General News

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23538, 16 January 1942, Page 4

General News

Fire Wardens Needed “Curiously enough it is on the north side and the west side of the city that there have been the most volunteers for fire wardens and their associates,” said Mr W. Machin, when explaining at a public meeting last evening the organisation of fire wardens to deal with an emergency. “But on the south and east sides of the city there are not enough volunteers for those jobs, although it is on those sites that the need for wardens is greatest. We need wardens in those districts to staff our organisation.” Sporting Rifles Sold to Army Though the response to the Army’s request for .22 calibre rifles has been better recently, only about 10 per cent, of those listed in the Christchurch district have so far been sold to the department. Most of those handed in, however, have been in excellent order, and very few have been rejected. To assist persons living in remote districts, it has been arranged that, where they cannot take rifles to the depots which have been established, they may hand them in at the nearest police station. Imports of Drinking Glasses Inclusive of licences already issued, licences may be granted for imports of drinking glasses from the United Kingdom and (or) Australia for amounts equivalent to those granted from any source in 1941. This advice has been received by the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association from the Customs Department. Bad Packing A letter from a New Zealand officer serving in the Middle East shows how easily bad packing can spoil a gift parcel. In one he received, from a North Island patriotic body, the sweets were uneatable. They had been packed in tobacco tins, and shreds of tobacco, left in the tins, had tainted them all. A cake in a tin without a lid, inside a cardboard box, had grown “long whiskers.” “Please Forget” “Can the Mayor tell us something about this £ls a week job for an or<'ani=cr ” asked a questioner at the meeting held in the Civic Theatre last evening at which the organisation of the city’s emergency precautions services was explained. “The best I can say is please forget about it,” was the answer given by the Mayor (Mr E. H. Andrews). Governor-General Honours Scout Before the official welcome to his Excellency the Governor-General in Westport on Wednesday, Sir Cyril Newall in his capacity of Chief Scout in New Zealand. presented Patrol Leader Levy with a King’s Scout badge. This was the first presentation of this kind that his Excellency has made in New Zealand. Impressment of Motor-Vehicles As a result of activity by members of the Army Department and the Transport Department, about 34 trucks and cars have been impressed in the Bullcr district. These have been viewed by a value assessment committee and will leave by special train for Christchurch to-day.

Bobby Calf Pool Committees In a letter addressed to all bobby calf pools, the Minister for Marketing (the Hon. J. G. Barclay) suggests that in the present circumstances the holding of the usual annual meetings and elections of committees is not justified. Because of stringent petrol restrictions, it would in all probability be impossible to hold a fully representative meeting in most country districts. Furthermore, the over-riding provisions of the Fat Stock Disposal Order. 1941, would mean that the interests of producers would not be materially affected by the continuance of the present committees in office for a further 12 months. Where particular circumstances suggest that an annual meeting and election take place at present, the Minister should be consulted as to whether such an election is justified. —P.A. Butter Box Economy ‘‘The great saving which must have been made to the dairy industry throughout New Zealand by the reconditioning of used butter boxes can be gauged from the report submitted by our manager (Mr J. S. Aitkcn) to a recent meeting of directors,” said Mr P. S. Humm (chairman of directors of the Kaikoura Dairy Company). This season more than 6500 boxes had been reconditioned and a saving based on the cost of replacement was estimated at many hundreds of pounds, the report said. Coolness in a Bar A scene in the bar of an English hotel when a German land-mine fell nearby is described in a letter from Sergeant Observer R. T. Brittenden, formerly of the reporting staff of ‘‘The Press," in a letter to his father, Mr E. S. Brittenden, “I was in a funny little pub with some of the boys, and when this thing went bash I don’t mind telling you that my heart went pit-a-pat, as-'it were,” he writes. “But though there has not been much here, which makes it all the harder, no one got the least excited. Obviously they were not so dumb as not to take any notice a; all, but they all kind of went taut for a second and then began acting, as it were. The barmaid was wiping the bar, poor old woman, and she stopped halfway through a stroke, but only for a second, and kept on. Everyone was very polite and too, too calm —they are a marvellous mob, and just as one hysterical person will start a crowd off, because most of the people did their stuff everyone else followed (.suit.” First Pay Day Since Christmas Yesterday was a welcome day for civil servants who are paid fortnightly. Because of the holidays they were paid on December 22, and not again tilt yesterday, an unusually long break of 24 days. Though the earlier pay day was appreciated for Christmas, many found the wait till the next payment a long one. Enthusiasm Retained Members of the original Christchurch battalion of the National Military Reserve who have had to remain in civil life, mainly because of successful appeals by employers, have not lost their enthusiasm. A number have been drilling in the evenings in their own time at the battalion’s camp, although no. organised scheme of training has yet been arranged for them. Preventing Roof Fires “Anything that you have stored in your rafters that might help to feed a fire started by a fire bomb, should be removed,” said Mr W. Machin, when giving a public address on the organisation of the Emergency Precautions Services last evening. He emphasised that householders should attend to such accumulations of old or new goods. For instance, he said, Christmas decorations or old trunks might be stored in the rafters. They would make an excellent seat for a fire which the normal fire-fighting appliances could not handle. To remove such material was an easy task any householder. Salmon in Rangitata The quinnat salmon run in the Rangitata river continues. Four more quinnat were caught last Tuesday, one bv Jack Watson (331b), two by T. Winter (241b and 201b), and one by L. Trumper (181b). The fish were all in remarkably good condition. It has been noticed that, in seasons when this early run takes place, a really good season follows, providing the rivers keep clear enough for fishing. Shelters for Ministers “If it is considered necessary for members of the Cabinet to have a deep air raid shelter dug for them in Wellington, surely it is necessary for all of us to have deep shelters dug for us,” said a questioner at the meeting held in the Civic Theatre last evening, at which the organisation of the emergency precautions services in Christchurch wasi described. The City Engineer, Mr E, Somers, replying, pointed out that it would be necessary to go down 40 feet to prepare such shelters in Christchurch, and that the objections to such a scheme ought to be obvious to all Christchurch citizens. London had not got completely bombproof shelters, he said, and New Zealand would not have them either. The intention was to provide protectionfrom splinters and blast