NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 193, 16 August 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Emergency Plan Control

The opinion that the Government should control the emergency precautions scheme throughout the Dominion, in order to ensure uniformity of policy and administration, has been expressed by the local committee at Papatoetoe. The committee feels that, in the light of experience, there has been a lack of information and instruction issued to maintain interest in the scheme. In the War for Second Time The distinction of being the first New Zealand soldier of the present war to be invalided home through sickness, and to have again been passed as fit for overseas service, has fallen to a Morrinsville volunteer, Bombardier P. B. L. Cubitt, of Lome Street, Morrinsville. After 11 months spent with the New Zealand Forces in the Egyptian desert, Bombardier Cubitt was invalided home in January last. Following a period of leave, his recovery was rapid, with the result that he again donned khaki. He has since been medically examined and posted to an artillery unit for service overseas. As Tourists A-Horseback "Seeing the country from horseback," Miss Dorothy Woodroffe, of Cambridge, and Miss Mabel Edwards, of Gippsland. arrived at Dunrdin, having travelled from Canterbury through the Haast Pass to Queenstown and thence via Otago Central to Dunedin in the past month. Stops had been made on the way for spells of work to cover the expenses of the next stage. They had made such stops at Franz Josef and at Queenstown, and, by advertising, got situations in Dunedin in domestic service. The ride through the Otago Central occupied five and a half (fays, with the thrill one day of jogging through a snowstorm. Who Should Feed Them ?

A somewhat awkward situation in connection with the drawing of an art union run by group lour of the Fighters' Mother Appeal is reported by Mr. \\ McArthur, of the Department of Internal Affairs. Four horses which had been donated as prizes have not been claimed, with the result that the donors are now faced with the problem of feeding their charges, which no longer belong to them. As the law states that prizes must be kept for three months before being disposed of, the matter of feeding the horses—a polo pony, a child's pony, a trotter and a racehorse—is likely to be an expensive problem. The racehorse is by Hunting Song, and the trotter is Frank Worthy. The numbers of the winning butts, which have no name or nom rie plume, are 8160, 0607, 8703 and 10212.

Waikato Home For Old Folk A complaint by Mrs. H. C. Ross that the women at the Old People's Home section of the Waikato Hospital received "cold charity," in that they had no privacy and had to store their goods in lockers without locks, with the result that pilfering took place, has resulted in a committee being set up to consider improving the position. The medical superintendent admitted that an improvement would be made by having the women housed in a place away from the hospital. British Children Settle Down "Since their arrival in New Zealand the children have settled down very well in their homes and have adapted themselves quickly to their new conditions," states the report on child welfare presented to the House of Representatives yesterday, in referring to British children sent tol New Zealand last year. The health of the children had been good on the whole, and most of them put on weight above the average. Reference also is made to the fact that teachers of both primary and secondary schools are most helpful with the children. On Wellington Trams Instancing cases where people had been left at suburban stops because passing trams were crowded, and the department had not men to take out more trams, l\Jr. T. C. A. Hislop, chairman of the Wellington Tramways Committee, foreshadowed the possibility of the employment of women conductors on Wellington trams. The "call bark" system, under which men, on a rota, came on for extra morning duty at special rates of pay, just about met the present shortage of men just now. he said, but as more men were called up for military service the employment of women would have to be faced. First N.Z.E.F.

On August IG, 1914. nine days after the receipt of a telegram informing the Government that it would render a great and urgent Imperial service in seizing the German wireless station at Samoa." the first detachment of the N.Z.E.R, 1113 rank and file, were sent to capture the island. An officer from H.M.S. Psyche landed at Apia and demanded surrender of the islands within half an hour. He was informed that surrender could not be given, but that no opposition would be met by the landing forces. Bridges androads were placed under guard, the wireless station was dismantled, and the German flag was hauled down. The dispatch of the N.Z.E.F. is of importance, for it was the first occasion on which a Dominion was requested to capture enemy territory on behalf of Great Britain.