LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20992, 20 December 1939, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Borough Finance The Mayor of Te Awamutu, Mr G. Spinley. intimated at Monday night's meeting of the Borough Council that a £SOOO loan proposal would be put before ratepayers early in the New Year. Importation of Whisky Whisky suppliers in the United Kingdom are said to have made arrangements that will ensure the importation of spirits in the first half of next year. The import difficulty was overcome by an agreement with the Government, whereby no call was to be made upon sterling funds for 12 months. Gloves For Airmen A meeting of women prepared to knit gloves for airmen has been convened by the Mayor, Mr H. D. Caro, to take place in the Bledisloe Hall at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow. The wool for the gloves will be supplied by the Government, and full instructions for the knitting will be given. Patriotic Seals The National Patriotic Fund Board issues a reminder that contributions of half-a-crown from householders who have received the patriotic seals are urgently required by next Friday, December 22. The seals are for use with correspondence and Christmas greetings, and the whole of me money contributed will be carefully expended on extra comforts foi the troops, in view of whose departure for overseas a magnificent response is hoped.

Eben Wilson Scholarship The Eben Wilson Memorial Scholarship tenable at the Hamilton High School for one year, and of a value of £lO, has been granted to Stewart Thomas, a pupil of the Ngahinapouri School. The scholarship has been organised by the Old Boys’ Asociation as a memorial to the late headmaster of the school, and is open to all boys entering the High School in any one year.

The Longest Day The longest day of the year will fall on Saturday, when the sun will be above the horizon from 4.58 a.m. to 7.41 p.m. Actually little variation in the hours of the sunrise and sunsets drinking the week, and on some of the days the periods of daylight are the same. To-day the sun rose at 4.57 a.m. and will remain above the horizon until 7.39 p.m. It will perform exactly the same procedure to-morrow. On Friday it will rise at 4.58 a.m. and will set at 7.40 p.m.

Removal of Lighthouse As the lighthouse at Cape Maria van Diemen is to be moved to the mainland, a road linking the road at Te Paki with the new site is to be constructed by the Public Works Department. The lighthouse is at present on a small rocky island separated from the mainland by a dangerous channel. The new road will be 10 miles in length and will be perhaps the most northerly in New Zealand. It is stated that to expedite construction the most modern machinery will be used.

Escapee Sentenced Having escaped from Waikune prison camp on November 30, Frank Norman Harrop was brought to Taumarunui on Monday night under escort and charged yesterday morning before Messrs W. Thomas and C. A. Boles, J’s.P., with being a rogue and vagabond, in that he escaped from legal custody. Harrop elected to be dealt with summarily, and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment with hard labour, the sentence to be cumulative with the sentence at present being served.

New Cool Store Butter was received for the first time yesterday at the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company’s new cool store on the Mechanics’ Bay waterfront, Auckland. The largest store of its type in the world, with a capacity for 600,000 boxes, the new building, which provides n<?t only for the reception and storage of produce, but also for its freezing, is a welcome addition to the Dominion’s available refrigerated space. Its completion is particularly important in view of the uncertainty that exists in regard to shipping and the demand for cool storage space.

Goods on Enemy Ships Advice that an endeavour is being made by the Department of Industries and Commerce to make arrangements to lift goods consigned to New Zealand which are on board enemy ships in neutral ports, has been received by the Auckland Manufacturers’ Association. The district officer of the department, Mr E. W. Bowden, desires that manuf turers with raw materials thought to be in this situation should communicate with him. They will then be supplied with information regarding tha procedure to be adopted.

Scotsmen’s Exchanges Scotsmen all the year round will have their jokes with each other, but Christmas and New Year find them particularly active. Last Christmas a well-known Hamilton Scot cannily sent Christmas greetings to a Christchurch friend for the years 1939. 1940, 1941 and 1942. Yesterday he received a rejoinder. It was an extraordinarily cheap hair comb made of cardboard in Japan, bearing the bold stamp of a prominent New Zealand hotel. But the package bore no stamps and the magnificent gift cost the Hamilton Scot fourpence.

Mallard Duck Liberated Bred at the Slate game farm at Ngongotal.a, 72 mallard duck, 11 weeks old, were liberated yesterday at the Hamurana sanctuary. The Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, said that in a few weeks a further 150 mallard duck will be liberated at the same sanctuary. Evidence that they would thrive and multiply at Hamurana was found in the natural breeding of the birds previously placed in the sanctuary. He had seen several with five, seven and eight ducklings apiece feeding among tne raupos and weeds of the shore, while their timidity was a welcome sign to sportsmen.

German National Spirit “ The Germans have a national spirit that I wish we had here,” said the Minister of Lands, the Hon. F. Langstone, in addressing a meeting ax the Trades Hall, Auckland, last night. The Minister stated that wmle he was convinced that at the time of his visit to Germany the German people did not want war, they absolutely worshipped Hitler, and would do whatever he said. They had a great national spirit and would give their services freely and willingly for the State. “ Some people think that there is a great following against Hitler,” he concluded. " I only wish there was.”