LOCAL AND GENERAL

Chronicle (Levin), 24 June 1947, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Discount On Rates A discount bf five per cent. on rates paid within one month of the date of demand was decided on by the Levin Borough Council during a discussion on ratihg at its monthly meeting last evehing. The discount will be allowed on the general rate only. Watersider Gaoled A watersider named George Samuel Westrup, aged 53, was seen by a Customs ofiicer leaving Ki'ngs wharf, Wellington, on Sat.* urday with a parcel under his coat which, on a search at the police station, was found to contain 17 pairs of socks, and five jars of pea* nu't butter of a total value of £3 15s 6d. Before Mr» S. 1 >. Stout, S.M,, he pleaded guilty and the magistrate sentenced him to one month's gaol. June Rainfall Risiiig The heavy " rain which has fallen over the' past two weeks is fast brihging the m'onth to one of the wettest experienced in Levin for many years. From 7 a.m. yesfcerday to 7 a.m. today there were 85 points of rain, adviSes Mr. H. Harvey, of Cariibridge Street, and the total for the month is now 6.5 inches. The highest fall during any single month in the 15 years Mr. Harvey has been taking recordings was 8.23 inches in June, 1946. Plenty Or Oranges The ever-reeurring shqrtage of oranges in New Zealand should be largely relieved this year. Big supplies, both from Australia and the Islands, should soon be on their way. -The Director of Internal Marketing,' Mr. Ross Fraser, questioned yesferday, said that the orange supply > and the shipping position in Australia had improved greatly and New Zealand could now expect more oranges than it had had for many years. All parts of New Zealand would get their fair share,. he said. Depredations By Deer Depredations ! by deer in the catchment area of the Ohau River from which the town draws its water supply were recently brought to the notice of the Department of Internal Affairs by the Levin Borough Council. At its monthly meeting last evening the council received a letter from the department advising that last year the operations of its cullers were hot extended to the Ohau watershed because of the presence of private shooters in the region. The department was fully aware of the depredations of deer and .pigs "in this area, and next season it was proposed to in'corporate it in the programme of operations. Vanishing FallS1 Having described with enthusiasm the wondrous beauty of the Huka J'alls near the source of the Waikato River at the northern end of Lake Taupo, a Taranaki resident took a friend with fiim on" Thursday to show hifn the falls. To his astonishmeht the tumbling cascade of green water that is accounted as one.of the finest tourist attractions of New Zealand had disappeared. In spite of the heavy rain of the past fortnight the cascade had diminished to a comparative trickle, and was no longer green but an almost colourless brown. The river bed "above the falls was comparatively dry. The dam at the source of the river had obViously been ; closed dn order toraise the head- of water in Lake Taupo for electrical purposes, but the disappointed sightseers came to the conclusibn that in turhing the economic resources of Nature to profit man is suffering immeasurable loss of natural beauty.