NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 304, 24 December 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Holiday Arrangement» In accordance with custom the Auckland Star will not be published to-morrow, Christmas Day, or on Thursday of next week, New Year's Day. Tne main office on the Shortland Street frontage will remain open for the receipt of advertisements until 7 o'clock this evening and on Wednesday of next week. Mittionpries in China Reassuring news has been received in Auckland', respecting the New Zealand missionaries who have been caught in the war zone in China. Letters before the break between Britain and Japan Indicated that the Japanese were treating British missionaries in China with consideration. A cable relayed from Shanghai to London, and from London to Auckland, has been received this week conveying the news that the courteous treatment of missionaries by the Japanese has been maintained since the Japanese entered the war against Britain and America. There are 40 New Zealand missionaries in China, most of them in unoccupied areas. Sign of Takahe ■ "Other cities have their ruins, why not Christchurch?" asked Mr. F. W. Freeman at a meeting of the Heathcote County Council last evening, when the Christchurch Beautifying Association wrote suggesting that the County Council, the City Council and the Government co-operate with a view to completing the Sign of the Takahe. The Takahe looked all right, and to the layman it seemed all right, but it had not been built properly, commanted Mr. Freeman. |t was more like a church, and tearooms and churches did not seem to go together. Miss E: M. Suckling, acting county clerk, said that more than £400 in rates and water account was owing by the Takahe. That was the way the Heathcote County Council had helped, said Mr. C. Flavell. He thought the Summit Road Trust was largely to blame for the damage, because it had not securely blocked the few entrances to the building. Second-hand Timber The growing tendency for people to use second-hand timber in the erection of buildings was adversely commented upon at a meeting of the Hutt County Council. Some of the timber, it was stated, was infested with borer or dry rot, and people often incurred expense in having it • carted to their sections with a view to using it 'for buildings, only to have it condemned by the building inspector. Some of this timber, it was gointed out, was coming from the [utt Valley area, where room was being made for State houses, and it was suggested that the Housing Department should not sell timber from these sites or allow any to be removed until all Infested pieces had been disposed of satisfactorily. The building inspector was instructed to take proceedings against those who used for building purposes timber which " iot wi»*- *he bylaws. . . .

Window Protection The subject of window protection during air raids seems to be as contentious a subject in England as it is in Auckland. Pictures published in a Birmingham newspaper after a German air raid on a town in southeast England indicate the advantage enjoyed by people who had protected their house windows with adhesive tape as compared with completely shattered windows in a nearby house which had no protection. Pictures in another English newspaper show windows after a raid on a north-west town. In this case windows which «JL no protection and those pasted with strips of paper tape were shattered. Where transparent sheeting was made use of the damage varied; in some instances the panes remained intact while in others the glass was blown into the rooms. It is pointed out, however, that the »igbt have been due to the better adhesion of one sheet. Adhesive netting seemed to provide the best protection. He Saw the Johe At this period of worry over what form Christmas presents to various friends should take, an incident reported by leakage from official circles that shows how one citizen exploited a streak of originality is of interest. Having had occasion to ring the local oil fuel controller's office on the matter of supplies, he happened to get in touch with the chief man himself r and concluded a fruitless appeal ? a fit of pique, what he should do with his license. "Frame it; you won't get another," was the reply. Two days later there was deep but concealed joy in the oil fuel license office when the controller was observed to receive a large paper parcel, obviously a Christmas present, which he carefully unwrapped, to reveal a large frame around a fuel license issued to the citizen he had advised to get his license framed. After he had said some kind words and had got his breath back, the controller emulated Little Audrey: he laughed arid laughed. Misting Radium Needle Found A radium needle valued at £25 has been recovered after being mislaid in the Dee Street Hospital, Invercargill, in July, 1940. The needle was discovered several days ago (says the Southland Times) by a member of the nursing staff among some rubbish taken from the hospital when it was being remodelled. It was made evident at a meeting of the Southland Hospital Board on Thursday that the doctors and hospital authorities had been worried about me missing needle because of its ? r J? potentialities. It was stated at the meeting that one day in July of last year one of the doctors had placed the needle in the lip of a patient at the hospital, and it had apparently been mislaid after removal. The doctors and staff searched the building for, some considerable time, and then had brought from the north a special machine which unsuccessfully probed into every part of the building. Apparently tne needle had been caught up in the lumber taken from the hospital after the rec* -»na<HUinji of the institution. j