Local & General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 83, 22 September 1947, Page 4

Local & General

Post Office Parcels Commencing today parcels from the Post Office, which were formerly delivered on a cycle trailer, will be taken to their destination in a motor vehicle of McCallion’s parcel delivery service. Saturday Night’s Rain

The heavy rain on Saturday night, which it was feared might have been responsible for a minor flood had it continued much longer, measured exactly 2.20 inches. The main fall was limited to Whakatane. Only medium falls were recorded at Waimana, Taneatua and on the Plains. White Island Active Residents from Ohope report having noted particularly intensive activity from White Island during the period of minor earth tremors which have been experienced over the past few weeks. The steam plume over the island has been abnormally heavy and over the weekend reached a great height. White Island has more than once been described as the safety valve for the North Island. Robert Burns’ Manuscript * What it is hoped is an original manuscript of Robert Burns’ “Scots Wha Hae” has been found in Wellington by Mr P. Mackay, whose father came to New Zealand in 1854 from Banff, Scotland. It is now in the possession of Mr R. H. Nimmo, Wellington, the life chieftain of the Caledonian Society, who has consulted the secretary of the Wellington Burns Club. “We- are of the opinion that in all probability this is an original document written by the hand of Robert Burns,” he said. Motorists’ Action Defined Some doubt is being experienced by a number of motorists in Tauranga as to their requirements under the traffic regulations when the fire siren is sounded and on observing the fire engine. The traffic department of the Tauranga Borough Council points out that in no way should the progress of a fire engine be hampered when proceeding to a fire. The driver of any vehicle when hearing or observing the fire engine must immediately pull into the kerb with safety and stop until the fire engine has passed the near vicinity. Erosion in 1867

Far-sighted New Zealanders were giving “you have been warned” messages concerning the menace of erosion while the colony was still in its infancy. In a book published in London in 1867, the late Mr E. Fairburn, father of Mr Arthur Fairburn, of Mt. Eden, wrote: “Threefourths of the best land in the north will remain unutilised or useless unless all the hills suitable for the purpose are terraced. It is melancholy to see the way in which the surface of the best part of the country is destroyed, never to be re-

stored again, except at great expense, through ignorance or shortsightedness on the part of the settlers. . . . Far better and more pay-

ing in the end, if the natural forest had been left standing, or only thin-

ned out with judgment for firewood and fencing materials.”