NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 239, 9 October 1942, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Warrants of Fitness

The suggestion was made at the meeting of the council of the Automobile Association (Wellington) on Monday that the Government should be approached to alter the validity period of warrants of fitness for motor vehicles from the present six months to every 5000 miles, or to one year. Good Boxing "Gate" The takings at the professional heavy-weight boxing match between Danny O Keefe (American serviceman) and Don Mullett (New Zealand Army), at Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon, totalled £785. The Wellington Boxing Association is now arranging a match between Mullett and Maurice Strickland, which would attract an even bigger crowd. Far Seals Plentiful Fishermen who have been fishing round Stewart Island this season report that fur seals are very plentiful in that locality and that in places where a few years ago only on occasional seal was to be seen there are now hundreds, indicating that they are multiplying quickly says the Southland Daily News. Tlie close season for fur seals has been extended until March 31. 1945 but it is the opinion of fishermen 'that a short, open season should be marie first for the protection of the fishing grounds and, second, that the skins would be of considerable value Immediately after the war. Maori Celebration The ninth anniversary of the coronation of the Maori Kine, Koroki Te Wherowhero, was celebrated at Waahl Pa, Iluntl.v West, yesterday. In the morning a large number of Maoris arrived from the King Country, Auckland, Pukekohe and various parts of the Waikato to join in the celebration. Football and basketball matches were arranged for the afternoon. Rain commenced to fall during the afternoon anrl somewhat marred the proceedings. Among the visitors was Mr. P. K. Paikea, a member of the Executive. Council '•Presenting the Maori race, who •garjssed the Maoris at Huntly ***** on the matter of recruiting, B P°k e on New Zealand's

Separation Allowance

A resolution urging that separation allowances should be paid for all children under 16 years of ace of members of the Armed Forces was carried at a meeting of the Waimate branch of the Farmers' Union. Members agreed that the present restriction of the allowance to five children was a grave injustice to soldiers who had eight and nine in their families. Orchardists* Co-operation An outstanding example of cooperation, which should ultimately be reflected in the Dominion-wide effort to provide canned food for men on active service, was provided in Central Otago last week. Learning that a fruitgrower owning 40 acres of orchard had been unable to obtain seasonal help for pruning, some 62 growers from Roxburgh, Dumbarton and Ettrick assembled at his property and pruned 20 acres of his trees. Had rain not set in another five acres would have been completed. Bret Harte's Krefeld Krefeld, which has experienced another heavy R.A.F. bomber attack, possesses interest to people who have made a study of American letters. It was in this Prussian town, famous as the centre of the silk industry of Germany, that Bret Harte served as consular representative of the United States from 1878 to 1880. His duties included supervision of German silk exports to America. In letters to his wife, from whom he had parted previously in the United States, he wrote with enthusiasm of Krefeld. Harte was never to return to his own country. He died at his writing desk at Camberley, in England, in 1902. Mixed Metaphor

The question whether or not the sardine was a luxury was raised at the No. 1 Armed P'orces Appeal Board yesterday afternoon when a sardine fisherman appealed for the release of his son from camp on the grounds that he was essential to the carrying on of the industry Mr. F. J. Cox, Crown representative, thought that the sardine was a luxury, but Mr. A. M. Samuel, a member of the board, differed from this view. "It could only be a luxury." he added, "if it was a rara avis." The board adjourned the case for the purpose of obtaining a report fr om the food controller.