THE OPOTIKI NEWS Monday, November 14, 1938. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 109, 14 November 1938, Page 2

THE OPOTIKI NEWS Monday, November 14, 1938. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Seed Potatoes. Messrs. Shalfoon and Francis announce that they still hold stocks ot seed potatoes in several varieties. Labour Meeting. A general meeting ol' the Labour Party (Opotiki), will bo held in the band room on Thursday night. The district .member, Mr. A. G. Hultquist, will he present. Saturday’s Temperatures. Temperatures on Saturday at 9 a. m. at various places in the North Island were: Auckland and Opotiki (34 degrees, Tauranga ami "Wellington (37, East Cape (5(5, Gisborne (39, and Napier 70. Vi story Dance. A victory dance, under the auspices of the Opotiki branch of the Labour Party, will he held in the Lyric Hall on Wednesday, 23rd. November. Mr. A. G. Hultquist, MJ.P., will be present and will lx- accompanied by -Mrs. Hultquist.

Professional Boxing. Readers ary reminded of the big boxing tournament to be liekl in tlie Regent Theatre on Wednesday night, when tlie famous Young Giltlo from Honolulu will meet Rrian .McKay, of Auckland, in a professional contest. Several first-class amateur bouts have been arranged as preliminaries. St. John Street Footpath. Portion of the new concrete footpath to be laid along St. John Street between Ford and Richard Streets, lia.s already been laid . and filling is Ik ing spread on the low-lying portion to bring.the level up. When completed tlie path will be- a big improvement to tin* street, a number ol pedestrians already having bad narrow escapes from being run down on wet nights. Alany people have been compelled to walk on the* roadway as this section of tin* street lias been the only portion without a path on either side.

Fire at Bacon Factory. A lire broke our in the Opotiki Hueon Company's faetorv in Wellington Street übont ini hour before noon on Saturday- An attempt was made to suppress the outbreak by members ol the stalii and the lire brigade was eventmilly tailed and a lead ol hose was quickly run out . The lire was mainly confined to tin* smoke-room and apart from damaged wood-work little ioss was sustained- The flames were confined to the end of the building and the stock was quite undamaged by lire or water. Work proceeded as usual in the lactory while the members of the brigade quenched all signs ol tin* outbreak, it was very iertunate that the lire occurred during daylight owing to tin; nature ol the stock,.

Penguins on East CoastWhen penguins come ashore on the ICast Coast they usually create a nuisance lor the residents by nesting under bouses, storing rotten fish I nod, and .milking peculiar noises. Several residents at Waim.a, ’JLekomaru Hay. have been disturbed recently by the noises made by birds that have taken up positions miller their homes, and two were caught bv torchlight bite at night, the disturbers of the peace being liberated on the beach later in the morning after a lew hours in captivity. The residents ol Waiimi Heaeh have had similar trouble of late, and they realise tin* difficulty of ridding themselves ol the pest, 4 lie birds are not easy to shift from under the houses, and those attempting to remove 1 them usually learn by experience the strength and sharpness ol their beaks.

New Zealanders’ Luck. In a well-known overseas consultation on the Melbourne Cop, a majority of the leading prizes fell to New Zealand contributors. A sum ol ,£KMHA) was won by a Pongaroa resident, and Opotiki secured £4OOO. One £IOOO prize l was secured by a Wellington ticket-holder, and two more of £'l.ooo cm 1 1 wen t 1 taken by an Aucklander and a Wellingtouian respectively, while a third £IOOO was shared by residents ol Timam and .Rakaia. Queenstown. Otago, Palmerston North and Christchurch people also won £IOOO each. In all. £21,000 out of £2O, IKK) distributed among the major prize-winners came to New Zealand. and ticket-holders here also shared substantially in the minor prize-winnings.

Cricketers Collide. While running to catch a ball “skied” by Hart, two of the Gisborne Club’s fieldsmen, Hamilton and Seymour, collided arid both took the “count” for a short time. The batsmen sportingly did not attempt to make more than one run, but went to the assistance of tlie injured players. ..'.'id; G . j,7' '’ ■ i Substantial Drop This Year. It is understood that the amount of top-dressing carried out by farmers in the Wairoa district this year has not been nearly so great as was the case last year. Fertiliser sales have shown a fairly substantial drop owing to the excessively i wet winter experienced and the fact that prices Were much higher as a result of the dislocation of the railway freight service. The Four Colonels. “What is this New Zealand Defence League?-” asked a member of the executive of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers’ Association when discussing a circular from the league. “1 don’t think we should be interested in it,” said-Mr. J. S. Chisholm. “It seems to he an overlapping sort of business. Have the four colonels got anything to do with it?’’

Lunar Rainbow; A rare sight was seen by residents of Christchurch recently when a lunar rainbow appeared in the south-west-ern sky. It was similar in size and general characteristics to the ordinary rainbow .seen in daylight, except that the colours were scarcely discernible. The predominating colour appeared to lie a very pale blue against the darker cloud background. Headlights on Old Cars. The view that old model cars, the headlights of which were not fitted with a dipper or approved dimpling device, should have their headlights permanently deflected downwards was expressed, after a keen debate, by a recent meting of / the committee ot the South Island Motor Union. It was stilted that, even with the defieeetum proposed. the headlights would show a beam lOt'.ft. ahead. New Zealanders Lik9 Australians. “I can find no difference between tlie average New Zealander and the average Australian,” said Mr. R. J. Triekett. of Queensland . in an address to the Canterbury School Committees’ Association. “I’ve worked with New Zealanders, played with them, and visited their homes, and L cun siiv definitely New Zealanders and Australians are all tin* same to me. despite what you hear to the contra ry. ’ ’