LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 309, 9 October 1943, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

To-morrow will be the 32nd anniver-, sary- Of the foundation, of the Chinese Republic. The National Day is known in China as Double Tenth Day because a revolutionary outbreak at Wuchang on October 10 (the tenth day of the tenth month) in 1911 led to the birth of the Republic.

Five persons were killed in highway accidents in New Zealand in September, half the number killed in the same period last year. It is the lowest figure for the past six years. Three of those killed were drivers of motor-vehicles, one a passenger and one a pedestrian.

Regret that up-to-date material about New Zealand’s war effort available in Londpn was meagre is expressed by Mr H. T. B. Drew in an article in the “News-Letter.” Th.e writer, who edited the fourth volume of the New Zealand Official War History, 1914-18, states that by comparison with Australia, whose war effort was explained to the British people by Dr. H. V. Evatt,. New Zealand is lagging in this respect. The full story of what the Dominion is doing to help win the war, he adds, has never been told in Britain.

An indication of the wages paid to women on war work in America is given by a young Denver (Colorado) woman, cousin of an Aucklander, who writes that she is earning 45 dollars for a 48-hour week. Nine dollars are taken in taxes and five dollars more for the' compulsory purchase of war bonds. This leaves a balance of 31 dollars, equivalent to about £9 6s in New Zealand money. The young woman does not regard this as a high wage based on the cost of living, which is much higher in America than in this Dominion.

The acute shortage of whisky and beer glasses was reflected recently in the high prices paid for a few dozen glass of assorted sizes and very ordinary quality which were put up for sale in a Dunedin auction room. A representaive gathering of publicans was present, and bidding was brisk. Twenty-one containers styled “Wanganui handles” brought 2s 3d each, which, surprisingly, was little morethan their pre-war price, but lOoz and 50z beer glasses went for 2s 99d each, which was approximately treble what they could have been bought for a few years ago. It was when the whisky glasses were offered, however, that the bidding reached its peak, and one lot, of a type which before the war was obtainable at between 3s and 4s a dozen, rose in penny and threepenny bids to 3s each, at which figure they were knocked down to a buyer who appeared to be quite satisfied with his purchase.

“Iu my opinion we should be ashamed of ourselves for every, week we fail to put butter rationing into effect,” said Mr A. Leslie Will at this week’s meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. “It is our plain duty to see that the British ration of two ounces a week is not only maintained but increased if possible.”

“The worst season in the history of farming in the Wairarapa,” is how one well-known farmer describes conditions ruling in the district this year. As to the future, much depends on whether a good growing season is experienced or not. Another drought would be disastrous. Losses of stock in some cases have been fairly heavy. The losses are due, especially in the case of cattle, to the autumn drought and the lack of winter feed. Lambing percentages are not nearly as good as usual, anil there has been considerable mortality among lambs on some properties. In addition, it is expected that the coming season’s wool clip will be decidedly lighter than the average.

Ingenuity in solving the problem of how to get new tyres for their beloved bicycles has been diplayed in recent months by some youthful Aucklanders. As tyres were worn out they could not be replaced, if the bicycles were used purely for personal pleasure, but inquiries revealed that bicycles used for office or other message purposes were in a different category. Tyres could be secured for them after going through the necessary formalities, which took about six weeks. One day some bright youngster discovered that by undertaking a newspaper round before or after school he automatically qualified for priority for tyres. The news spread rapidly. There appeared to be nothing to prevent the boys discontinuing their paper runs as soon as the prized tyres were theirs. Some had done so, thus making way for the next waiting applicant to renew his tyres. Youngsters who got tyres in this way were at least keeping their bicycles on the road, and to that extent were helping to solve Auckland’s chronic road transport problem.