LOCAL AND GENERAL

Chronicle (Levin), 5 July 1946, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Kiwi Egg for Platypus The Minister of Internal Affairs, rluti. W. E. Parry, has refused to jtilow the Auckland City Council to •end a kiwi egg to Australia in exchange for a duck-billed platyous. His letter was in reply to a request from the council whieh i.aid the manager of the Milbourne Zoo had oifered to obtain permisuon from the Federal Government iO send a platypus in exchange. Termites Scotched In 1S43 a "spot"' of infestation of terrnices was discovered in a small e.rea of Waikohu County, Gisborne ' district, and it was brought under the Termites Act (applicatipn) order. This. infestation has been satisfactorily dealt with as a result of local body co-operation with the State Department concerned and a , nctice in the Gazette announces a revocation o fthe order-. Duck Shooting Licenses A test case brought by the Wellington Acclimatisation Society in j *fie Masterton magistrate's courtj made it clear that duck shooters| n.iat have licenses even if tfiey iccompany a property occupier, the magistrate imposing costs only in ent&ring convictions against James Neill Glover and Thomas Neill Glover. charged with having been' in pursuit of native game without prcducing their licenses to an Vat hcrised ranger. Rcnewed Sunspot 4ctivity The Director of the Carter Observatory (Mr. I. L. Thomsen) states that there is renewed sunspot uclivky. Two large sunspot regions are now coming into view 011 the un's disc." On the latters northern hemisphere there is a fairly large umspot of about 28.000 miles in cliameter, which should cross the entral meridian by to-morrow. In the southern hemisphere there is a seattered region of about 39,000 aiies in diameter. heap Typewriters Ex-servicemen and women, given irierity on Rehabilitation Board i ecommendation, secured all six pr.rtaoie typewriters and a number of office machines when a large .liunber of typewriters were releas- . d i'or sale by the War Assets rfralisation Board in Wellington. t rices generally were fairly low, nd all machines were sold to exe» vicemen strictly dn their second .iir.d value, plus 10 •- per- cent. uhnmistration charge." This meant hat machines currently being sold oy deaiers for as much as £25 were ubtamed for £12 by ex-servicemen. Ahernative to Hops "At least 270.000 tons of onions a 1 eu r were shipped from Egypt to :::> United States during the war," said Mr. D. C. MacKenzie, assistant •hrector of parks and reserves in Palmerston North, when speaking .u uie annual meeting of the Wellington Horticultural Society. Mr. MneKenzie said onions were used ' m ihe brewing of beer at times of a shortage iTi hops. Mr. MacKenzie's -uoject was -'Horticulture in the Micidie East," and during the adress he said New ^ealand w7as not the only country worried by .he riepredations of wdla goats. In Palesfine they were so numerous .he guards were set over the small patches of forest growth to nro."e t them from the roaming herds; ui Greece. enemy number one of c.rest growth was a position shared qually between goats and char- - oal-burners. Novei Radiator Cap Fashions change in the radiator .aps of motor cars, as in other ihings, the tendency in these times : having a stream-lined accent. Acccrdingly, a rather curious deparvrc- from this tendency in the -hupe of an inverted beer bottle adorning the front of a rather •uicient model car seen on the Main> South Road just out of Christchurch, this 'week, drew many ainused glances, says the StarSun. To a ciirious passer-by, the cargo of youths explained that the ! water tvas escaping rather quickly from the radiator of the car, and the beer bottle was used as a gauge, being filled and then inverted, with the neck jammed tight into the radiator. The driver was 'able to ealculate the rapidity vdth I which water escaped by the speed i with which the level of water in the . I bottle f ell.