General News

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23588, 16 March 1942, Page 4

General News

Run Over by Vichy Truck One New Zealand soldier who returned to the Dominion recently with a party of sick and wounded men was discharged unfit from the Australian Imperial Forces after the fighting in Syria. He was injured when he was run over by a Vichy truck. He said that five men had been deliberately run over previously, and Australian soldiers had permission to shoot any more drivers who attempted it. —P.A. Annual Show Abandoned The Hawarden Agricultural and Pastoral Association decided at a meeting recently to abandon its a P nu ®l show for this year because of the difficult times and the need to conserve petrol. Impressment of Pie-carts In an emergency all the pie-carts in the city will be impressed for serving food to workers and those who have lost their homes, said Mr W. Machin. EPS. organiser, at a meeting of E.u.ti. controllers and wardens on Saturday evening. No other official steps had been taken to organise a canteen system. as it was felt that it would be better for people to be given cups of tea and meals in other people’s homes. Unnecessary dislocation might be caused by over-organising thri form of service. The organisation of canteens in houses by women in particular localities would, however, always be welcomed. There was already in existence a “housewife service” for the repair of mental damage. Women of steadier nerves had undertaken to take hysterical and distressed people into' their homes and look after them. Post-War Co-operation “The present co-operation of four such different nations as Britain, Russia, America, and China is a wonderful thing,” said Mr A. W. Beaven on Saturday morning, replying to a presentation on the occasion of his golden wedding. If the tasks of post-war reconstruction were to be effectively carried out, he continued, the various classes within the nations would need to co-operate in the same way. Even in this field it was necessary to do more than maintain cordial relations between employers and employees. A particularly difficult task would be the securing of real co-operation between producers and customers or consumers. Needles from Japan While shopping in Dunedin recently a woman purchased a hussif for her soldier son. At another shop she bought a number of small articles to include in the hussif, among them being a packet of needles, neatly wrapped and bearing on the outside the inscription: “For the Army. Navy, and Air Force.” When she reached home her annoyance can be better imagined than described on finding inside the packet a second intimation—“ Made in Japan.” Boys as E.P.S. Runners The employment of boy runners in E.P.S. work was discussed at a meeting of wardens and controllers on Saturday evening. The organising of this service had first been placed in the hands of the postal authorities, but they had been overwhelmed with other duties, and the work had been handed on to the district wardens. Sir Joseph Ward said. Many districts were alreadv well staffed with runners, but in some they had been less easy to obtain, and there was now, a central committee under Sir Joseph Ward_ to assist the less fortunate districts, and also to draw upon runners to connect different centrally-organised branches of the E.P.S. This committee was compiling a general register of runners, and issuing them with armbands and identity cards, to ensure that they would be able to obtain when necessary the insurance to which they were entitled. Many women in the War Service Auxiliary had also been trained as runners for many months, stated Mrs B. C. Penney. The employment of women in this work might become especially necessary through such developments as the recent decision that boys over 16 were to serve in the Home Guard. Cigarettes in Australia New Zealand visitors to Australia express amazement at the price they have to pay for cigarettes and the difflculty they experience in obtaining them. One man went to three of Sydney’s largest hotels before'he was able to buy half a packet, and it was his general experience that no tobacconist would sell mere than one packet to one person. Types which cost 7d in Auckland for 10 are 8d in Sydney for nine, and others which can bought for 9d for 10 in Auckland cost lid for nine in Australia. In addition, the cigarettes are noticeably smaller than those smoked in New, Zealand, being at least a quarter of an inch shprter. 15 Wickets for 11 Runs Fifteen wickets for 11 runs in two innings was achieved by J. R. Lamason, a former Wellington Plunket Shield player and New Zealand representative, in a match between Wellington College Old Boys and Wellington in the second division of the senior competition of the Wellington Cricket Association on Saturday. Bowling for the Old Boys’ team, Lamason took eight wickets for three runs in Wellington’s first innings and seven wickets for eight runs in the second. Wellington College Old Boys, who scored 148 runs in the first innings, beat Wellington, who made 16 runs in the first innings and 32 m the second. Citizens Eager for E.P.S. Duties The work of the E.P.S. was difficult and there were still many shortcomings in the system, said the Mayor (Mr E. H. Andrews) at a meeting of district wardens and controllers on Saturday evening Many complaints had come in, and it was particularly common to hear from people who had enrolled and complained that they had not yet been posted to any duty. It should be remembered, he said, that there were some 14.000 enrolments and it would take time to answer them all. Plans for the Salvation Army Commissioner J. Evan Smith, the loader in New Zealand of the Salvation Army, was in Christchurch during the week-end to conduct the annual Congress gatherings of the Salvation Army After the Commissioner had met on Saturday the officers and leading members of the Christchurch division plans were made for the luture developments of the Army. In April and May, it was decided, a special campaign will be held in an effort to increase the religious life of the community. The effort will be given prominence by the use of the letter R. which will stand for “the restoration, reconciliation, and reconsecration of the individual members of the churchgoing community.”- The Commissioner outlined his plans for appealing to the non-churchgoer. Message from Russia A telegram from a dispatch centre in the Soviet Union dated March 3 was received at Waipawa last week the sender, Squadron Leader R. H. Mason, sending birthday greetings to his mother. Mrs H. C. Mason. The message was only three days late Squadron Leader Heath Mason, who speaks four languages, including Russian has been on a special mission, having left the northern extremity of Scotland at the end of October last to travel on the Gulf Stream route to a famous Russian port. He was not among the personnel of Ihe air force wing which recently returned to England after completion of its task In Russia. Catering For Japanese Rice with the husk still on, instead of the polished rice preferred by Western palates, is the main item on the diet of many Japanese internees in Australia. The Minister for the Army, Mr F. M. Forde, said that the question of providing a diet to suit Japanese —mostly internees from Allied countries in the Pacific —had been closely studied by an Army expert. It was interesting, he said, that most of the nutritive properties of rice were contained in the husk. That explained the significance of the saying that “Japanese can live on a handful of rice.” Dried fish, dried fruits, root vegetables, and soya bean were other items in the diet being supplied to Japanese internees, said Mr Forde. In Japan surprisingly little milk was used.