NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 32, 8 February 1943, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

£84 an Acre The harvesting" of eight acres of "turnip seed was recently completed by a farmer in the Winton district, Southland. It was rather a difficult crop to handle, necessitating the use of a power mower and picking up with a header, but the return was about £84 an acre. No Waste A conversation with a United States officer was recounted by Mr. Te Ari Pitama, who presided at a Democratic Labour party meeting in the Phillipstown School, Christchurch. The officer asked him. why New Zealand had sent so many soldiers away, instead of keeping men at home to* grow food for the forces in the Pacific. "I told him," said Mr. Pitama, "that when the old Maori • went to war there was no food production problem. If he killed a man then there was no waste." The 111 Wind A member of the forces who had been "fighting on the northern front" for the better- part .of last, week wrote to his parents in Auckland over the week-end. He thought the conditions prevalent during the attacks by the troops on the grass and forest fires, if not as realistic, were at least quite as unpleasant as in actual warfare. A touch of sunstroke resulted from fighting the spreading conflagration in sweltering heat, wearing only a covering for the nether part of the body, while the surcharged atmosphere, the thick, low-drifting smoke, produced "thick heads and bleary eyes." But there was one redeeming . feature, one welcome outcome of the extensive burning off, and that'.was the annihilation of the mosquito. . Home Guard Loses Horses Stinging nettle brought about the death of two horses belonging to members of No. 1 Troop, Hutt Home Guard (Mounted), while the unit was on troop operations. They were in country at the back of Normandale. The horses got down among stinging nettle and two were so -maddened that they plunged deeper in. One cut a leg artery and bled to death. The other so injured itself that it had to be destroyed. Stinging nettle usually grows in inaccessible places where even cattle do Hot venture. With a sweating horse it is hylieved that nettle stings can result "fatally in the same way that a number of bee stings can cause death. Provision exists for the compensation of owners of horses for loss sustained while on training opferitions. One of the two lost was a particularly fine type.

Solitary Teaspoon A New Zealand novelist with an overseas reputation once referred to "steaming porcelain baths of coffee" served at New Zealand railway refreshment rooms. Those well-known thick china cups were of eggshell texture compared to the yellow mugs now generally used—and coffee is frequently not obtainable. But the chief sign of the times is the absence of teaspoons. The Palmerston North refreshment room apparently boasts of a solitary spoon fixed firmly to the counter by a length t)f string. How to Buy Matches Another story from a harassed smoker. With his, hand on his heart he vouched for its veracity: He entered a city tobacconist's shop and asked for a penny box of matches, and was prepared to buy the usual three packets of cigarettes (costing 2/3) to get them. "I'm afraid it is necessary to buy four packets of cigarettes to get a box of matches," said the girl behind the counter. "Oh, all right," sighed the customer wearily, "anything to get the matches. I'll take the four packets of" cigarettes. "Sorry, but we're not allowed to sell more than two packets of cigarettes," came the astonishing reply. Deductions for Wives . At a meeting of the Manawatu provincial executive of the Farmers' Union, a letter was received from the Dominion secretary stating that under the Land and Income Tax Act no payment of wages from husband to wife or from wife to husband, except in legalised partnership, is allowed as deductible. A motion was passed that the Government be requested to amend the Act,to allow deductions of payment to wives who are working on farms, such wages to be regarded as farm expenses. This is designed to compensate wives who are working on farms and particularly in milking sheds in place of men who are in the forces. Shining Cuckoos It is customary during the summer for numbers of shining cuckoos, conspicuous and striking-looking birds on account of their metallic colouring, to be forwarded to the Dominion Museum at Wellington for identification. All those forwarded have not died a natural death, but have been killed through some agency or other, notably flying into power lines They come from the Solomon Islands to breed in New Zealand in the summer, usually using rent free the nests of grey warblers or fantails for their eggs. The young birds then make their way to the »«vth of New Zealand to take off on •> flight to the Solomons.