Local & General

Chronicle (Levin), 20 June 1949, Page 4

Local & General

Honey Yields DoWn. lloney yields in the f art north .are less than aySrage this .season ,per cause the clover crop has failed. Bee diseases, especially Amerjcan foul brood, hav.e decrease'd, it was stated at the ahiiual m'eeting ot the far north tranch of the National B'efekdepefs' Association. Giant Crayfish. A Picton , fisherman recently caught a crayfish excpding in size the one lah'deh. in Auckland; eiaimed to he a Dominion record for its diniensions. The crayfish caught there measured 28in, and.. the Picton fishefmaii's c'atch, hiddd ih ' Ctibk Strait, was 42ih from the tail fo th'e tip of the front.' feelers; Pbpular As Wives. "If you want 'fo get nidrHed bbcome a teacher'-' • seems to he the moral of the • idisclosure by, the Minister of Educatipn,. Mr. . T.^ H-.( McCombs, that halr the', girls p*ained for teaching1 for 1-941-45 had befen lost to the 'profession through marriage. "I qan't complain that so many young men seem td find that teachers make good wivefe," he said, "hecause I 'find the' same thing myself. But it does . cause much difficulty to the t)epartmeht•.;, A Legal Diffieiilty. Unxil the Ma^n Highways Board had legal' authprity tb' declare the highway over the Wanganui Town ' Bridge and through the city a main highway, there was no possibility at present Of repiacihg the existing bridge. This was stated recently by the Minister of Works (Mr. Semple) wh'en he replied to the Wanganui City Counqil deputatibn which sought Governmentjassistance in the work involved of preparing plans, specifications, estimates and alternative designs for a new town bridge. In Spite Of EveVything. For the motorist who regards traffic inspectors as soulless- inflictors of discipline here is a heartwarming story. Driving with care and trepidation along a New Plymouth street, a driver with an inspector ■ besi'd'e him to test for -a license found'- his horizon blotted out by a lorry that was backihg out from the kerb. Thfe tray 'of the truck stove in the side of the car and showered the inspector with glass. With commeridable stoicisni the inspector and the driver went on with the test. The license was granted. Ban On Visitors. No visitors ar'e to be all'owed tb attend meetings of the Auckland Tfades Council. This rulin« waS given by the chairman of .the council, Mr. T. Anderson, when a number of members of the carpenters' union sought permission to attend the meeting as onlookers. TSvice during the meeting Mr. Anderson interrupted the discussions to ask for the removal of persons reported to he -listenihg just outside the closed doors. He acted.in the first instance after a delegate reported that h'e had found a man croiiched so low'near the door that he was ahnost on the flodr. Shortest D^y Approaches. - The peribd of shortest days and longegt nights is here. On Saturr day the sun rose at 7.45 a.m. and set at 4.58 p.m. Yesterday it rose a minute later, 7.46 a.m., and set again at 4.58 p.m. According to the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, the sun reaches its winter solstice on Wednesday, June 22. On Friday, however,, the sun sets even later in the 'day, although the world is now rolling slightly north to meet the sun on its tpturn, The day, however, will be just the same length, for the effect is ,an apparent a.nomaly of a day oi 9 hours 13 minutes on Wednesday, again reduced to 9 hotirs 12 minutes for three days from Friday, June 24., From Monday, June 27, the day gradually lengthens', as the sun sets a little later eaeh day.