Local & General

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 94, 6 February 1950, Page 4

Local & General

Four Eclipses Due Four eclipses are due in 1950, the National Geographic Society in the United States reports. The sun will be obscured on March 18 and September 12. Lunar eclipses will occur April 2 and September 26.

Town Planning Scheme Following discussions with the official; town planner ' the Whakatane Borough Council has now almost completed its new town planning scheme. Plans are now being prepared and are expected to be presented in full to the next meeting of the Borough Council. Farm Talk 1 A talk of interest to farmers on scrub land development ' of the pumice country is to be presented from the Bay of Plenty station IYZ on Thursday at 7.15 p.m. The talk is to be given by Mr C. R. Taylor, of the Department of Agriculture, Rotorua. Rates Paid Most people in Whakatane paid their rates last year to the Whakatane Borough Council. There was almost 100 per cent collection, the total coming to 99.9 per cent of the amount struck for the year. A full report is to be' presented to the next meeting of the Borough Council. U.S. Youth Hostels There are 160 youth hostels located in 29 States of the United States. Each year they provide inexpensive overnight lodging to about 15,000 young people, the National Council of American Youth Hostels reports. This organisation maintains co-operative arrangements with youth hostels in 24 countries.

Local Body Elections Local body elections are to be held this year when the future of county and borough councils and other bodies will be decided. The elections, held every three years, will be decided in Noyember. Previously they used to be held in May but the change was made about six years ago to bring them in line with the general election, jects. Travellers To Games Many people are expected to travel from Whakatane today to see the Empire Games rowing at Lake Karapiro. A number of private cars left early this morning while a bus carrying crews of the Whakatane Rowing Club and supporters was on the road early. A few people have travelled to Auckland to see events taking place there. Iron Piping Lying About

It is believed by hardware merchants that as a result of the serious shortage of galvanised iron piping thousands of feet of piping are now lying unused on farms all over the country. The reason for this is that farmers have only been able to purchase just small amounts of what they really need so that they have not been able to coaaplete the work and have had to leave the piping lying on the ground until they can obtain the quantity they actually need. Surf Club

The trophies won by the Whakatane Surf Club women’s team, which recently competed in the National Surf Championships at Wellington, are to be displayed in a shop window at Whakatane. The main" trophy, the Arawa Shield, for the six-man rescue and resuscitation, is a large wooden shield decorated on the face with Maori carving and paua shell. The Cambrian Shield for resuscitation contains a steel plate with the outlines of a surfman resuscitating a rescued patient. The team was awarded a new safety rescue belt for winning the march past.

Rain On Plains „ January rain on the Rangitaiki Plains totalled only .59 inches. The average January rainfall over the past 14 years has been 4.78 inches. Heaviest single day’s fall last month was 0.37 inches on January 21.