NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 230, 28 September 1943, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Popular Cemetery ' The fact that during the past month there were seven burials in the Otahuhu Public Cemetery, and of these six were from districts outside the borough, raised the comment from councillors last evening that the residents of Otahuhu must be particularly healthy or that the cemetery must be a popular choice with outside districts. _ Elector 94 Years Old One . of; the " oldest voters in Hamilton on Saturday was Mrs. Martha Jamieson, of Naylor Street, Hamilton East, who is 94 years of age. She was taken. to a polling booth by car. She has many electors among her descendants, for she has 69 great-grandchildren, 46 grandchildren and nine children living. Mrs. Jamieson has spent 30 years in Hamilton. Appeal to Ratepayers Owing to great difficulty in procuring labour for ordinary maintenance work an appeal is to be made tb residents by the Otahuhu Borough Council to assist the council by cleaning up their road frontages and keeping the grass cut. Assistance in this way, said the Mayor, Mr. C. R. Petrie, M.P., at a meeting of the council last night, would be of great value to the council and would release the limited borough staff for other work. Out-patient Soldiers "Men undischarged and receiving out-patient treatment in Dunedin from country districts are not receiving subsistence allowance of 4/6 a day. They are being paid 3/ a day only. They are living away from home and paying board. Please make representations for adjustments." This was the substance of a telegram forwarded by the Dunedin R.S.A. to headquarters at Wellington. Men in the Army who live away from home are paid 4/6 a day subsistence, said the secretary of the association, and it was understood that the undischarged men receiving treatment living away from home ■were to have the same allowance. The association was seeking to have the adjustment made. Restocking European Farms "We must recognise that we shall have to restock the Nazi-occupied countries of Europe after the war, and that we must bear our share," said the chairman, Mr. B. Grant, at a meeting of the Canterbury Pig Council, when extracts from a report on the present state of farms in Nazi-occupied Europe were read by Mr R- G. Bishop. The report showed that by 1942 the decline in the numbers of stock in Europe amounted to 11 000,000 cattle, 3,000,000 horses, 12 000,000 pigs and 11,000,000 sheep. All stock in Europe were suffering from malnutrition, and there was a serious shortage of fodder. In the riairv industry large numbers of cattle had been slaughtered. "Europe will no doubt get back ,into industrial production more quickly than to primary production," said Mr. Bishop.

Hot Water for Schools Support for the provision of a hot water supply for schools, such as is installed in other Government buildings, was sought in a letter from the Otago High Schools' Board received at the monthly meeting of the Hamilton High School Board of Governors. It was pointed out that hot showers were essential for pupils playing winter games. The board decided to lend support to the request. Destruction of Totara Trees Ornamental totara trees planted on the Great South Road at Takanini some years ago by the Great South Road Beautifying Society were being choked by a gorse hedge, it was stated at this morning's meeting of the Manukau County Council. The Beautifying Society was unable to provide the labour to keep the hedge in check. Although the main highway was not the council's responsibility, it was moved that the Public Works Department be communicated with, drawing its attention to the numerous complaints received. "Too Tough" A young man of the Maori race who strolled into a local inn on Friday was informed by the publican that he could not be served with his usual handle of waipiro as that was the day of the Maori Parliamentary election, when it was illegal to serve electors with liquor. "Makes no difference to me," retorted the ingenious Maori. "Me, I'm not a voter; not 21 yet." The licensee explained that that only made matters worse, as the law would not permit the serving of those under 21 years of age. "They make it too tough for the Maori," complained the luckless one. "Maori election Friday and no waipiro for the Maoris. Pakeha election Saturday and pubs shut at 12; no time to get a drink after job. Next day Sunday, pubs shut all day. Three days no waipiro. Too tough! Unexpected Landing Fine airmanship on the part of the. pilot saved a twin-engined an--craft on its way from a southern aerodrome to an eastern aerodrome from serious damage when a forced landing had to be made in the Waikato area during last weeks storm. The "ceiling" was very low at the time and driving ram and approaching darkness added to the pilot's difficulties and made it impossible for him to cross a range of hills. He circled the northern end of the town in an endeavour to locate a landing place, and, failing this, he circled the southern area, still looking for a suitable landing. Finally he picked out what appeared to be a suitable spot. He "hedge hopped" cleverly to land perfectly, only to find that it was impossible to use his brakes owing to the heavy machine skidding on the wet pasture. Even then, according to a man who saw the plane coming in from the soiith to land and ran over to the scene, a descent was made with only minor damage to the machine and without injury to anv of the personnel of pilot and two passengers.