NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 251, 23 October 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Happy Ending An Auckland sergeant, who served in the Pacific, .was listening to a sad tale of a soldier who fell down the a ship while travelling from one:of the islands to New Caledonia. "It was dark/and the chap put his foot out into space, fell down 30ft and broke his spine," concluded the story-teller, who was also a returned member of the Third Division, and had. not met the sergeant before. The other looked interested. "What ship was it? , ' he asked, and, when he was told,, burst into laughter. , "Well, he didn't break his spine, because I was the soldier!" he said. It was true. He had had a miraculous escape, without breaking a bone, but apparently that ending was too tame to be passed round.

El Alamein Anniversary Two years ago to-day the Eighth Army, directed by General Montgomery (as he was then), began the attack at El Alamein, which was to sweep on through Libya to Tunisia and bring the final destruction of the enemy in Africa. The initial infantry attack was preceded by one of the heaviest artillery concentrations of the war, effectively weakening the strong German defences at EJ Alamein. With colossal air. support the infantry and armour were able to drive the Germans back and clear the way for further mass artillery ' and infantry assaults on the night of November 1-2. These assaults resulted in a break-through and an expansion which routed Rommel and drove him out of Africa. An Aged Clergyman

One of the speakers at the opening session of the Anglican Synod in Cliristchurch last week was the Rev. F. GV Brittah, who arrived on one of the First Four Ships at Lyttelton in 1850.' A welcome was extended to Mr. 'Brittan by the president of Synod (Archbishop West-Watsort), and when Mr. Brittan rose to reply he was greeted with prolonged applause. I have only a little over three years to go before I reach the century," said Mr. Brittan. "I don t claim any aptitude,for public speaking, nor can I take a very active part in your deliberations. I am the connecting link between the ancient and the modern ages in the Church in Christchurch. I recall that- on December 16, 1850, Bishop Selwyn, that great missionary, greeted the First Four Ships at Lyttelton. He recorded in his diary that he held the first Synod with four clergymen present, and that each one seemed very satisfied with his new country."

Boisterous Weather Choppy seas and a strong northerly wind did not deter some early swimmers from taking boisterous dips at 'various Auckland beaches yesterday. Several yachts were out, their crews apparently enjoying the hard sailing. There were many cars along the waterfront and on the parking area at Mission Bay, but most picnickers packed up hurriedly when heavy showers came shortly after three o'clock. .1 ...

Music Conscious While the New Zealanders were stationed in the Rome area, one of them went into the city and returned with a piano-accordion. "The sight of it must have made a lot of the boys music conscious," one soldier wrote to Auckland relatives, "for next day there was a general evacuation into Rome of all budding maestros. The result was that the same evening our platoon had two piano-accordions, two cornets, one saxophone, one clarionette, two mouth organs, a hunting horn and a bugle—and not one of the men could play any of the instruments. You can imagine the racket!"

Employer and Employee Some interesting- observations on the relations between employer and employee are made by Mr. W. A. Phillips, chairman of the New Zealand Co-operative Pig Marketing Association, in his monthly letter to suppliers. Of the need for a radical change in the relationship there is a growing appreciation on the part of both, he writes, and since no other avenue of endeavour is so vital towards peaceful post-war reconstruction, every opportunity should be taken to foster the trend. Mr. Phillips adds that there is nothing fundamentally wrong in the attitude of employers and employees towards each other,' but in both it-is the /extremes which have arrested progress. There is, too, he considers, nothing fundamentally wrong with the capitalist system, but in the outlook of its' management and objectives there is much that must be altered if it is to survive the present generation. Roosevelt's new deal was an attempt in this direction: Mr. Phillips concludes with an opinion- "that the worst evils of the present system would be overcome if in all commercial enterprise capital would share its profits and management with labour. Where this principle had been honestly applied by both- parties, he knew of no instance where it had failed to produce mutually satisfactory results.