General News

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23477, 4 November 1941, Page 6

General News

Clipper’s Departure Delayed The departure of the Pacific Chpper from San Francisco for the inaugural flight o Y^ r route to Auckland via Suva has been delayed by two days. It is expected that the dipper will leave this morning and will Auckland on Monday. The clipper was ori 8 1 ? 1 ' ally scheduled to arrive on Saturday, ine return flight will start on Tuesday morning. P.A. “Keep Mum” Slogans for the “Don’t Talk” campaign in England are original and striking. A P a^l( ?£ larly happy one quoted by a Chn^churchaiman in a letter to his parents is, Be like D Keep Mum.” New Accessions at Museum Fijian articles are among the new accessions displayed by the Canterbury Museum. They include clubs and whale’s to°th necUdac . These, together with a Maori collection meluding cloaks, ornaments, and adzes, i? aV ® e ® n presented by Mr J. Forbes, of Christchurch. Another recent accession is a nava Jjf Edward merly the property of Commander Edward Dunsterville, R.N., who saw service ° ff Sebastian (1812) and off the coast of Syn (1840). Jungle and New Zealand Bush “The jungle in Ceylon is just like New Zealand bush,” said Mr P, G. Evans * Jfto the engineer from Ceylon, in > a %fl d Yesterday Christchurch Businessmen s Club yesterday. “The trees and undergrowth aie of different species from ours, of course, but th ® genera type of growth and outward appearance is much the same. The only notable difference that you can’t sit down in the Jungle. If you do you gets ants in your pants, 01 something ev more unpleasant happens to you. £IO,OOO Prize to Westport First prize of £ 10,000 in an overseas consultation drawn at the end of October was won by a Westport ticket holder. The ticket was in the name of “Lucky 5, Buffer. ” the same consultation the second prize, of £2OOO, went to Wellington, and the tenth, of £245, to Christchurch. These were the only New Zealand winners in the first 10. Presbyterian Assembly The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand will open at Timaru to-day in Chalmers Church. It is expected that about 250 delegates from all parts of New Zealand will attend. Arrangements for the Assembly are in the hands of the Presbytery at Timaru, at whose invitation the Assembly .meets there for the first time. The incoming Moderator is the Rt. Rev. John Davie, of Masterton. Military Staff College New Zealand’s first military staff college was opened at Palmerston North yesterday by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser). The college is housed temporarily in Massey College. Major-General E. Puttick declared the event to be one of the most important in the ‘ military history of New Zealand. —P.A. Returned Soldier Membership Of the 3890 members of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers’ Association at the end of October, 167 were men who have served in the present war, according to a report presented at the meeting of the executive of the association last evening. The whole membership was 311 more than at the same time last year. The latest Dominion return, showing the position as at the end of September, placed Christchurch at the head of the list. The Dominion membership was then 33,661, with 780 from the present war. Opossum in Fowl’s Nest A Greymouth resident has an unusual visitor, an opossum, which has taken possession of one of the nests in the fowlhouse, and evidently regards these quarters as ideal. The opossum is comparatively tame, and permits itself _to be handled. It appreciates titbits offered to it. The fowls have not yet objected to its presence. Ceylon Tea Supplies A reason for the increased price of Ceylon tea in New Zealand was suggested by Mr• -P. G. Evans, an irrigation engineer on the staff of the Ceylon Government, in an address to the Christchurch Business Men’s Club yesterday. The bulk of Ceylon tea was purchased for the duration of the war by Britain at a fixed price. The balance was sold to Australia and New Zealand, but not under a fixed price scheme. As only a limited quantity was available, after British needs were satisfied, the price was higher. Russia and New Zealand Industry “The addition of Russia to the list of victims of Germany’s aggression has demanded a speeding up in war production throughout the Allied countries and the United States of America, and repercussions of this have been felt in New Zealand,” states the annual Report of the president of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association (Mr A. M. Hollander). ' “New Zealand has had to take its share of the greater demand for war materials and manufacturing industries have responded well to the Government’s appeal for increased production. This has necessarily been at the expense of the production of some civil requirements. The closest contact has been maintained with the Minister and officers of the Department of Supply, as well as many other departments which are supervising the various aspects of production.”, A Tendency Recognised Reference to the amount of administrative machinery in the Technical College has been made by Mr E. D. Brown, a member of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association, in a report incorporated in the annual report of the association’s president (Mr A. M. Hollander). "I took my seat on the (Technical College) board as your first representative on September 12,” Mr Brown reports. “There are approximately 1300 students, taking in also the Papanui school. Instruction, both academic and practical, is given in some 50 subjects of widely differing character, and with many sub-classifications. This is a great body of teaching which impacts squarely and obliquely on almost every phase of industry and commerce. There is a great deal of administrative machinery with a consequent tendency to mortify the spirit of education. It is my observation that this tendency is recognised and fought against by the board.” Rainfall in Ceylon i “One day’s maximum rainfall in Ceylon is 35 inches,” said Mr P. G. Evans, an irrigation engineer from Ceylon, and formerly of Christchurch, in an address to the Businessmen’s Club yesterday. The central areas of the country had an annual rainfall of 210 inches. The 80 or 90 inches of rain a year required for rubber plantations in Ceylon was not as much as it seemed, as the great heat of the sun caused very rapid evaporation. New Zealand Trout for Prime Minister According to a Melbourne newspaper, the - first meal to be served by Mrs Curtin, wife of Australia’s new Prime Minister, after she arrived in Canberra, was a dish of New Zealand mountain trout, a gift to Mr Curtin from one of his old Labour colleagues, the New Zealand Minister for Labour (the Hon. P. C. Webb), who is a former Victorian. The trout were delivered by the Minister for Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) when he flew to Australia for defence talks. Windows For Air Raids “Blitz” blast need no longer send glass splinters flying in all directions during air raids oyer Britain this winter. The British Government’s Experimental Building Research Station at Watford has successfully tested three new alternatives to unprotected glass windows. The first is used in place of window glass. It consists of netting embedded in thick cellulose acetate film which lets in light and keeps out rain. There is a heavier variety to take the place of north lights, roof lights or other glass on which there is a heavy strain. It equals quarter-inch plate-glass in strength. A third device is a lighter form of cellulose netting fixed to window panes by adhesive. A square of plate glass covered , with this netting was put under a spring-loaded hammer which was brought down upon it, travelling one-eighth of an inch beyond the point of impact. The shattered glass remained neatly in position under the netting.