General News

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23539, 17 January 1942, Page 6

General News

The Fishing Rivers According to advice received yesterday by the secretary of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, the condition of the fishing rivers is as follows:—Rakaia, Waimakariri, and Hurunui, not fishable: Selwyn and Ashley, clear and fishable. Seeds and Beans for Britain In response to an appeal made by the City Council for seeds to be sent to the people of Christchurch, England, the Christchurch Women’s Land Army has contributed 153 packets of seeds, and donations amounting to £2 6s 6d have been used to purchase seeds also. The Land Army will shortly commence work on its “Beans for Britain” campaign. The first gift of beans from persons in Christchurch who planted an extra row for the Land Army has been received from Mrs S. Stokes (Linwood) and the secretary (Miss L. M. Wilkinson) has asked for another 251b of beans by Tuesday of next week. An appeal has also been made for the use of bean cutters, and both beans and cutters may be left at the secretary’s office, 135 Hereford street. The Land Army has obtained the use of a dehydrating oven, and when the main crop of beans is ready for picking the work will be continued iri a room in the Express Company’s building. Gannets at Kalkoura During the week several gannets, which do not visit Kaikoura very often, were seen flying round the bay. One bird was later seen on the footpath near the Courthouse in Killarney road. Although one of the most graceful of birds in the air, the gannet is very clumsy in landing, and this bird had hurt itself in attempting to alight on the roof of the Courthouse and fallen to the footpath. 4001b of Toothpaste Tubes During the last week a total of 4001b of toothpaste tubes was sent by the Canterbury Reclamation of Waste Board from its depot at Moorhouse avenue for use by a city factory. The tubes, said Mr R. T. Alston, a member of the board, yesterday, had produced revenue of £ll 10s. About 300 bedsteads had. he said, had a considerable quantity of essential metal taken from them and the frames had been given to the Home Guard for use in reinforcing construction work. Several hundreds of tons of cast iron had also been shifted from the yard in the last few days, and two large “war relic” guns from Rangiora had been sent to a foundry to be made into munitions. Because of the tremendous response of country people, he said, the organising committee had found it necessary to open a new depot opposite the railway station to cope with the influx of material. Parcels from Red Cross Writing from a prisoners’ camp in Germany to his uncle, Mr W. H. Nicol, of Hokitika, Private lan Nicol, who was wounded and captured in Crete last June, slates: “Prison life is not so bad up here in Germany. We are getting one parcel a week from the Red Cross Society. The parcels contain meat, pudding, milk, tea, cocoa, chocolate, sugar, biscuits, marrriite, butter, jam, cheese —about 16 to 20 articles in each parcel. We also get 50 cigarettes. Not bad, eh? I think that we are better off than in the Army! In a few days I expect to be going out working, which will be much better than doing nothing in the camp. I am quite better now. My wound has healed up wonderfully." Costs Not Enough? An 81-year-old motorist, prosecuted in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday for driving without a licence, gave as explanation that he had applied for a licence, but had been refused because he did not have a doctor’s certificate testifying to his fitness to drive. Defendant told the official that he was prepared to be examined by a doctor, but only on condition the licensing authorities paid for the cost of obtaining the certificate. He was ». t going to pay the cost of both the licence and the certificate. The Magistrate ordered defendant to pay costs only. “Is that all?” the offender asked in a surprised tone “It will cost you £2O next time,” said Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M., with a smile. Heat in Raid Shelters

“The comfort of the occupants of a shelter depends to a certain extent on the degree of the ventilation . . . but to a much more important extent on the rate at which the bodily heat of the occupants is removed,” states the appendix to the standard code for raid shelters. In the course of observations on the Ventilation of shelters and its relation to accommodation, the appendix states: "The heat-absorption capacity of the walls, floor and roof of a shelter is an important factor in the determination of permissible accommodation. The trench shelter ... is good in this respect, provided the floor and lining of the trench shelter be constructed of material which is a good heat conductor, such as metal or dense concrete in direct contact with the earth.”

Small-Bore Rifles

"Upwards of 1000 .22 rifles have been collected in Christchurch alone in one week,” said Colonel R. B. Smythe (Area No. 10 Staff Officer) yesterday afternoon, when referring to the appeal for small-bore rifles. Foodstuffs on Footpaths

On the advice of the health inspector, the Oamaru Borough Council has decided that any permission to expose foodstuffs for sale on the foptpaths be withdrawn, and the practice prohibited. Mr Churchill’s Shoes

When the British Cabinet was photographed in the garden of No. 10 Downing Street recently, the picture revealed Mr Churchill wearing zip-fash-ioned shoes. The shoes were noted by a columnist in the “Daily Telegraph” and this brought a further note from a correspondent who recalled a "stir” on July 16, 1937, when it was recorded by the same columnist that Mr Churchill attended a House of Commons debate on the Spanish civil war wearing zip -fashioned shoes. The correspondent propounded the theory that Mr Churchill, like other people in England, had been led by coupons to go on a rummaging tour of his wardrobe. “Did he,” it is asked, “unearth the famous and possibly forgotten shoes and find them still serviceable?” Good W.W.S.A. Work

“Up to 25 voluntary workers of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary have been engaged continuously during the last week, including Saturday and Sunday, in clerical work in connexion with the purchase of .22 rifles and revolvers,” said Colonel R. B. Smythe (Area Staff Officer) yesterday afternoon. This entailed the compilation of a list, prepared from the police records in the Canterbury district, and the issuing of circulars to 10,000 holders of rifles and revolvers, he said. Credit was due to Miss A. Buckley (honorary secretary of the district committee of the W.W.S.A.) and her helpers for 'their untiring labours. The girls of the transport group of the General Service Corps and the W.W.S.A., about 20 in number, had also been delivering impressed vehicles to the various camps during the week, this involving driving heavy trucks. The girls had been busy for about, a year in drilling and studying for their heavy traffic licences, and this was the first occasion on which they have been called on to show their ability. First-hand Knowledge

Mr Hector Gray, a New Zealander who served in the Royal Air Force, and was later a fire warden in London, will give a talk at the fire bomb demonstration at Lancaster Park tomorrow. Mr Gray will exhibit German incendiary bombs with which he dealt in the streets of London. National Reserve Recruits

New recruits for the National Military Reserve, totalling about 100, reported for mobilisation duty at the King Edward Barracks yesterday morning, with kits on their shoulders, and proceeded to join their units. These men are some of the recruits who enlisted in the recent campaign conducted by Mr H. Kitson, of National Reserve Headquarters.