NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20081, 30 October 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Grant for School Shelter Shed A grant to cover the cost of erecting a shelter shed at the Waerenga-o-kuri School has been approved, according to a telegram received this

morning by Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P., from the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, acting Minister of Education.

An Unusual Warning Members of a Christchurch trade union who have let their dues go unpaid have received from the secretary a firm demand for them, accompanied by a threat of legal proceedings. “Unless this amount is not paid by November 7,” the notice insists, “the law will be set in motion.” It is an unusual warning, but less terrifying and more frivolous than defaulters commonly receive

Snails on Roadway Causing considerable inconvenience to motorists and other road users, an army of snails proved an obstacle to traffic on Foxton line between Boundary road and West street during the lunch hour on Thursday. The thousands of snails looked like a covering of fresh gravel on the surface of the bitumen. They occupied over half the road surface,/and as the casualties increased in number, the wet street became very greasy and careful driving was called for.

Mount Everest

“Everest is one of the marvels of that area and I do not think it will ever be climbed,” said Dr. Murdo MacDonald-Bayne in an address on Tibet in Christchurch. He said that the high winds on the upper slopes prevented climbers from reaching the summit and the period when the weather made attempts possible was very short. The natives believed the peak was unconquerable, and it seemed that the last few hundred feet would never be climbed. Produce Gifts Banned Under the scheme for the bulk purchase o,f Dominion produce by the British Government gifts by New Zealanders to friends in the United Kingdom of butter, lamb or other primary produce have been banned. The sending of this type of gift in the past has been very popular at Christmas and large numbers of inquiries into the position are being received by the export division of the Primary Products Marketing Department at Auckland. The division has had to point out that the British Ministry of Supply is declining all requests.

Surprise For a Motorist

To encounter four elephants proceeding briskly along the road and occupying the whole roadway caused a motorist on the Muriwai flats some surprise yesterday morning. He stopped his car in a short distance with nis face registering considerable surprise. These animals, which belong to the circus which has just been appearing in Gisborne, were being taken to Nuhaka. Proceeding at a steady six miles per hour, the elephants can cover the surprising distance of 30 to 35 miles per day. At various points on the road children naturally gathered, taking much pleasure in feeding the docile creatures on vegetables. Following this group were the circus horses, over 20 of them of an amazing variety of colour. Nearly all of these were piebalds, a phenomenon long associwith circuses.--Special. Gisborne at Exhibition Pleasing comment on the scale model of Gisborne in the New Zealand court at the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington was made to-day by the Rev. D. C. Bates, former meteorologist for the Government, who was on a visit to the town during the week-end. “It is a wonderful model of Gisborne in perfect scale,” Mr. Bates said, “and it is one of the most attractive in the Dominion court.” Speaking of the large-scale model of New Zealand, Mr. Bates said he had thought, when he viewed it recently, that too much had been made of the hills in the country, insufficient prominence being given to the fiat land, but after his journey between Napier and Gisborne he had changed his views somewhat. It was his first overland trip between these two points, and he was surprised at the large amount of hill country that had to be traversed.