Local and General

Chronicle (Levin), 6 April 1949, Page 4

Local and General

Baseless Rumour. A rumour is circulating freely in Levin that a boy had fceen admitted i to hospital with knife stab wounds. ' Inquiries today revealed that this ; has no foundation in fact. I Infectious Dise&ses. j . There were 19 cases of infectious ' diseases notified in the Wellington- ' Manawatu-Hawke's Bay health dis- : trict during the past week. They were: Diphtheria I? tuberculosis 7, poliomyelitis 2, erysipelas 1, hydatids 1, food poisoning 7. One death resulting from diphtheria was re- ' porte'd. s 1 Sleep-Walker Hurt. : A sleep-walker was injured in a i fall from a Wellington- Auckland 1 express at night between .Oio and ; Owhango. He left his seat, wa'ked { through the carriage and fell while the train was moving. ' His only injuries were bruises arid head 1 lacerations. After treatment at Taumarunui, the man, Mr. B. . Smith, of Te Kuiti, was able to re- , turn home. Cup Presented, i At last night's annual meeting of the 'Levin Miniatute Rifle Club, the president of the Horowhenua Miniature Rifle Association, Mr. A. L. Lumsden, joined with Mrs. Lumsden in presenting a cup to the club for women's handicap aggregate i competition. He was suitably 'thanked on behalf of the club by the president, Mr. M. deL. Wright, who remarked that the club would be very pleased to accept the trophy. Eclipse Of Moon. Few New Zealanders will see ari eclipse of the moon which will begin at 2.28 p.m. on April 13. The moon will be overhead in the ex- ' treme eastern part of Brazil. As : the eclipse ends at 5 54 p.m., when : the moon is overhead in the Pacific Ocean to the west of northern Peru, only the eastern part of New Zealand's North Island will see the last traces of the eclipse soon after moonrise. i Blood Saves Dollars. Saving of dollar funds will follow an increase in the number of blood donors in Auckland. In response to ! an appeal by the Auckland Hospi- ; tal Board in conjunction with the St. John Ambulance Association j last week, 104 donors came forward, 46 of whom gave blood for the first time. During March there were 455 1 donors. Plasma extracted from : the blood donated, -is extensiveiy | used in hospitals. It is usually imIported from the United States and ; paid for in dollars, the cost being i £5 10s a half-pint. A Double Bite. On All Fools' Day a Grammar schoolboy with studied carelessness 'dropped a penny coated with mercury in the path of a lad from an- ; other school. The "sucker" picked ;up the coin and was approached for its return when it appeared he was going to keep it. He imriiediately put- his hand in his pocket and hande'd over a genuine florin. The Grammar boy explained the nature of the coin, but the other youth replied': "You're not making an April Fool out of ' me." It cost him Is lld. BacLminton Club Officers. The annual meeting of the Levin Badminton Club was held recently, the election of officers resulting as follows: — Ptesident: Mr. K. Davies; vice- president: Mr. A. Fletcher; club captain: Mr. N. Atkinson; sec-retary-tfeasurer : Mrs. V. Porcer; committee: Mrs. K. Davies, Misses J. Benning and R. Williams and Mr. G. Hutton. As the Regent Hall will only be available to the club for one night a week this season, it was resolved to withdraw from the Horowhenua zohe competitions and endeavour to foster more club play, including club competitions.

Maori Curios. Two wooden bowls believed to be over 100 years old were found in a swamp near the Matarua school in North Auckland. They are in a state of almost perfect preservation. Local Maoris identify the bowls as Kuimete which were used to entice pigeons to water when they fell easy victims to the long bird spears used by the Maori§. Check On. Communists. To prevent Communists from becoming or remaining members of the organisation, the Greymouth branch of the R.S.A. wants it made mandatory for every memiber on joining or renewing membership each year to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown. A resolution urging the New Zealand Returned Services' Association to adopt such a step was carried at a meeting of the executive of the branch. It was pointed out that as such an oath would not be taken by Communsts, they would be automatically excluded from the association toy failing to adhere to the constitution.