Local & General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 70, 19 July 1948, Page 4

Local & General

Camp Grounds Sodden The main camping grounds and picnic grounds at Ohope are at present in a very sodden state owing to this year’s frequent heavy rain, and the storm water, having no better place to run to, has spread out over the areas. The main picnic ground at the beach is taking on the appearance of a miniature swamp on this account. Destructive Enjoyment Quite a little unconscious damage is being done to the Ohope Beach shore line by small children who appear to be taking a delight in breaking down sandhills and burrowing dangerously into the hills and cliffs. This gives the sea a better chance to erode the foreshore, which in the past few years has been washing away very quickly. Like Bars Of Music

Have you ever watched fifty and more small birds on the power lines? They perch in long rows and now one or two will hop to a lower line and others follow suit, backwards and forwards and up and down until the lines look like bars of music. Then, as if at a signal, dll will fly down to the ground and back to repeat the performance. Herd Testing Figures The Bay of Plenty Herd-.lmprove-ment Association will have this season 618 herds under test and a further 90 are awaiting confirmation. They should reach the 700 herds, by the beginning of the season proper. A full group has been lost in the Gisborne-Wairoa district, owing to the flooding. There are six testing officers at present training at Massey Agricultural College and four fully trained ones at the station.

Pearls In Cockles On reading a report in the “StarSun” of the discovery of Mr P. L. McMillan of a black pearl in a cockle from the bed of Saltwater Creek, Mr C. Williams, of Gladstone Street, Westport, produced a small bag containing several pearls, including three black ones, found by him 30 years ago when he was eating cockles on the South Spit, near the mouth of the Buller River. Two of the black pearls are the size of small peas, one of them being also nearly perfect in shape. 146 Years of Talk New Zealanders collectively spent 146 years of time in talking last year and what’s more, they paid for it. This fact was revealed by the Postmaster-General, Mr Hackett, when commenting on the annual report of the Post and Telegraph Department, which he tabled in the House of Representatives. This figure is computed from the number of pennies received in telephone booths throughout the country, each penny representing a three-minute conversation.

Turning Print Into Sound Blind persons may soon be able to read ordinary printed books. R.C.S.’s famed Dr. Y. K. Zworykin has developed an electrical “pencil” whievh will scan a page, using a photo-electric cell to generate current, which is then fed to a hearing aid. The varying shapes of letters and words are thus transformed into strange 1 sounds. Tests indicate that blind persons can learn these sounds and interpret them as the printed words which cause them. The device is not ready for sale yet.