THE OPOTIKI NEWS Wednesday, November 16, 1938. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 110, 16 November 1938, Page 2

THE OPOTIKI NEWS Wednesday, November 16, 1938. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Display of Linens. A display of lineiiis is advertised to be held in Miss Huwkon’s room's' this week. Shipping. The m.s. Waiotalii left Opotiki yesterday for Auckland and is expected to leave Auckland for Opotiki oil Thursday. ■ To-night’s Boxing. A good attendance is expected tonight in the Regent Theatre when the clever boxer Young Gildo, of Honolulu, will meet the New Zealander, Brian McKay, in a 10-round professional contest. A number of good amateur bouts will precede the big professional attraction. New Air Service. According to Mr. J. Wood, the en-gineer-in-chief to the Public Works Department, the aerodrome facilities at Opotiki and Tauranga should be ready for the initiation of the Gis-borne-Auckland air Jink in February or March. Trial Cricket Match. There will be no weekly competitions during the week-end. The following cricketers have been selected to represent Opotiki in a. combined Rangitaiki team to play a trial match at Whakatane on Sunday against a combined team of representatives from Tauranga. Te Puke and Rotorua:— Le Pine, E. W. Wells, R. Lendrum, Smith, 11. Young and I'L Brown.

Thefts of Benzine. Thefts of benzine in different parts of the district are still being reported. A Coast farmer has informed the Opotiki News that the benzine was taken from the milking machine tank, while a gallon tin of separator oil was taken at the same time. Recently all the benzine from a district nurse’s car was syphoned and a Jong delay occurred before the nurse could attend to an urgent- case of sickness. The Whitebait Season. The whitebait season appears to he over in the Opotiki district. This year the whitebait started to run later than usual but some very good catches wore secured prior to the recent rains, and during the week-ends the hanks of the Waiooka river were well patronised by keen fishermen. I lie season in the Ihiller district lias boon exceptionally good, some ol the best catches being made last week in the Buller river. One man and his wile secured Id tins, about 300 pints, in one morning’s fishing. The lactones have kept up the price of £2 a tin, even during the busy period. It is a long time since such a good price lias been available all the season.

East Coast Railway Line. A statement that there was every hope that the East Coast railway from the Napier end would lie m commission as far as .I‘utorino about ih ) end of tin- month, was made by a prominent railway department official in Napier. “I don't like to raise false hopes hut if is anticipated clmt fluline should he open from Napier io .1 V.torino pt the end of die month or' early in hecember.” he said. On Friday one ef the department’s huge steam cranes arrived at. Napier on route to Waipunga. where it will assist in bridge ■construction operations.

Waiceka Gorge Incident. Two Gisborne cyclists who were travel I ing through the \Aaioelva Valley to Opotiki met with a startling experience late on Saturday night. Nearing a small bridge about IS miles from Opotiki, they slowed down to allow an approaching ear to pass. To their surprise the motorist pulled up auuost alongside' them, from the car, the man bluntly threatened the cyclists, his language and demeanour leaving no doubt in their minds that the motorist was drunk. There was a second man in the car. 'I Tie Gishornit.es did net stop to argue the point with the stranger, but made off at top speed.

Itinerant Traders. On the motion of the Mayor, Air. IrJL. L. Marker, it was decided at. Friday evening’s meeting of the Wairoa Bcrough Council that the borough solicitor be instructed to prepare an amendment to the by-law increasing the fee to £25 fer licenses for itinerant traders. The MSivor explained that the present fee was £5.

House Sales. • House sales in Hastings are on the increase at present, after a period before and after the election when little business was done. Gisborne Egg Prices. An increase of '3d per dozen lias occurred in the price of eggs in Gisborne. The retail rate is now Is 6d a dozen, producers receiving Is 3d. The price remained at Is 3d and Is respectively for several weeks prior to being raised at the end of last week.

Cycled 100,000 Miles. Rene Menzies, the French cyclist who on January 1, 1937, started an attempt on the 12-montli cycling record in England only to be defeated by Ossie Nicholson, the Australian who made liis attempt in Australia, continued to ride on until he had completed 100,C0Q miles.' He achieved this feat in 587 riding days. Devil’s Elbow Road l Reopened. The portion of the Devil’s Elbow road between Wairoa. and Napier which was washed away by this year’s hoods has been partially restored and should be in general use shortly. Traffic used the road on Saturday tor the first, time, but its condition was still very rough, with sojne open watercourses, , and Gisborne motorists who went over it on Saturday returned on Sunday by the temporary route through the Tangoio settlement, reporting that the Devil’s E'lbcw was not- yot suitable for general traffic. Temperatures.

North Island temperatures yesterday -were, Auckland (37 degrees, Talira uga 1(3. Opotiki o'3, East Cape 58, Gisborne 59, Napier (32, and Wellington (37. Overcast conditions were general throughout the North Island. Cyclist Charged by Pig. When cycling on the main road at Jlarrytown, near Greymouth. William iVlcTaggart, aged 15. who resides at Jlarrytown, was charged by a large wild pig. He was thrown heavily to the ground and suffered a broken col-lar-bone. The injured hoy was taken to Greymouth. where he received medical attention.

osresn Career for “Miss N.Z.’’ .Miss Leslie Morris, of Palmerston North, winner of the Miss New Zealand beauty contest, may be given the opportunity of entering upon a film career. It is reported that she lias been approached by American visitors in Palmerston North, and when interviewed subsequently by a reporter' anxl asked whether she would consider an offer of training for screen work, she admitted that she was thriiiod at the prospect. The thought of a film career had never previously entered her head, but naturally it held its attractions.

