NEWS Of THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 152, 29 June 1945, Page 4

NEWS Of THE DAY

1000 Per Cent Increase

Shortly before the war an Aucklander purchased a feather eiderdown in a Hamilton shop for 30/. After searching Auckland shops for a similiar article this week he eventually found one. The price he was quoted was £15 15/ —an increase of roughly 1000 per cent on the prewar price. Roadway Omelet A scene outside the Internal Marketing Division's building in Nelson Street yesterday would have caused •many a housewife a pang. A hand truck wheeled by a youth got out of control and spilled several crates of eggs into a scrambled mass. With hands dripping egg, the youth did his best to salvage those which were unbroken, but those unsmashed dr uncracked were only a small proportion of hundreds which spread over the roadway like a huge omelet.

Request Refused Decision not to take any action regarding a request from the Auckland Electric Power Board that street lamps, be not lighted until 6 p.m. was made at last night's meeting of the City Council. " The board said the course suggested would not only effect a saving during the peak load period but would also serve to remind the public of the necessity for conserving electricity. At present street lamps are turned on between 4.30 p.m. and 5 p.m. High Street Parking Area An offer to lease the car parking area at the corner of High Street and Chancery Street; City, at a rental of £2 per week, payable in advance, was declined by the City Council at its meeting last night. However, the council decided to advise the Com-' mercial Traveller's Association, present lessee of the offer and ask that it pay an increased rental of £2 per week. A recommendation that the parks committee be requested to report when the area could be converted to a park was adopted.

Advice To Ex-Servicemen Intended for distribution among ex-servicemen who have been graded in category "A by their rehabilitation committees for settlement on the land, a booklet entitled "Rehabilitating You; No. 1. Getting a Farm" has been issued by the Rehabilitation Department. The booklet covers the technical problems expected to be met by an ex-serviceman seeking to become established either on a single unit freehold property or on a leasehold farm. It advises the serviceman what to look for when inspecting a farm, how to go about completing the Eurchase or lease with rehabilitation nance, explains the policy of the Rehabilitation Board and how he can benefit from the arrangements made, and gives some advice as how best to manage his farm generally. Dealing with those who might have to wait before locating a suitable property, the booklet advises them to employ the waiting period to their advantage by, for instance, accepting employment in the district in which they intend to settle or taking a short course at Massey or Lincoln College."

Clothes And The Man

men would not keep their wives if they paid a little more attention to their personal appearance," said ]\Jr. Justice Cornish in the Supreme Court to-day during the hearing of petitions for divorce. "It might make the wives a little more proud of them," added his Honor. Priority Plea The tobacco queue was long and the shop assistant weary. When a man pushed his way through the throng and placed himself at the head of the queue he was tartly told to "go to the end of the line." He did not budge. "If you don't go to the end of the queue, I can't give you any cigarettes," said the shopgirl. "I want a bottle of hair-oil," said the man. Dignity Of Court When a witness in an action for divorce entered the witness box at the Supreme Court this morning he was wearing an open-necked cardigan without collar or tie. Mr. Justice Cornish asked the witness if he wore a collar and tie when he went to the pictures and when the Witney said he did his Honor said: 'Well, you go outside and put on a tie. He reminded the witness that he was in a Court of Law. "That looks a bit better, don't you think'" said his Honor when the witness returned. In another case his Honor ordered a witness to take his hands out of his pockets.

Effects Of Coal Shortages A great deal of human suffering had been caused this year by the insufficiency of coal, said «• m ?ra 4 n - k Winstone, chairman of Taupfri Coal Mines, Ltd., at the company's - annual meeting to-day. This suffering had arisen not only from the failure of supply of domestic coal for heating and cooking in homes during some of the coldest -winter days in> memory, but also from the failure of the gas supply and supplementary electric-power supplies, the shrinkage in the supply of cement and bricks for building purposes and necessary repairs, and the partial breakdown of railway facilities for moving passengers and goods, all of which had been direct or indirect consequences of the coal shortage. The shortage had resulted in deterioration of. public health and produced a strangulation effect on industry.

Music in the Community "For the welfare of this country, rightly understood, music is absolutely essential," said Dr. T. Vernon Griffiths, professor of music at Canterbury University College, in an address at a luncheon meeting of the Christchurch Businessmen's Club. "Basically, music is something almost as elemental as the air we breathe because music is the expression of culture. Culture is simply the way of life of a people, adapted to a particular environment. The simplest way of passing on a culture is through music, and unless we have true culture in a country we have nothing to express through music." Dr. Griffiths said that humanity was on the rack to-day because the foundations of true culture had been undermined. Folk music was intimately connected with everyday things, and had been developed for I singing by the people while they were actually at work.