LOCAL & GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 May 1939, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Drilling for Oil. Drilling for oil in Taranaki will begin as soon as the survey' at present being made is completed, according to the chairman of directors of the New Zealand Petroleum Company, Sir Colin Fraser. Drilling conditions were good, said Sir Colin Fraser at New Plymouth yesterday. Australians Seeking Work. A further 26 Australians, seeking work in New Zealand, arrived at Auckland by the Wanganella. None of them was under contract to the Government. Twenty-five men were of 15 different occupations, and the only woman in the party was a tailoress. Little difficulty will be found in placing most of the tradesmen, but some of those who arrived were of occupations in which there are already surplus workers in New Zealand. State Lotteries Favoured.

A protest against increased hospital expenditure and a sugestion that the Government be asked to finance boards by State lotteries was' made by the Waipukurau, branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union yesterday. “Human nature is such that people will always gamble and this tendency might as well be used to assist those unfortunate enough to be h’ospital patients,” said the chairman, Mr J. Ormond, jun. Other members expressed the opinion that gambling was increasing and could be used to serve a good* purpose.

College Association. The Wairarapa College Parents Association which has successfully organised various functions in aid of the funds for carrying out improvements in connection with the college,, will map out further activities for the season at a meeting to be held on Monday night. A report in connection with the recent card party will also be submitted to the meeting, and arrangements will be made for the annua] ball on June 14 at which it is expected there will be a large number of debutantes. Young ladies who desire" to “come out” at the ball should hand their names to Mrs G. G. Hancox.

Shortage of Female Labour. Female labour, particularly apprentices and skilled hands, is in very keen demand by factories in Wellington, and some manufacturers have been unable to obtain female assistance of any description. .Several reasons were given yesterday by factory managers for the shortage. The principal cause was said to be the expansion of secondary industries. In an endeavour to overcome the difficulty some firms have imported young women from Australia. Others ■ have had to employ unskilled adult workers at high rates of pay and train them. Giant Puff-balls.

Two giant puff-balls of the nonedible variety were found in the Papakura Valley recently. They measure 41 inches and 24 inches in circumference, respectively. The larger of the two, after having been picked for several days, shrunk and turned a purplish brown, but the smaller growth remained yellow and moist, with cracks appearing in its' outer coat through which yellow spores could be seen clinging together. The shrinkage of the larger ball was due to the spores having dried and having been released in fine clouds. Miss L. M. Cranwell, botanist at the Auckland Museum, identified the puff-balls as a rare growth known as Calvatia.

Can Birds Count? A reliable observer, writing to the Forest and Bird Protection Society, from the Foxton district, says that a Grey Duck built its nest some 20 feet from the ground in a Macrocarpa. Eleven ducklings were successfully hatched, and the puzzle was: How would the young birds reach the ground? Some people assert that the parent bird carries the young ducklings down on its back. By good fortune, however, the process was observed. The mother duck took up her stand at the foot of the tree and began calling her young, which one after another leaped from the nest and with the aid of their undeveloped wings, landed gently alongside their mother. Number eleven, however, refused to leave the nest, despite the mother’s incessant calling. She evidently well knew that eleven bad to ibe accounted for, and continued her appeals. At last number eleven took courage and jumped. Immediately the duck took her family to a nearby drain.