Local And General

Chronicle (Levin), 6 October 1949, Page 4

Local And General

The Mere The Merrier. The latest issue of the Gazette contains a list of 58 inspectors for the purposes of the Meat Ac.t, 1939, who have been appointed to the Public Service as from September 15 last. . . Golf Balls Collide. An unusual incident occurred at the Hawkestone golf links at the weekend during an inter-club fixture between the Hawkestone and Castlecliff clubs. When W. Heath (Castlecliff) drove off from the first tee his ball struck in flight one driven off the ninth tee by D. G. McLennan (Hawkestone). Sister Ships At Same Berth. Two sister ships, with only three tons difference in their gross tonnage, occupied the eastern Prince's Wharf berth a.t Auckland on Mon'day. They were the New Zealand Shipping Company's 10,005-ton re-' frigerated freighter, Paparoa, which sailed for Wellington on Monday evening, and the 10,002-. ton Papanui, which arrived from Liverpool on Sunday. Eclipse Of Sun. Provided the weather is fine, New Zealanders will see a partial eclipse of the sun on Saturday, October 22. It will begin at about 7.45 a.m., and the maximum phase will be at 8.39 a.m. The best view of the eclipse will be from a little north of Budd Land, in the Australian sector of the Antarctic, where 0.96 of the sun will be obscured at sunrise. The Missing- Dot. Philatelists and others are rqsorting to a variety of subterfuges in trying to obtain the 2d blue Health stamp with the missing dot, without buying the full sheet of 120 stamps. Without disclosing his reason, one man offered to buy the first pair of stamps in every sheet the post office official could produce. In most cases buyers have to take the stamps as they come off the sheets. New Zealand House.

The purchase of the Carlton Hotel site in London, for a New Zealand House was considered by many to be a timely act of faith in Great Britain at a time when there was so much gloom at the centre of the Empire, said Mr. F. A. Hellaby, on his return to Auckland from a trip abroad. The site was a first-class one only a few yards rfom Trafalgar Square. As a centre for New Zealand interests in London it could hardly be better, and the purchase looked like being a sound business un'dertaking. £200,000 Rotorua Plan. A £200,000 scheme to make Rotorua a year-round tourist attraction is being promoted by the Rotorua Private Hotel Proprietors' Association. The president, Mr. H. A. Holmes, told a meeting of local bodies and interested organisations that the plan provided for a large building with amenities for. ice and roller skating, dancing/ indoor sports, stage shows and musical entertainment. He was confident the money could be found. If necessary, he added, the project could be developed step by step over 25- years. Sport In America. More spectators attended basketball games than any other sports in the United States last year. Figures show that of a total 318,750,000 paid aldmissions to the 1948 .contests of 10 popular sports in the United States, 33 per cent., or 105,000,000 were for basketball contests. Baseball games attracted the next largest number of spectators, with 70,000,000 paid admissions. Football tickets soid totalled 57,000,000; horse racing, 40,000,000; boxing, 30,000,000; ice hockey, 8,000,000; auto , racing, 4,000,000; track and field meets, 3,000,000; golf, 900,000, and tennis, 850,000.