LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 October 1941, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Kindergarten Shop Day. The shop day to be held by the Masterton Free Kindergarten Committee in aid of its funds will take place on November 14 and not November 4 as was stated in Saturday’s issue. Prolific Lemon Tree. Lemon trees seem to thrive in the suburb of Wanganui East. One resident, so far this season, has picked 415 lemons from a small tree in his garden, and there are still more than 200 left. The tree is only six feet high, and the fruit are of medium size. Hawk Chases Model Plane. Some excitement was caused at the Hood Aerodrome yesterday when a hawk attacked a model plane. The plane reached a great height and after the engine had stopped the plane glided high up in the air in large circles. A hawk came down upon it but appeared to be afraid to get too close. Several times the bird went within inches of the plane but it could not make up its mind to attempt to “kill” what would have proved to be a tough proposition. Finally when the plane was nearing the ground the hawk gave up the chase and disappeared. The plane was recovered undamaged. New Great. Wall in China.

Travellers reaching Shanghai from the Chinese interior said a new “great wall” is being constructed by the Japanese Army with forced Chinese labour in an effort to bar Chinese armies from eastern Hopeh and Shantung Provinces. The wall, they said, runs south from Tientsin, west of the Tien-tsin-Nanking railroad, and a section 100 miles long already has been completed by 100,000 Chinese workers. They describe the wall as built of earth and stones, about 18 feet high and 10 feet wide, with a dry ditch outside and passages only at long intervals. On top of the wall, they said, Japanese soldiers and Chinese villagers patrol, with each village held responsible for guarding the area bordering it.

Carrageen from Stewart Island. Carrageen, a white seaweed used for the making of several kinds of foods and medicines, is now being obtained from Stewart Island. The weed was previously imported from Ireland and France, but because of the war it is now being obtained from Stewart Island. Supplies of the weed are being sent to Auckland, where it is used by a brewery firm for finings, and Dunedin. One supplier sent 1501 b. to Auckland in April, and 12001 b. in September, and another supplier sent several hundredweight to Dunedin during that month. One supplier at Stewart Island is the agent for an Auckland firm, which uses the best grade of carageen, and it intends exporting some to America. The price paid to those in the industry at the island is Is 9d per lb.

Garden Fete. > I The Masterton Townswomen’s Guild gardening circle will hold a garden fete at the residence of Mrs Gaskin, Colombo Road, Masterton, at 2.30 o’clock tomorrow. The admission charge will be Is. Afternoon tea will be served. Maori Child’s Death. “This is the third time within a very short period in which there has been delay by Maoris in taking a sick child to a doctor,” declared Mr V. E. Winter, coroner, at an inquest in Wairoa into the death of a three-months-old Maori child, Peter Ranapia, Te Reinga. Returning a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, Mr Winter gave an instruction that the police should make further inquiries. Medicinal Weeds. The action of the Hastings Borough Council in planting two noxious weeds, foxglove and deadly nightshade, for medicinal purposes, caused a protest from the Hawke’s Bay County Council. In spite of the assurance that had been given that the weeds would be picked well before seeding, councillors considered that their planting would be a direct menace to the district all round Hastings. Such a large area would be incapable of control. Fish as Fertiliser. The secretary of the Whangarei branch of the Farmers’ Union, Mr F. Simmonds, expressed the opinion at a meeting of the branch that with the present shortage of fertilisers action should have been taken by the Government to utilise the blackfish that were stranded in the Whangarei harbour last week. Mr Simmonds considered that the 44 blackfish, the largest of which was estimated to weigh nearly four tons, could have produced about 50 tons of fertiliser, as well as a quantity of valuable oil. Instead of making use of this source of supply, the blackfish had been towed out to sea.

New Plastic Aeroplane. A new aeroplane constructed of plastics and mahogany that, according to the Langley Aviation Corporation, its builders, can be produced on a mass scale from materials that are neither scarce nor expensive, has had its first series of successful test flights in America. Another aeroplane of the same design will be produced and turned over to the Government for exhaustive tests to determine its possibilities for commercial and military uses. The 20-J-foot long craft looks much like any other aeroplane in so far as lines are concerned. With a wing spread of 35 feet it weighs 2300 pounds. Its two Franklin motors give it a cruising speed of 125 miles an hour. The builders claim that the composition of the aeroplane is more resistant to intense heat than metals now used in airship construction. They emphasise that the bonded construction enables it to hold its true air-foil shape in flight, thus increasing its performance.