Local & General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 37, 5 January 1949, Page 4

Local & General

Who’s Down Under? “The press here referred to us as the Boys from Down Under. That gave me the chance to ask who put the Americans on top,'" writes Mr, W. Sullivan, M.P., in a letter from Washington. There speaks a good New Zealander! No Serious Accidents "No serious accidents were reported in the ,Whakatane district during the holidays,, though there were the inevitable few minor mishaps. However, there was nothing involv- ' ing serious injury. • Grand Fun, Ain’t It? Camping is grand fun, isn’t it? ; Take Ohope for instance. On New ; Year’s Eve. Rain coming down in sheets. Tent floors awash. A minor flood in full swing. And all those poor blighters suffering with set, chattering teeth, determined to enjoy themselves. And why not? They were on holiday, weren’t they? Still, one could not suppress the twinge of sympathy. • December Rainfall There were only 5 rainy days in December, with a total fall on the Rangitaiki Plains of 2.91 inches. Heaviest fall was on December 31, 2.24 inches. It has been a wet year, with 73.23 inches of rainfall, compared with an average of 56.01 oyer the previous 10 years; but December was a slightly drier month than the previous 10 Decembers, which averaged 3.10 inches. ’Plane On Beach Holiday thrill for children (and some adults) at Ohope Beach during the Christmas week-end.was the. visit of a Mangere Aero Club Tiger MotH ’plane piloted by Mr Fred MeKeever, of Auckland, accompanied by a friend. They landed, on the beach, treated Mrs J. Walter, an Auckland guest at the Hostel, to her first flight, then returned to Auckland. The ’plane drew quite a crowd. News Travels A copy of one of the last isoiaes of the Beacon before the holidays got in very flighty mood when a minor whirlwind whisked it up from a subscriber’s gateway down on the flat and took it sailing high over Hillcrest. Passers-by stopped to gape at the soaring news sheet, speculating as to what it could be. Was it a “flying saucer”? Was it a magic carpet? Was it the pre-Christ-mas spirit getting to work? Shall we say it was merely a sign to show how Beacon news travels over the whole district. Eve Leads Adam The first progress report of the interesting Thornton competition to raise funds- for lining the hall yras handed to the hall committee last Wednesday evening. It discloses Eve’s substantial lead and places her in an enviable position in the competition. With the results of the very enjoyable and successful picnic held on the Thornton Beach on. December 27, together with previous activities, Eve was enabled to hand' over to the Hall Committee the sum of. £62 4s 4d, while Adam had a modest £32. However, Adam claims we shall be hearing further from him in the very near future, and further reports are awaited with keen interest. * Well-Behaved Crowds Though Whakatane saw the largest crowds it has had in its streets for some years over the two holiday late nights, and although the hotels were well patronised during the break, there was a pleasing absence of all sorts of unpleasantness. Police expressed satisfaction • with the behaviour of the crowds throughout. There was little drunkenness—none demanding police action—and no disorderly conduct.. A.T.C. Building Damaged A section of the roof of the A.T.C. building in the Strand was crushed, and a side wall damaged when a. big old tree at the back of the building fell on it dhring New Year’s Eve. A car standing in the bade yard behind Cutler Brothers’, shop had a narrow escape. ■ Fortunately, there was no one in the building at the time.- • ' .. •