LOCAL AND GENERAL

Chronicle (Levin), 27 December 1946, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

— ■' rFrost on Christmas Day Two degrees of frost were recorded on Christmas morning, reported the grassland division of the L>epartment of Scientific and Industrial Research at Palmerston North this morning. The minimum grass temperature on Christmas Eve was 29deg. Marriage a Menace That marriage is a menace to the staffing of the hospitals throughout New Zealajid was indica^ted at a recent meeting of the Wairarapa Hospital Board, says the Wairarapa Times-Aae. It was stated that last year 550 nurses in New Zealand had married _ and left the service. A total of 600 new nurses v/ere trained, a net gairi. of 50. Juvenile Marching Teams Early in the new year juvenile marching teams are to be formed in Levin and parents"of girls desirous of joining are invited to contact Miss J. Perigo, Cambridge Street, Miss S. Smith, Princes Street, Mr. J. Macfarlane, Princes Street, or the Association's secretary, Box 19 Levin, by letter stating age and height. Two teams are to be formed,- one between the ages of 8 and 10 years and the other under 8 years. Ship Names Appear Again For the first time since the outbreak of war in 1939, personnel of the Navy are displaying the name of their ships on their hat bands. This has been noticed with personnel of H.M.N.Z.S. Bellona, two of whom, Seaman Boy 1st Class; L. Yorston and Leading Stoker N. Robinson, are spending leave with their parents ' in Levin, Mr. and Mrs. A. Yorston, of Bristol Street, and Mr. and Mrs. S. Robinson, Cambridge Street. Grave Diggers' Wages Special provision ' for grave-dig-gers and workers engaged in disinterments or reinterments is made in the new Wellington City Council labourers' award, approved by the Arbitration Court. An extra 2d. an hour is to be paid to the former; and the latter, while engaged in disinterments or reinterments after one year and within 10 years of the original interment, are to be' paid £1 in each case. When the work is performed within 12 months of burial, the amount is to be doubl'ed. Unusual Fish An unusual fish, possibly a cowfish, which l'ives in porthern waters, was washed ashoi^e on the beach near Camerons, on the West Coast. The fish weighed about half a ton. The fish has no t'ail, which is unusual, but has two rear fins measuring eight feet from tip to tip. It is six feet long and about eighteen inch.es thick. The fish has a black back, but is pure white along its stomach. None of those who have seen the fish have been able to identify it, though a Greymouth man who has fished at the Bay of-.Islands suggests it would be a cowfish. After 22 years Opened" 22 years ofter standmg on a shelf in an ornamental glass jar, some English sweets, of a type once well-known in New Zealand, are still in exeellent condition, says the "Auckland Star." A Christchurch resident, the owner of the jar who finally opened it after buying the sweets in 1924, sent some of the contents back to the English manufacturers as proof of how they had withstood the passing of the years. The firm, in reply, says it believes some of the sweets in the jar are probably the last of their kind left anywhere in the world. They contained Brazil nuts, which have -not been imported for years.

Christmas Cheer Fund The Mayoress (Mrs. H. B. Burdekin) has received' the following letter from the chairman of the Palmerston North Hospital Board aeknowledging receipt of £48 16s lOd collected in Levin towards the Christmas cheer appeal for inmates in district hospitals: "I am writing to express the board's grateful thanks to you and your committee for your very fine effort. You certainly did well and I can assure you it is appreciated. We have been very successful again this year. We find that the appeal is a very popular; one and have no refusals. It means so much to the patients, who are loud in their praise each year for what is done for them. We have 600 all told, including the sanatorium," ... ,