Local & General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 78, 22 April 1949, Page 4

Local & General

Renovation Of Fire Engine The present engine of the Whakatane Fire Brigade is now about 11 years old but is still in a fairly good condition. To keep it in perfect working order the brigade superintendent has been authorised to have the engine painted and overhauled generally. First Aid For Footballers A request from'the St John Ambulance Association that they be notified beforehand where and when ail matches are to be played during the season is to be granted by sending them a draw for each round it was decided at the annual meeting of the Whakatane Rugby SubUnion. Water On Hiilcrest A decision to ask the Vtfhakatane Borough Council'to provide a special drain cock on the Hiilcrest water reservoir was made at a meeting of the Whakatane Fire Board. The Board considers that if such a cock was provided it would make available some water for fire-fighting purposes. Bus Stops

Bus stop signs have been erected in the Borough and at Ohope along the Ohope Transport Co’s bus routes with the approval of the Borough and County authorities and the Transport Department’s Traffic Inspector. In future passengers will be picked up and set down at those points only.

Rugby Commencing April 30 The Rugby season is to commence at Whakatane on April 30, when'the first games of the first round will get under way. Before then however, the executive will have to prepare the grounds and have the draw made .out. This was decided at the annual meeting of the Whakatane Rugby Sub-Union. Before play commences clubs are to be asked to have their affiliation fees paid, which are £2 2s for senior, £1 Is junior and nothing for third grade teams. Caledonian’s Meeting

An extraordinary general meeting of the Whakatane District Caledonian Society last night passed a vote of confidence in the present Chief, Mr W. J. Simons, and appointed him convener of a meeting of present and recently-resigned Pipe Band members, with a view to electing Band officers and reviving the full activities of the Band The meeting accepted the principle that bandsmen should in future have a greater share in the management of the Band’s affairs. Hospital Statistics

Male births were three ahead of females recorded at the Whakatane District Hospital during last month. There were a total of 37 births, 20 males and 17 females. As against births there were only two deaths, both being of females according to the medical superintendent, Dr E. T. Dawson, in his statistical report for March. By April 1, 76 patients remained in the hospital of the 149 who had been admitted (62 males, 87 females) and the 138 who had been discharged (49 male, 89 female).

Fine Easter Easter week-end this year was one of the finest experienced in the Eastern Bay of Plenty for a number of years. Brilliantly fine days with cold, clear moonlit nights provided ideal weather for holiday making. Sporting fixtures were able to take advantage of the weather, as were other functions scheduled for the week-end. The last of the summer sports were drawn to a close, while introductions were made to winter activities. Although the water is now getting cold a number of hardy things had brief swims. A number of launches made fishing trips from Whakatane and reported good catches.

Dry Soil And Drainage Continued lack of rainfall so late into the autumn.has been quite unexpected, with the result that subsoils in this district are not moist enough for mole draining without cracking of the sealing walls of the channels. When clay is too dry there is excessive shattering in the vicinity of the channels, usually leading to early collapse. Besides, the power required to pull the mole 4n dry ground is considerably greater than in moist, plastic clay. In those circumstances, the demonstration which was to have been held next week at Wainui has been postponed until the spring.

Successful Whakatane Horse One of the most successful horses at the Opotiki Maori Gymkhana on Easter Monday was Nippy, owned by Mr J. Moore, Whakatane, which carried off several events. Nippy won the open wire jump, musical chairs, with a girl rider and with a boy rider was second over the hurdles. Nippy was also judged the best 14-2 pony. This horse was also very successful at the Waimana Gymkhana on Saturday.