the sand is drying out so that no trouble is expected in getting the vessel out.

Basketball Dance The Whakatane Basketball Club will hold the first of its dances for the season in the Caledonian Hall, King Street, on Saturday next. An excellent programme has been arranged and the Premier Dance Band will provide the music. Members are sparing no efforts ot make the function a “top notcher” so that it should be an occasion well worth attending. Proceeds will go towards augmenting club funds. . -

Hitch-Hikers’ Trip TWo hitch-hikers, a man and a woman, who set out from Auckland on Sunday morning on their way to Tauranga, were successful in reaching their place of destination in the afternoon. With the assistance of motorists along different stages of the route, they reached Ohauiti, the district for which they were bound, at about 5 p.m., after being transported to just short of their destination. Te Teko Red Cross Society

There was an excellent attendance of members when the Te Teko Red Cross Committee held its May meeting at Mrs L. B. Smith’s house. A quantity of old clothes was sorted and mended, and a number of new garments completed for relief' purposes. The secretary reported an increase in the receipts from the pie stall at the last stock sale. It was decided to make an effort to improve the stall building in the near future. The June meeting is to be held at Mrs Caldwell’s house on June 3. Came Prepared After playing oh to the third green of , the Motueka golf links recently a club member found his approach to the cup barred by a piece of crumpled paper, which on closer investigation proved to be a £5 note, says a Nelson correspondent. The note was later claimed by a new player, who naively explained that he had been informed that, the penalty for holing in one became rather expensive, and he had come prepared for any eventuality.

Hydro-Electric Workers Nearly a third of the men engaged on public works are employed on hydro-electric development, according to the latest issue of the Abstract of Statistics. The increased importance attached to developing power resources is also shown in the increase in the number of men employed on this work from 1148 in 1938 to 3249 in 1946. In the same period the number of men employed on public works and hydro-electric undertakings generally decreased from 22,125 to 10,976, and those on roads 12,812 to 3380, on railways from 2757 to 396, and on public buildings from 1634 to 724. Price of Sago Recent comments regarding the action of the Customs Department in refusing application for licences to import i sago from Malaya were referred to by the Acting Minister of Customs (Mr Nordmeyer) recently. The. prices ruling at the pi'esent time for sago would necessitate a retail selling price of about six times the pre-war price, said the Minister. Inquiries had indicated that the British Ministry of Food had refrained from purchasing supplies because ruling prices were considered unreasonably high, and it was felt that it would be unfair for New Zealand to purchase while the Ministry was refraining from placing orders. After full consideration it had been decided to decline applications for licences to import at the present high prices.