LOCAL AND GENERAL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 682, 7 November 1933, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Free Boots Distributed ThMy-eight pairs of boots were issued. to relief workers who had completed thirteen weeks work under the unemployment "fecheme by the Rotorua Unemployment Officer during the month of Oetober. Since the period of eligibility for the issue was reduced from 26 to 13 weeks over 50 pairs have been distributed. Devon Street Hall Carnival A special carnival day has been arranged to take place in the Devon Street Hall to-morrow, commencing at 2.15 p.m. During the afternoon there will be amusements for young and old, while a number of stalls containing a wide variety of goods are expected to do a big business. In the evening a carnival dance commencing at 8 p.m., has been arranged. A Farmer's Success An indication of the manner in which individual farmers in the Matamata district have improved their holdings is given by the returns of one farmer who took up a block of some 300 acres about seven or eight years ago. At the end of his first full season his butterfat returns totalled 60001b of fat, while his return for last month alone totalled 56001b of butterfat. The Swastika Many people are wondering what is the real meaning of the swastika, the emblem of the German Nazis, which has been much in the news recently. It is not, as the Nazis themselves believe, a Nordic symbol. It is one of the most ancient of symhols, and has appeared all over the world. It was known in Old Japan and to the Incas of ancient Peru. One of its variants — the three-legged swistika — has been adopted as the emblem of Sicily and of the Isle of Man. So far as ean be ascertained, the swastika is Asiatic in origin. It occurs on Ela- ; mite pottery, fcund in Mesopotamia, of a date that takes us back to the first dawn of civilisation. From there it spread to Troy, and to ancient Orete, where it was associated with the worship of the snake goddess. Prisoner's Ruse A dangerous French burglar named Maurice Hamann, who was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment some time ago, was taken recently from one prison to another under the escort of two gendarmes. They travelled by train. As Hamann's legs had been paralysed, or supposed to he paralysed, for several months past, and as he could not move without ci'utches, the gendarmes did not take the trouble to watch him closely. The train slowed down before coming to a railway hridge, and great was the j gendarmes' surprise when, on looking a moment later for their prisoner, they found that he had escaped. In the distance tliey saw the "eripple" running across the fields. The crutches were still in the carriage. When the gendarmes stopped the train and ran in the direction the man took it was too late. The same evening the fugitive broke into a country house, where he stole some clothes and left his own. Women's Institute A meeting of the Waimana and Nukuhou Women's Institute was held in the Waimana Hall on Wednesday Novemher 1, when Mrs. Woodfield presided over a large attendance of members. Much' useful information was learned from the roll call "Washing Day = Hints" and Mrs. Jerram gave a very interesting talk on a trip to Holland. The competition "An article from one yard of cretonne" was won by Mrs. T. W. Wardlaw with a sun hat and Mrs. Blaek gave an extremely interesting demonstration on picture making. The hostesses were Mesdames C. Clark, N. McDonald, J. B. Wardlaw and Miss Wydle.