Local & General

Chronicle (Levin), 18 August 1948, Page 4

Local & General

Kookaburras Seen South, Kookaburras, fairly common in some Auckland districts, but scarce in the South island, have been reported recently in West.land and Canterbury. These Australian birds were introduqed to New Zealand by the late Sir George Grey, who successfully established them on Kawau Island'. Heipecl Their Side's Win Outstanding games played by several 'who learnt their football- in the Horowhenua distfict 'was responsible in a large measure for Wellington's success in the Teachers- Training College annuai trugby tournament last weekendi • Tiie> wece P. Leddra, L. Marshall and I. J. Doyle (forwards) and D.' Farsons fullback) . t • _ : Ohau Card iSvenings The card evenmgs. -conducted weekly to raise fun^s for the Ohau School continue to' prove popular. The prize-winnefs Tjas.t week were: — La'dies: Mrs. J. G. Horn; men: Mr. A. Stevehsdn. " The''everiing completed the third series, the points prizes going to Mrs. E. Findsen (ladies) and Mr. T. George "(men) , the latter having to play oif. with Mr. J. Bowling. The ' fourth series commences tonight. Poisoned by Food Parcel j Four persons in: Leeds suffered ^poisoning as a result of eating bacon sent from New Zealand in a food parcel, according to a letler received by an- Ashburton resident. The letter, which expressed appreciation for parcels received, said that the poisoning had been reported in Leeds papers. "It nearly broke my heart to part with it, but after reading what I did, I thought it best to be on the .safe side," the letter added. Pipe Band Contest For the first time slnce 1913, a pipe band coritest will be held in Auckland on .November 20 and 21. This will be the Auckland Provincial Pipe Bands R Grade championships. : The pfpgramme;'. will open with a , Sato'day lrhbrhiiYg "strept march, and in the afternoon a^t Carlaw Park there-will be quick step, staff swinging and drumming competitions. A church parade at Albert Park will be held on Sunday morning, to be foliowed in ths afternoon by a test selection, drum major display., an exhibition by the winning bands, presentatinn of prizes and massed bands. "Muddle and Mess" "Members of the British Labour party ought to go to Australia and New Zealand in. order to study at first hand the Tnuddle and mess, the wastefulness and inefficiency of the nationalised railways there. The effect might- be chastening, as also would be a review of the Gov-ernment-owned air "service, when compared with the highly efficient and profttable one run by privaie enterprise," says Mr. Walter B. Marsden in an English newspaper report. Mr- Marsden, who. is the chairman of the Lancashire Chamber of Commerce committee, recently paid a five months' visit to Australia and New Zealand. Streamlined Ship The new Port Line flagship, the Port Brisbane, which was launched on the Tyne last nionth, is the first of the company's ships to have the new "tear drop" superstru^ture design. Instead of the conventional sheer bridge front seen onmost vessels calling at Auckland, the Port Brisbane has a bridge swept ba-ek-in a graceful curve to tbe top of the wheelhouse. The vessel, which is 12,450 gross tons, has been designed for a seryice speed of 17knots. She has 550JD00 cubic feet of insulated cargo space and. 225,000 cubic feet fpr general cargo. She will also have accommodation for 12 passengers. The new ship is expected to make her maiden vo'yage to Australia in December.

Maori Mayoress When Mr. F. G. Briggs was installed as. MayQr of Lyttelton, a woman memher of the borough counctl', Mrs, Gladys Boyd, said history had been made, because Lyttelton, now. had the first Maori Mayoress in the South .Island; in fact, the first in any pakeha community in New Zealand. Mr. Briggs said his wife was not actually the first Maori, Mayoress in the South island, but she was the first South Isiand-born 'Maori to achieve that distinction. " " . Demand for Teachers To . meet the demands of the teaching professjon it would be necessary fpr. oue but of every five pupils passing the school certificate examination to enter training'; college, said the Minister of Education, Mr. McCombs, when laying the foundation stone of the new assembly hall at the Timaru Technicai College. One- thousand more teachers and many ni,ore elassrooms would be* needed in the next five years, said Mr. McCombs, as 60,000 mprc p.upils- would be entering schools. .