NEWS & NOTES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 April 1938, Page 9

NEWS & NOTES

VARIOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST. Monster Peach. Weighing 17 ounces and measuring nearly 15 inches in circumference, a monstei’ peach has been grown by Mr W. Paget, of Claude Street, Claudelands. This was the biggest specimen the grower had seen although he had had considerable experience in fruit growing. The peach belongs to the Golden Queen variety. The tree on which the peach was grown was propagated from a stump and now measures about 30 feet across. It had a good crop of fruit on it, some of the peaches weighing as much as 14 ounces. Mr Paget has also had outstanding success with his tomatoes, some of which were of considerable size.

Winner of £lB,OOO. An overseas consultation netted Mr J. R. Hoare, of the Hotel Rutland, Wanganui, £lB,OOO last week. Mr Hoare has lived in Wanganui for about seven years and prior to his taking charge of the Rutland was host at the Aramoho Hotel. A keen sportsman, Mr Hoare spends his spare time at golf and is also interested in racing. He is a member of the Wanganui Jockey Club. Until a few weeks ago, Mrs J. P. Hoare owned the racehorse Brilliancy.

County Roads Still Blocked. It may be another month before some backblock roads in Poverty Bay, which have been blocked to traffic since the February flood, are open again. Work in the restoration of access has been expedited in every way possible, but the job is of such magnitude that it has been impossible to open all access roads yet. The damage to the Cook County roads alone is estimated at nearly £5OOO, which serves as a good indication of the extent of the havoc wrought by the storm.

Ski Competitions. Teams from several North Island schools, as well as from most of the South Island ones, are expected to compete at the sixth annual secondary schools and colleges ski championships to be held at Mount Cook in May. The boys will be accommodated at the Hermitage from May 7 to May 14, and the girls from May 16 to May 23. In each case the competitors will receive several days’ tuition from members of The Hermitage staff before the competitors are held.

A Glory Departed. “You may be surprised to learn that the number of bicycles in Christchurch is more apparent than real,” said a witness during the hearing of the Dominion cycle workers’ dispute in the Second Court of Arbitration in Wellington. “Both Wellington and Auckland import more bicycles than Christchurch, and there are two bicycles sold in the North Island to every one in the South Island, in proportion to population.” The theory was advanced by another speaker that Christchurch’s reputation as a city on wheels was due to the fact that that city’s quota of bicycles was in constant and apparent use. Fate of Dummy. Passers-by on the Auckland waterfront road one day recently were astonished to see what appeared to be a pair of bare human legs protruding from the top of a tall load of rubbish which was about to be dumped from a lorry at the tip in Hobson Bay. Closer examination, however, showed mat the legs belonged to a rather batta.cd j a-pier-mache figure of the kind used by tailors and outfitters to display bathing costumes or suits of clothes. The dummy had passed its usefulness and was on the way to an undignified internment.