Local & General

Chronicle (Levin), 13 December 1948, Page 4

Local & General

/ Saturday's Softball Saturday's sofitball games resulted as follows: — Men's A: Athletic 22, Wanderers 12; Firates 32, Achilles 14; Punahau defaulted to Kimberley. Men's B: Achilles 35, Kimberley 20. Women's: Punahau! 8, Wanderers 7. All Otaki games were postponed on account of the races. i Summer Here i The Sun entered the zodiaeal sign of Capricorn today at 11 a.m., when the summer solstice' of the southern , hemisphere occurred. Interpreted by the Weather Office, this means that summer is coming in. "It doesn't mean a sudden change, that we can look forward to settled .weather right away. It's only an indication / of a seasonal change," said one of the' experts. Match Cycling Race At the weekly athletic sports on the Levin P&rk Domain this evening, a speci&l attraction - will . be the cycling niatch race by D. Yeates and N. Parker. This should! be a good race as Parker is leading in the points awarded at the club nights for cyclists, while Yeates is gradually regaining form. A full programme has. been arranged and should provide interesting sport. • Christmas Oaroling For over '50 years the Levin IMunicipal Band has played OhristImas carols to the people of Levin, while several of the present band members have taken part for over 20 years. From tonight until Christmas Eve the band will endeavour to play in every part of the town. The bandsmen will be in uniform and accompanied by ■ Fafher Christmas, who will speak to the children. "Smug, Unsmiling Race" There is a premium op, smiles in New Zealand/ accordiiig to Mr. Norman Nairh\ ownen.'Of the luxury bus service which operates across the Syrian Desert. who is visiting Napier after an absence of 20 years from the Bominion. Mr. I Nairn noted that New Zealanders | have become a smug, unsmiling ! race, who are too self-satisfied, and that New Zealand has become a workers' paradise; where there is no real incentive to be of service in the community. "New Zealanders have got into such a statid j mood that >they show no zip, no 1 sparkle, no drive," he said. \ Behind Iron Bars! I A patron emerging from a Napier theatre after a recent evening performance left by a! side exit which emerged on to the j street by way of a concrete corri- . dor. As the building was ' dosing up for the night he found his path to the outside world harred by_ a spiked iron gate, which forced him to retrace his steps; but to his dismay 'the exit door had been locked I bel^in him and he was trapped. He was the subject of unsympathetic remarks as he stood there I clutching thp irin bars. trying -to I attracst attention, and it was not j until some hours later that he waS ■ rescued. ! Complicated Currcncy ! American, Mexican, ^.nd Bank or I England dollars, Spanish pieces of I eight, coins issued by the East India Company, francs and ' rupees were common currency in I New Zealand up until about 1860, [ 'said Mr. L. S. Dale, speaking on ! coin collecting at a Canterhury chapter of the New Zealand Institute of Secretaries. In addition a fair , amount of 'English coinage also circulated. The foreign currency was given certain valiies> and the mixed coinage system worked well. One diffieulty with the coins was that the Maoris wanted them for use as ornaments, and large sums went I out of circulation in that way. / %