LOCAL AND GENERAL

Chronicle (Levin), 7 January 1947, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

BaAd Praetice on Thursday L At the Levin Municipal Band's •! praetice last evening it was deeided j to hold a special praetice on Thursj day next at 7.30 p.m. Every member is asked to . make a special effort to attend on that occasion. ! Juveniie Marching Teams ! The first praetice of the juveniie | marching teams will be held at the ! Levin Park Domain on Sunday , afternoon next, when the girls will ! be formed into teams. All those ! under twelve years of age who have ;not,yet handed in their names, and who wish-to become members, ! are asked to be present if they have ' their parents' permission. Dear Cigarette Papers j Mr. L. M. Robertson, of Sydney, was sent a Christmas gift of cigar- ; ette papers (189 packets), by his father in 3NTew Zealand. When he went to the Customs office to col- • lect the package he was presented with • this bill: — Duty, £2 12s 4d; 'Customs entry, 8s 6d; certification, 6s; sight entry, 3s 6d; agency, 7s 6d; cartage, 7s 6d. Total,- £4 5s 4d. He thinks it's a bit rough having to pay £4 5s 4d for a Christmas pres- ; ent which cost his father £1 18s in the first place. Cigarettes in Short Supply j Cigarettes and tobacco are once ! again in short supply in Levin, and ; tobacconists say there is little hope of relief before January. 16 Sup- ; plies of this commodity are alWays ! uncertain and retail- establishments , are at no tinie able to build up reserves to cover periods of aeute 1 shortages. The present situation is 1 attributed -to the fact that the majority of warehouses have not : yet re-opened, and no extra ration ; was allowed retailers to tide them | over the holidays. 1 Heavy Downpour j Aceompanied by a sharp drop in j temperature, Levin experienced a | sudden and heavy downpour of i rain at 6.30 p.m. last night, which ! drenched many caught unprepared. lAccording to flgures recorded by ;Mr. H. Harvey, two-thirds (.67) of 1 an inch of rain fell during the ; downpour, which lasted for one and a-half hours. Mr. Harvey rejported that.at 5.30 a.m. today the !i temperature had dropped to 38 j degrees, six de'grees off freezing ;point, and snow was again evident •!on th'e Tararuas.' He considered I the temperature remarkable for j the time of year and the rain of l unusual veloqity.. _ ^ ; o i Synthetic Rubber j In'ner tubes and a number of ! other rubber products will continue i to be mad£ partly of synthetic rubi ber even after natural rubber supi plies are abundant, according to { the New York "Journal of Comi merce." Tests show that synthetic j rubber is better than natural for tubes, oil hoses, chemical containI ers, and other specialised purposes. It is estimated that synthetics will retain about 15 per cent of rubber saies in the United States after the natural rubber supply and demand picture is balanced. The United States Government, too, it is reported; is encouraging continued production of synthetic rubber as a national defence measure. Radio In Mountain Rescues The successful use of radio ih the rescue of survivors of the Dobson Glacier tragedy in the South Lsland' last week was one of the features of the accident. This is probably the first occasion on which radio communication has been used in mountain rescue work in New Zealand, but. it has been used pn at least one previous occasion in search work. That was in April, . 1933, when four trampers,' one of ' them a woman, were lost in the Tararuas for a fortnight. A transf mitting • and receiving set was ; transported to Te Matawai Hut and was operated by Mr. T. Grabriel, ■ of Palmerston North, who maintained contihuous cont'act with two " Levin amateurs, Messrs. S. G. Tay- ; lor and E. H-. Humphrey. A link was also estabiished on the Wairarapa side of the 'ranges. By this ; means it was possiblfe to pl'an the : search to avoid; overlapping of ; parties. In addition the fbod re- ] quirements of the many searchers ' based at Te Matawai were trans- . mitted to Levin, saving valuable • time and- making more personnel available for the. search.Qperatiohs.