General News

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23232, 20 January 1941, Page 8

General News

Stamped With Swastika A letter similar to that mentioned in “The Press” on Saturday has been received by another Christchurch resident. The letter bears the unmistakable stamp mark of the Nazi censor, and although posted in Vancouver on September 14, 1940, reached its destination in Richmond only a few days ago. “Promises Will be Kept” Speaking at the Welcome Club on Saturday night, Mr J. O’Brien. M.P. for Westland, emphasised that steps would be taken after the war to rehabilitate soldiers. “The promises made to the troops,” said Mr O’Brien, “will be kept.” He complimented the people of Christchurch on the excellent work being done for the men of the forces. Old House Burned An old condemned house in Belfast street, to which the fire brigade had been twice previously summoned, was finally destroyed by fire on Saturday morning. The house had two storeys, and its old dry timber blazed up quickly before the brigade had control. The fire is believed to have started under the stairs. Clipper Returns to America The American Clipper left Auckland at 9.36 а. yesterday for Noumea On the first of its return flight to San Francisco. The Clipper carried 20 passengers, 2901b of freight, and a quantity of mail, and it arrived at Noumea at б. p.m.—Press Association. Ancient Relics as Scrap Cannon dating from the days of Nelson, bearing the Tudor Rose, which have served as roadway posts on Tower Hill, have been removed and. with the exception of six which will be preserved as souvenirs, are to be melted down for war purposes. The Port of London has during the last year furnished valuable and varied materials as scrap for a similar purpose. In the docks and elsewhere dumps of a miscellaneous collection of outworn dock equipment have been accumulated, including relics of the first docks reminiscent of the age of sail. Swordfish Harpooned i A large black marlin was harpooned in the Taipa river, near Mangonui, last week, by IVlr J. Miller, states a Kaitaia correspondent. The fish measured 13ft 6in in length and 3ft 6in round the girth. No scales are .available at Taipa, but Mr Miller estimated his catch to weigh between 5001b and 6001b. Seeing the fish as it cruised up and down the river, Mr Miller gave chase in an outboard motor-boat. The first harpoon used broke, but the second was successful, the fish being landed after two hours. It is probably the first time a swordfish has beer, known to come into a river, and it is thought that this one was tempted by snapper and other fish which were schooling at the mouth of the river. Papakura Hostess House A statement that it was necessary to make Hostess House better known was contained in a report received by the standing committee of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic Council. It was reported that for the month to November 30 the house, which has been provided for the temporary and cheap accommodation of women relatives of soldiers in Papakura camp, showed an excess of expenditure over income of £2l, while the estimated deficit for December, due to the absence of soldiers on leave, was £5 10s. The report stated that in November there had been 10 guests, while over a week-end in December there had been 13. All who had stayed at the house had praised its amenities. The Same Spirit Nearly a century and a half ago the British people were faced with the threat of invasion. An exhibition of contemporary broadside posters at the London Press Club showed the striking similarity of the language of 1803, then applied to Bonaparte, to that employed to-day in referring to Hitler. One poster reminds the people of these days that in the days of the Spanish Armada Londoners “voluntarily voted Government sixteen of the largest ships in the Thames and four pinnaces of light frigates, the expense and charges of which or every, kind were voluntarily defrayed during the Whole time they were in the service of the public by the citizens of London. Fellow Citizens! Let us Imitate the noble example of such ancestors —we are 10 times more numerous!” To-day the citizens of the wards of London voluntarily defray the cost of Spitfires. Coastguard’s Prompt Service Another instance of the value of the work being done by the New Zealand Coastguard Service was provided last week, when Coastguard Headquarters received a call from the district nurse at Waiheke Island. A boy, aged three , and a half years, who was spending a holiday at Rocky Bay with his mother, became ill with acute appendicitis, and his removal to hospital was urgently necessary. The call was received at 9.5 p.m., and within 20 minutes the coastguard’s specially-equipped No. 1 launch was on its way down the harbour. A through passage had been arranged with the naval authorities, but owing to some misunderstanding a guardboat had not been notified, and it held up the launch for 20 minutes while the officer in charge communicated with North Head. No hitch occurred on the return journey, however, and four hours after receiving the call the coastguard was delivering the patient at the Auckland Hospital. Licences Refused Through the refusal of special licences for the carriers to deliver sheep by road to outside districts, 6000 lambs were held on Thursday night without water or food In the saleyards after the Waingaro sheep fair, states a Hamilton correspondent. When the carriers were preparing tc transport the sheep, many of which had been bought by farmers in outlying districts, a traffic inspector, acting under instructions from the Transport Department,, refused them permission. Strong indignation was expressed at a largely-attended meeting of farmers called when the position became known, and it was resolved to stand behind the carriers and ask them to proceed with delivery, owing to the urgency of the situation. The Minister for Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) was advised of the position. After the decision of the meeting had been reached, carriers began to load sheep, but owing to the delay, only a third of the yarding of 9000 could be handled on Thursday. Exporters Deliver the Goods

After continued day and night attacks, London’s export industries continue to dispatch goods to markets throughout the world. Inquiries addressed by the Board of Trade to export groups and associations in the Greater London area give conclusive proof that the majority of works engaged in the export trade are keeping up their full production and are making deliveries to contract time for dispatch to customers overseas. A typical example is a works in the neighbourhood of the docks, employing hundreds of people, which has been bombed with every known type of bomb. Yet as a consequence of resourceful organisation their output, two days after a raid, was back to nearly 70 per cent, of normal and increasing daily.