The Opotiki News Friday, November 14, 1947. LOCAL & GENERAL

Opotiki News, Volume X, Issue 1046, 14 November 1947, Page 2

The Opotiki News Friday, November 14, 1947. LOCAL & GENERAL

Good Hauls. Netting in the Waiawa stream, Messrs. M. Ross and Reg. Bennett have tallied over 300 flounder so far this week. Shipping. The m.v, Waiotahi arrived at Opotiki at 7.15 o’clock this morning and is scheduled to leave early to-morrow evening with a full cargo cf butter and wool. The m.v. Otiinai loads at Auckland on Monday and leaves for Opotiki with general cargo. The Bar. Ample water is available on the Opotiki bar at present despite the low rainfall during the past few weeks. Seven feet six inches was the shallowest spot on the bar this morning when the boat came in.

School Summer Uniform. At the monthly meeting of the Opotiki District High School Committee held last night, the question of cooler apparel for the boys for summer wear was discussed. The headmaster, Mr. H. Cox, said that there were some difficulties in the way, but he undertook to discuss the matter with the staff. Visit by S.A. Commissioner. Commissioner and Mrs. Asbut'y who will visit Opotiki on Tuesday next arc what is known in the Salvation Army circles as .the “friendly once”. The Commissioner is a splendid muician and Mrs. As bury is a fine soloist. The Salvation Army extends a warm welcome to its many friends to be present at the public meeting. English Custom. Obituary reports in English newspapers are rather different in style to those appearing in New Zealand newspapers. In a paper received at The Opotiki News Office mention is made of the funeral directors undertaking the funeral arrangements, many of those attending the funeral service is made and a complete list of those who sent floral tributes is also published in some case. ’

Housekeepers for W.D.F.F. Welcc-me news about their housekeeping scheme has been received by the Women’s Division of Federated Fanners. The Government immigration officer is to allot six housekecpci's for the scheme, work to be guaranteed by the division. The housekeeping scheme has been in operation for a considerable time but a shortage of housekeepers has hampered the work more recently and country women have not been able to obtain very much help in their homes. The addition of six housekeepers should make a big difference.

Value of Firestick. When it was used for clearing second growth wdiich was economically impossible tc clear by hand-labour, the firestick was still one of the most essential weapons of hill-country farmers, Mr. E. Bruce Levy, Director of the Grasslands Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, said in an address to Porangahau farmers. In sonic quarters, all burning has been condemned as bad. Mr. Levy gave his views oil the subject when dealing with deteriorating hill country and a tendency of many people, and sonic Government departments, to turn their backs on these “problem areas” and allow them to go out of production.

Resignation. The resignation of the Superintendent, Mr. F. H. Stewart, was tendered to the meeting of the Whakatane Fire Board held recently. Mr. Stewart will have completed 25 years’ fire service in December next, for the last nine years of which lie has occupied the position of Superintendent to the Whakatane Brigade. He explained that the step was taken with regret but was necessitated mainly for health reasons. The chairman, Mr. S. S. Shapley, and other board members expressed regret at Mr. Stewart’s resignation and thanked him for his service to the town. At the fire brigade demonstration held at Nelson on March 11, 1037, Mr. Stewart won the New Zealand one-man championship.

"Australian Journal”. A further chapter of Betty Macdonald’s own story, "The Egg and I,” heads the impressive list of amusing- stories featured in the November "Australian Journal.” Rex Grayson, Samuel W. Taylor, and Evelyn Swanser sustain the lighthearted vein with well-told tales of dauntless detectives, a designing widow, and dark deeds in the attic, well-balanced by the first instalment of William E. Barrett’s “The Mountain Route,” an exciting story of one man’s indomitable fight againsi. lorio- odds

Moral Values. "Our national sins to-day arc love of case, pleasure, and idleness,” said the president of the New Zealand Society of Accountants, Mr. G. A. Smith, Gisborne, in an address to the Canterbury branch of the society. ‘‘lf wc do not recognise that wc earn our bread by the sweat of our brow, >ve will not be able to withstand any change in the economy of this country,” he said. People to-day relied too much on material values and not on moral and spiritual values. New Zealand’s chances of weathering an economic depression depended on the people’s moral and spiritual values.

Tortoise’s Life-Span. Tortoise are the longest-lived of all animals. Some live for 150 years, but reports of'3oo-year-old veterans are quite untrue. The age of a. tortoise can be calculated like that of a tree, by counting the annual rings. The shell of a tortoise is made up of ribs and backbone and is covered with horny plates. These plates, like the scales of fish and the wood of trees, grow more, rapidly in the summer than, in the winter and are clearly marked by a series of “rings” corresponding to