NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 217, 13 September 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

| Covered Trenches Disappearing $ A report that the covered trenches ;J in Mount Albert were being dis•f mantled as time and labour per- » mitted was made by the resident sj engineer, Mr. W. E. Begbie, at a 3 meeting of the Mount Albert Bor- {• ough Council last evening. The i| trenches in the old Mount Albert if School site, the reserve at Mount \i Albert railway station, Central Re•l serve, Sandall's Reserve and. those I on private properties next to the 1 Jubilee Hali, Kingsland, remained >1 to be dealt with, he added. >3 I Australian Dried Fruits | More Australian currants and 1 raisins can be imported into the ■I Dominion this year. The CanterI bury Chamber of Commerce has 3 been advised by the Customs Deli partment that the allocation for S imports of these dried fruits have if been increased from 110 per cent to | 125 per cent of the value of licenses if granted for imports in 1943. Licenses ' for imports of citric acid from Aus>r tralia can now be used for importing s citric acid from Britain, where sup'j plies are being made available. I In the Invasion Area | Apologising to a Christchurch resi- | dent for not answering' a letter, a 1 resident on the south coast of Eng- | land gives some idea of the measures I taken to ensure secrecy before the 1 invasion. "The delay was not due j to my laziness," he wrote. "When " the ban was imposed the letter rei strictions were so strict that it was | hardly worth writing about our I health and the weather, for that was ' all we were allowed to mention." | Later a further request was made I that letters should be cut to a minimum because of transport and censorship, and eventually the actual invasion put a stop to everything. I Living With "In-laws" The bad effect that living with 3 "in-laws" had on returned servicemen suffering from neurosis was I mentioned by the president of the | R.SA., Mr. A. P. Postlewaite, at a = meeting of the Auckland Provincial | Patriotic Committee. When these | men could not get houses and had to live with their in-laws, they became even more nervy and difficult, and in turn affected their wives, who in many cases were having babies, said Mr. Postlewaite. He felt someI thing should be done for them. Obvii ously houses were needed, but in ! the meantime perhaps the men would ! feel better if more interest was ] taken in them by churchmen and others who could visit them. "You I don't need to tell me anything about 1 the in-law problem," said the Mayor, i Mr. Allum. "I sit in my office and I listen to the troubles of these serall day long."

Ski-ing in Southland

Ski sports have been popular at Queenstown (Southland) recently. A record number of ski-ers from Dunedin and Invercargill visited Queenstown at the beginning of the month. The ski-ing has been taking place on the slopes of Coronet Peak, and the visitors have been well satisfied with the conditions. The Otago University Club held its championship recently, and the Wakatipu Ski Club's Gardner Shield contest and junior championship were also held. San Marino Now in the battle area on the Adriatic sector in Italy is the tiny independent Republic of San Marino, which claims to be the oldest State in Europe. San Marino is in the hills near Rimini. It is said to have been founded by a pious mason of Dalmatia in the fourth century, and its area of 38 square miles makes it the second smallest country in Europe. The smallest is the miniature principality of Monaco, on the Mediterranean, which has an area of 370 acres. San Marino has had a treaty of friendship with Italy since 1897, and is in the fortunate position of having no public debt. There is an army of about 1000 men. "Afraid of Gas" Interruptions in the gas supply during the past year, coupled with frequent warnings concerning, the need of using gas at specified hours, have evidently acted as a bad advertisement for Auckland among some prospective holiday-makers. One Remuera resident prepared to let his home over the Christmas-New Year period received a reply from a country family which had never used gas for cooking. The head of the country family intimated that the house was suitable in every way but doubted whether "the women" could manage the gas "as they would definitely be afraid of it." Assurances of the improvement in supply and the fact that cooking with gas was easy, quick and devoid of risk failed to convince the applicants f)r the nouse. Children Suggest Street Names A list of street names compiled by the pupils of the Owairaka School for the Stewart block in Richardson Road, Mount Albert, was received at a meeting of the Mount Albert Borough Council last night. Nine of the names, mostly with Middle East associations, were adopted as follows:— Alamein, Hargest, Cassino, Olympus, Maadi, Tunisia, Dunkirk, Barrymore and Range View. In the case of the suggested names "Ngarimu" (after the Maori V.C.) and "Bray," the Chief Postmaster at Auckland wrote pointing out the possibility of their confusion with "Ngaroma," in Epsom, and "Brae," in Ellerslie. It was decided to refer these names back to the works and lighting committee for report. It was also decided to send a letter of thanks to the headmaster of the Owairaka School.