General News

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23545, 24 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;—Hurunui, not flshable; Rakaia, Waimakariri. Ashley, and Selwyn, clear and flshable. Hotel as Internment Camp The exclusive Peninsula Hotel at Kowloon, which has 800 bedrooms, two ballrooms, and the largest lounge bar in the world, has become a temporary internment camp for 1500 British and American citizens in Hong Kong, states the “Sydney Sun.” The article adds that Italians, Germans and Japanese, formerly interned at La Salle College, have been released, and their former captors interned instead. It is believed that the Japanese intend to remove all internees to Formosa soon. The internees at present are permitted to buy their own food, and in many cases Chinese servants have voluntarily entered the internment camps to continue working for their old masters. "Business as Usual” An interesting business cablegram sent from Singapore on Thursday and received by a Wellington firm yesterday, reads: “Send orders for execution if tonnage available.” It refers to pineapples.—P.A. Methodists and War The quarterly meeting of the Thorndon Methodist Circuit resolved: “That this meeting deplores the undue prominence given in the newspapers to tne pacific views of certain members and adherents of the Methodist Church, which, we feel, is suffering unjustly as a result thereof. We affirm our loyalty to the King and the British Commonwealth of Nations, and believe that if our right to worship and freedom to live in peace and harmony with all men is worth anything, it is worth fighting for.”—P.A. Garages at Teachers’ Residences The Education Department is now prepared to give sympathetic consideiation to applications for garages where new school residences are being built if the teacher to occupy a residence oossesses a car. A report to this effect, and adding that it was proposed to finance the scheme by charging a weekly rent for the garages, was read at the meeting of the Canterbury Education Board yesterday. The report was based on a memorandum from the department, which also asked the board to submit a sketch plan and estimate for a typical garage at a teacher’s residence. Opossum Cuts Off Power “A few opossums like that would be handy in a black-out,” said Cr. C. Flavell at the meeting of the Heathcote County Council last evening, when the county electrician reported that all electric supply in Cashmere had recently been cut off because an opossum had short-circuited an 11,000 volt power line. The opossum contacted the line at the end of Rossmore terrace. Cashmere. The effect was to put off all lights, not only m Cashmere, but, because the Addington substation was affected, also in Sumner and Redcliffs. Another interruption of power, in Mount Pleasant, was caused by a rat. “Cashmere would choose a rather superior animal, like an opossum.” said Cr. F. W. Freeman. Women For E.P.S. Vacancies for women in the ordinary units of the Wellington Emergency Precautions Services are now filled, stated the Mayor of Wellington, Mr T. C. A. Hislop. Only those with special qualifications, such as trained nurses, would be allocated to units for some time ahead. Those women who had recently completed enrolment forms would be held in reserve and allocated as vacancies occur.' Where the organisers for the fire-watching services were unable to get sufficient men to make up the required teams suitable women would be accepted for the daylight and early evening shifts, said Mr Hislop. Toys for Infant Rooms The Canterbury Education Board was advised yesterday by the Education Department that the possibility of supplying, for infant rooms, toys and equipment manufactured at manual training centres throughout the Dominion was being investigated, but that at present no definite promise about the date of distribution could be given. One-eyed Soldiers During the hearing of a barrister’s representations on b( .alf of a reservist seeking exemption from military training, members of the Area No. 7 Manpower Committee were informed in Napier recently that appellant was totally blind in one eye and consequently unsuitable for Army service. After this submission had been corroborated by a witness, the chairman (Mr G. A. Maddison) remarked; “In one eye’' So is General Wavell. Wood for Presidential Table A piece of timber from a matai tree split by Mr Edwin Ticehurst in Greytown in the early 1850 s, and adzed and hand-dressed to form the top of a chest of drawers, was presented to the Wellington Early Settlers’ and Historical Association at its annual gathering this week. The timber will be used to make a presidential table for the association. The presentation was made by Mr W. B. Allum. Future of Poppy Day Advice has been received by tlm Dominion Executive of the New Zealand Returned Services’ Association that a suitable notification exempting Poppy Day from the operation of the Patriotic Purposes Emergency Regulations will be Gazetted shortly When it became clear to the Dominion executive that the sale of poppies for the collection of funds for the welfare of former servicemen, including those returned from the present war and their dependants, would contravene these regulations, it was decided to place the position before the authorities. The exemption will also apply to Rose Day, which har been conducted by the Wellington Association for some ycars.—P.A. Letter from Italy Letters from Italy to New Zealand are theoretically an impossibility because of the war, but a Lower Hull resident received one this week which had been smuggled out of Italy and posted in Spain. It told of the safety and health of a relative and friends who were in Italy at the outbreak of the war, and who naturally have had to remain there, but apparently no enmity is shown to the English and the writer states that she has been treated with the greatest kindness. An interesting statement is that nearly everyone is riding a bicycle now. Education Board Representation “I think representation is more equitably spread now over Canterbury and the West Coast than ever before in the history of the board.” sa’d the chairman of the Canterbury Education Beard (Mr G. W. Armitage) yesterday, in welcoming a new member, Mr A. McNeil. Mr Armitage said that Mr McNeil's election by a big majority as member for the north-west ward (West Coast and northern North Canterbury areas) gave representation to an area (northern North Canterbury) not yet represented on the board, thus removing an old-standing grievance of electors there. Conductor Honoured The musical director and conductor of the New Zealand Centennial festivals, Mr Andersen Tyrer, was the guest of honour at a gathering in Parliament House this week. The Minister for Internal Affairs (Mr Parry) presented Mr Tyrer with the two bound volumes of the Centennial pictorial surveys, “Making New Zealand.” The fly-leaf of the first volume contained the following inscription; “To Mr Andersen Tyrer—From the Government of New Zealand, in appreciation of his outstanding services as Musical Director of the National Centennial Musical Festivals, 1940.’ Tribute to Mr Tyrer’s work was paid by Mr Parry, Professor J. Shelley, Mr J. W Heenan, and other speakers. In his reply, Mr Tyrer expressed his thanks for all the assistance he had received, and he added that he had never been so happy in his work as he had been in New Zealand.