Factories Working Overtime. Cliiclly because of the depletion oi staffs in the past lew months through the epidemic, many Auckland factories are now working oveftim? to supply Christmas aiid summer orders. Some footwear factories are behind with orders, and several sections of the clothing manufacturing trade have been working overtime for some weeks. Electric Shocks from Taps. A Alasterton family recently had the unpleasant experience of receiving an electric shock each time they turned ni the taps in their house. This state cf affairs existed for more than a week, until eventually they summoned a serviceman from the Mairarapa Electric Power Hoard. I his man ascertained that a point in the house had been changed hv a radio firm from n three-way to a two-way. and that escaping electricity touching the earth-wire was responsible for the trouble. According to him. it was fortunate that the power hoard was notified as soon as iii was. tor the shocks would have increased in severity, with ultimate serious consttjueiices.

Unexpected Dtp. Through guiding her horse, which had bolted, into the water, a young woman averted confusion and possibly injury among bathers at Lyall Bay, "Wellington, when the animal took fright at the roar from the engines of an airliner at Rongotai aerodrome. After fruitless efforts to pull the horse up as it careered toward the crowd ou tin l beach, the rider exerted all her strength on one rein and succeeded iu turning it seaward. Plunging madly into the water.' the horse soon fell as it met the breakers, iortunatelv throwing the rider clear. Her fall was broken by the water, and both rider and horse came out little the worse for their unexpected dip.

Club Disbands. - Despite the efforts of’ staunch supporters, the Te Puke Ladies’ Physical Culture- Club did- not gain the necessary support. At a meeting on Thursday night the club was wound up, and the funds will be presented to the Te Puke Scout Troop. The-club was founded at the beginning of this - year, but after an initial Attendance of thirty, the membership dropped to four. 'Morse Leaps Into River. While a horse was being taken by pontoon across the Hokianga River from Rawene to Kohukolui .it jumped off the pontoon into the water when about half-way across. The animal was taken in tow by. a launch and was safely brought ashore. A few years ago a pontoon loaded with cattle capsized in the Hokianga River when the animals, taking fright, all surged to one side. All the beasts swam ashore, but at different points, so that it was some days before the mob was again collected. Physical Education. “There has been in the past a great movement to get the physical into education,’’ said Dr. A. Gillies, speaking at a demonstration by the Wellington branch of the Physical .Education Society of New Zealand. “Now the pendulum seems to have swung the other way, and there is a great move to get education into the physical.” l)r. Gillies also said that the preventive aiid corrective style of physical training was being increasingly recognised as a valuable adjunct to medical work. Fotwea#, school furniture, posture—these were ever in the /back of the physical teacher’s mind and often in the forefront of his thinking.

Putting U.S.A. in th? Shade. “Next to the United States of America, New Zealand is the most highly motorised country in the world.” stated the Hon. R. Semple, Minister -of Transport, speaking on .Monday at the Totangi Dome, Gisborne. “I want to tell you American gentlemen in this gathering that if we could buy. cars and petrol as cheaply in New Zealand as you can in the States, you would not be able to see the way we would go! Wo would put even the United States in the shade.” The Minister mentioned that petrol consumption in this country had increased greatly in recent years, and by way of comparison quoted the national figures for 1934-35 and 1937-38. in the earlier financial year. 57,000,000 gallons of motor spirit had been consumed in the Dominion, he said, whereas in*'l937-38 the consumption was 84.000.000 gallons, an increase' of 27,000,000 gallons. The 1934-35 expenditure on petrol was £5,500,000, and that in 1937-38 was £8,500.000. The average consumption per motor vehicle had risen during the period from 2 Q 2 gallons to 333 gallons, he added.

Big Power Margin. During the withdrawal of the drilling column at the Totangi Dome oil bore site, undertaken on Monday as a. demonstratien for the benefit ol the party led by the Hons. P. C. "Webb and 11. Semple, a visitor remarked that the winch on the drilling platform made light work of extracting the 1300 ft. of drilling pipe from the bore. It was explained that the weight of the pipes, ranging close to 15 tons, was of file- smallest consequence. to the lifting gear, which was tested to a maximum weight of-r-over 400 tons. • When the bore reached a depth of 8000 ft.. the deadweight cf pipe comprising the column still would he under ICO tons.

Gabriel's Cully Overshadowed. Reference to the possibility of an oil discovery in the; Gisborne district opening up new prospects lor the whole country was made by Air. J. (<. Stout, general manager of the .New Zealand Petroleum Cknnpany, Limited, at Alomlay’s gathering at the Totangi Dome. He said that lie sincerely hoped that the search undertaken by his company would prove success!ul. and that nothing that could he provided in advance to ensure success v had been neglected. He pointed out that it would he a wonderful thing lor Poverty Bay and for the whole Dominion if oil were found in Gisborne. , The old days of the Otago- gold rush ceitainly would he recalled. A coincidence in connection* witliu the - men- ,- r tion of tin* Otago goldfish .was revcaled by Mr. A. TyndidL t JOndor-See- vl rotary for Alines, who. that had a long-standing .yj; with the mining industrys his mother having been horn within half f a 'UJdo of the site of the first strike there' and v'-V his grandfather having held the first miner’s 1 waterright in New Zealand- 4