NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 163, 12 July 1943, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Abundant Milk Supplies Abundant milk supplies are. now coming into the city, and there is no longer need of rationing. The full supplies to schools have been restored. When a shortage existed, a cut to the extent of 10 per cent was made to the public, and its operation was left to roundsmen. Officials of the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Council stated that few complaints were received. Railway Pioneer A railway contractor, Mr. Brogden, was yery busy in the colony 71 years ago accepting railway tenders. On July 10, 1872, a tender of £167,484 was accepted for the construction of the Newmarket-Mercer line. In the South Island, on ithe same date, his tender was accepted for the Invercargill and Mataura line, while his tender for the Clutha- railway of £142,000, "exclusive of rails and rolling stock," was accepted for 34 miles 55 chains and two miles of sidings. The price accepted for the Hutt railway was £28,616, Pukeko Defended When a member of the Wanganui Acclimatisation Society complained that the pukeko was becoming a cheeky nuisance to farmers and he would like to see some check made on the bird, another member, Mr H. J. Duigan, demurred. He said the pukeko had not the same means of defence as some birds and lacked the flying qualities possessed by others. He knew that the pukeko did damage, but said it was one of New Zealand's most beautiful birds. He made a plea for some measure of protection for "it. If pukeko made inroads on a farmer's" property he could obtain permission to shoot them out of season if the necessity arose "I would not like to see the pukeko wiped out," added the speaker. Tea While Bombs Fell Even while night bombers, dropping all kinds of incendiaries, operated over the lines held by the New Zealanders at Enfidayille, in northern Tunisia, the New Zealanders seldom missed an evening cup of tea, says a Timaru soldier in a letter received recently from the Middle East. "The brewer would crawl under a tent cover thrown over the trail of a gun and start up. the primus l ," he wrote. "With a primus we had acquired, tea and sugar obtained in like manner, and with milk found on the battlefield, we prepared to enjoy ourselves. Tea and sugar caddies were originally 'Jerry' gas masks.'' When passing through the inevitable Arab encampment soma gunners bought a fat lamb for a pair of sandshoes, six packets of cigarettes and a little chai, or tea.. . Knitting Neuritis A new wartime ailment has just been discovered. It has afflicted some of the most prominent and consistent workers on behalf of the forces overseas. Many have complained lately of painful finger and arm joints ana wrists, and one lady in Mount Albert was forced to consult her medical adviser. She had contracted severe pain and stiffness in the shoulder, and the first question the medico asked was if she had been knitting excessively, to which she had to confess: His diagnosis was "knitting neuritis," he ordered complete rest and the application of heat. The output of knitted articles for the men in all the Services, and in the Merchant Navy in the Auckland area has reached an enormous' figure, limited only by the supply of knitting wooL

Greenstone Patu for General On the eve of his departure from New Zealand, Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C., was presented with an ancestral greenstone patu.* (Maori war weapon) by Mrs. Keiha, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Keiha, commanding officer of the Maori Battalion, on behalf of their family. Mrs. Keiha travelled from Gisborne to Auckland to make the presentation. Outsize in Eggs An egg weighing 6loz and measuring Bin round the middle and 9in round the long way was laid by a Rhode Island Red pullet at a poultry farm in the Lower Hutt last week. The proprietor of the farm, Mr. G. I BeWs, said he had never seen anything like the egg.in his long experience in poultry farming. Alongside it a standard 2oz egg looked ridiculously small. Shares Go 'Begging "l had shares in both works and would have sold them to the.devil if he had been in the market, declared a farmer who attended a recent meeting in Wanganui to discuss the policy of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board. Mr. T. A. Duncan (Hunterville) had saiu that freezing works sprang up like mushrooms in New Zealand during the last war, but some of the works were uneconomical and had to be abandoned. His reference to two works in particular prompted the remark by a shareholder. Huge "Losses" in Crockery Thefts of crockery on a large scale, breakages, and inability to replace losses are causing deep concern to restaurateurs in' the big cities of Australia. Even large dinner plates are stolen, concealed m dishonest customers' overcoats, the Sydney Railway Department reports the "loss" of 120,000 glasses, 11,000 knives, 33,000 spoons, 24,000 cups, 8000 saucers and 27,000 hand towels. Almost all these articles are irreplaceable. Stocks are low, and it is impossible to say how the position will be met in the near future. Fruitgrowers' Conference Remits totalling 116 are set down for discussion by the annual conference of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation, Ltd., to be held in Wellington on August 11 and L". Subjects covered by the remits relate chiefly to marketing of apples and pears with a variety of recommendations in regard to prices', grading, packing, inspection fee, cases, and hail insurance. Before the remits are discussed by the Dominion conference of 13 provincial delegates, annual meetings of the various provincial branches are to be held with a view to giving their delegates to the national conference an indication of how to vote,..

A Gold King's Beginning "On his first appearance he was an absolute dud, as far as prospectors, are concerned, for he looked more like a tract-selling missionary." said an old gold miner in Auckland to-day in referring to the death last week of Sir Harry Oakes, one of the world's richest men. "Oakes came to me in 1906 when I was exploring the country round Rotorua," he added. "He asked me for a job, which, on account of his appearance, I gave him grudgingly, little dreaming that this insignificant man would rise to millions and a baronetage. Incidentally, I think he was the man who introduced the term 'O.K.' into New Zealand. He marked a 'tucker ticket' 'O.K.' Not understanding, I asked him the meaning. He explained : that that, was a common term in the Klondike to signify that a thing was 'orl korrect,' Since then the term has. become an accepted one in New Zealand.* .'