The Opotiki News Monday, January 16, 1939. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 134, 16 January 1939, Page 2

The Opotiki News Monday, January 16, 1939. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Temperatures. Temperatures at various places in the North Island on Saturday were: Auckland and Gisborne 62 degrees. Tauranga 64, Opotiki 61, East Cape 63, and Wellington 57.

A £12,000 Win.; A Palmerston North syndicate received advice on Friday that it had Avon £12,000 in a Tasmanian. consultation. The principal shareholder is a Avell-lrnown business man.

Vivid Personality. Better knoAvn to newspaper readers in this country as Lieut.-Commander J. 3M. Kemvorthy, a vi\ r id personality in the Labour political sphere at Home, Lord Strabolgi is a - veteran of the naA'al service, and keenly interested in defence subjects. He travelled to Opotiki and Tauranga in company with the. Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, by ’plane.

Road Improvements. A complete reconstruction of the Opotiki-G is borne highway from tho end of the present bitumen surface at Ormond to beyond Kaiteratalii is being planned; by the Main Higlnvays Board. A portion of the work* which is expected to commence shortly is the elimination of Scott’s Bridge, situated on the Tfe Karaka side of the first sharp bend beyond the Kaiteratalii bridge. That right-angle bend will be eliminated and replaced by one sweeping curve, and a culvert will be placed over the stream instead of a bridge.

The Mayor! In describing the visit of the Union Airways’ ’plane to Opotiki on Saturday, the special correspondent of the Poverty Bay Herald, stated that Mr. F. J. Short, Mayor ql' Opotiki, welcomed the Hen. F. Jones, Minister of Defence, and other members of the Ministerial party. Mr. Short is the present chairman of the Domain Board which will control the Opotiki aerodrome. hut it* is some considerable time since he was mayor of Opotiki and has been referred to as such. The visit of the Minister of Defence was quite an informal one ami there was no official welcome to the district.

“A Remarkable Recovery”. “1 must say that my chief impression so far is that you people here iu the East Coast districts have made a. remarkable recovery from the effects of the earthquakes of a lew years ago. It was really inspiring to see how the city of Napier has grown anew from its ruins, and, both in Hawke’s Bay and here in Poverty Bay, a birds-eye view discloses nothing that could be attributed to earthquake damage,” said Lord Strabolgi, one of Britain’s most widely-known Labour peers and deputy-Leader of the Opposition iu the House of Lords, interviewed on Friday afternoon on his arrival in Gisborne.

An Interested Visitor. One of the members of the party on board the air-liner Karoro, which visited Opotiki on Saturday was Mr. Len. Maugham, . Union Airways chief grounds engineer, and' a qualified commercial pilot. Mr. Maugham was wellknown to Opotiki motor-cycle racing enthusiasts many years ago, having raced at the ohl race-course when the grandstand was on the old -Racecourse road site, and also on the reconstructed racecourse. Mr. Maugham was considered to he one of New Zealand’s finest riders, being only second to. the redoubtable Percy Coleman. Mr. Maugham was very interested to land by plane on the site of the old racecourse, and expressed a wish to meet members of the old Opotiki MotorCycle Racing Club.

Hotels in New Zealand and Abroad. Although one heard such a Jot of criticism about New Zealand hotels, they were, generally speaking, up to the standard of the hotels in the larger cities abroad, said Mr, D. I. Macdonald, who has returned ro Christchurch from a trip abroad. On the price basis, the New Zealand hotels were better than those abroad. The New Zealand hotels were not able to give the same service because c‘ the restricted hours of work, and.in his opinion this was the only- way iu which they fell short cf those overseas. One paid as much for bed and breakfast in a, good hotel abroad as one did for a whole day in one in New Zealand. . \ v

Gisborne Thundierstorirh A brief thunderstorm swept the Gisborne district on Frid'a-y night, and heavy rain fell in the town for a short period, the total at the> aerodrome ing ;16 and the signal station figure .20. Beyond . giving slight relief to lieople depending upon tank water supplies, the rain was of little benefit. The pastures are so dry that a considerable’ fall will be necessary to ease the position of the farmers of the district.— Gisborne Herald. On Guard! Humour has it that during the concreting of the footpath alongside Messrs. M. O. Kidd and Oo.’s garage in Richard Street, that one of the borough employees was put on guard during the lunch hour to see that no one stepped on the newly-laid concrete. The workman took it easy during the hour wait and when the borough council lorry with workmen on board suddenly drew up alongside the path, the drowsy guardsman came to life with a start and stepped on the concrete, to the great amusement of his fellow workmen.

Dominion is Best. After a nine months’ tour of the Fast, Hu rope. Great Britain and Americ£, Mr. and Mrs. P. Kennedy have* returned to Christchurch convinced that New Zealand is the best place, to live in. Diving conditions and ‘climate here are better than anything abroad, while the health and physique of the people compared mere than favourably with others. Up-to-date in every respect, the Dominion's travel -facilities were more comfortable than any others, the new, air-condi-tioned carriages on the North Island Main Trunk being outstanding, except. of course, as regards speed when compared with British trains. Gisborne Athletic Team. The following team has been selected to represent Gisborne at the big athletic meeting to he held at the reserve, Opotiki, on Saturday next-. Senior cyclists, S. Parker, G. Sutton and J. Ferguson; junior cyclists, P. Thompson and J'. Clark; senior runners, A. McAnenoy. G. Harris, B. Quinn, A. Kane. C. Parkinson, J. Lloyd. R. Carroll and T. McGuffie; junior runners. J. Cleary, R. McGregor, M. Bee, A. Cassin, A. Scott, S. Gribben and A. Torrie; field! events, L. Grey, W. Wallace, J. Cleary, R. McGregor. J. Niven, S. Gribben, A. Scott, H. Littler; J. Hayes, T. McGuffie and 0. Parkinson. The ladies’ team has yet- to be announced, and will probably be available for Friday’s issue. The Gisborne team 1 is a very strong one and will take a lot of beating for the Moody Banner, which the team still holds.