General News

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23743, 15 September 1942, Page 4

General News

Service Ballot To-day The seventeenth ballot for the armed forces will be gazetted to-day. The full list of Canterbury names will be published in "The Press” to-mor-row, and West Coast. North Otago, and southern Marlborough names will also be published in the editions circulating in those districts. Linpted Expresses Cut Out The Waikato coal strike has caused the cutting down of all North Island railway services from to-morrow. One service cut out altogether is the nightly Limited from Wellington to Auckland and Auckland to Wellington. A South Island traveller with a permit to go to Auckland will now have to spend two days and two nights on the journey from Christchurch instead of the day and night in which he could—if the steamer express connected with the Limited—do the journey up till now. The Limited, leaving Wellington at 7.15 p.m., arrived in Auckland at 9.30 a.m.; but the only train service to Auckland from Wellington from tomorrow onwards will be the ordinary express leaving Wellington at 3 p.m. and arrivin’' at Auckland at 7 a.m., £f journey of 16 hours against the Limited’s time of 14$ hours. Rail-car Service To Timaru Considerable interest was aroused yesterday at Timaru in the inaugural trip of the Timaru-Christchurch railcar service. Several prominent Timaru businessmen were present when the rail-car left the Timaru station at 9.15 o’clock yesterday morning, on its return journey to Christchurch. The railcar, whiqh is being run in place of the Christchurch-Timaru-Christchurch bus service, arrives at Timaru at 5.40 o’clock every morning except Sunday. On *he return journey, it leaves Timaru at 9.15 a.m., arriving at Christchurch at noon. Services’ Potato Rations The ration of potatoes for men in the armed,forces has been increased from thre£ ounces a day for each man to six ounces. Tramways and E.P.S. Trial Members of the tramway staff were congratulated by the board yesterday on the efficiency of their E.P.S. organisation. The works and traffic committee reported that engineering, clerical, and traffic staffs reported for duty during the trial in August, 115 men of the traffic staff who were off duty reporting between 10 and 20 minutes after the alarm had sounded. The turn-out of employees on the whole was most satisfactory. Air Training Corps A week’s recruiting campaign for the Air Training Corps will begin in Christchurch with a parade of the two city squadrons and school units on September 26. The units will parade in Cranmer square, where they will be inspected by a senior officer from Air Headquarters. Then, headed by the Air Force Band, they will march through the city. It will be the first full parade of the Air Training Corps held in Christchurch. The band will visit schools on the following Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as part of the campaign, which, it is hoped, will double the personnel in Christchurch. Sugar and Tea for Bowling Clubs A supply of sugar and tea will be available for bowling clubs for next season if they fill in the necessary forms of application, Mr H. B. Oakey (secretary) reported at last evening’s meeting of the Christchurch Bowling Centre. Mr Oakey said he had interviewed the Food Controller (Mr J. E. Thomas), who said that clubs would receive their tea and sugar rations on the basis of last year’s supplies. Infectious Diseases Nine tuberculosis cases comprised the bulk of the notifications of, infectious diseases received by the Department of Health at Christchurch last week. Cerebro-spinal meningitis showed a further decline, three cases being the lowest for some weeks. Three cases of hydatids and one of scarlet fever were also notified. On the West Coast, where scarlet fever has been prevalent, only one case was notified last week- There was one case of tuberculosis on the West Coast. Traffic Disruption Disruption of tramway traffic during a recent anti-aircraft display in Cathedral square was reported to the Tramway Board by the works and traffic committee yesterday. The committee stated that the guns were placed in a position fouling the Riccarton and Sumner tracks, with the result that those trams had to be put on different routes. The interference lasted from approximately 2,15 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. The authorities concerned had been approached so that a repetition of the interference could be avoided. Sumner Water Supply Another test of the water at Sumner was reported after analysis to be free from abnormal impurities. The Estuary pipe lines, broken in the recent earthquake, have now been repaired. Groundsftian’s Wife Assists The assistance given to him by his wife has enabled the groundsman at Wilding Park (Mr J. R. Manhire) to overcome some of the acute difficulties caused by lack of staff, said Mr J. Mercer at the meeting of the competitions committee of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association last evening. “I have never seen the park looking better, and I could not understand how Mr Manhire managed to keep it in such fine order on his own,” said Mr Mercer. The groundsman, he continued, had told him that his wife had been able to work the big motormower, which released him for many valuable hours for the heavier work on the park. Mr Mercer added that lawn tennis players owed a debt of gratitude to Mr Manhire for his fine work at Wilding Park and to Mrs Manhire for her assistance in that work. Walpiata Sanatorium The possibility of having to reduce the number of patients receiving treatment at Waipiata Sanatorium because of the shortage of staff, was mentioned by Mr W. Bryant (chairman) at a meeting of the Ashburton Hospital Board yesterday. He said that of 37 members of the nursing and domestic staff, there were 13 vacancies with five pending. Four girls had been sent to the sanatorium by the Manpower Officer since June. Praise for Maori Warriors Under the heading "Screaming New Zealand Natives Terrorise Retreating Axis Army,” .the “San Francisco Chronicle” says:—“ Cairo, July 6. — The British Army of the Nile retained the initiative firmly to-day after fierce Maori troops from New Zealand had driven the Germans further back in El Alamein cauldron with a terrific bayonet charge. The Maoris—descendants of warlike Polynesians from down under —attacked with blood-curdling screams at the end of a full ■ day of stiff fighting on Sunday in seemingly impossible weather conditions. Their steel bayonets flashing in the moonlight were reported to have struck terror in the German and Italian ranks in wresting a strong point from the enemy. . . . Armed only with bayonets and hand-grenades, these dark-skinned island troops have even begged their officers for the privilege of attacking, and the bewildered shouts from the entrenched Axis forces have justified their plea. The New Zealanders, freshly thrown into the battle, which threatened all Egypt and the Middle East, were said to be inflicting terrible casualties. They first entered the battle near Matruh a week ago. when by delaying a greatly superior surrounding force, they gave the main British Army time to dig into the positions it is holding so staunchly.” Pumps for New Reservoir A report to the Sumner Borough Council stated that difficulty was being experienced in getting suitable pumps for the new reservoir at Scarborough. It was estimated that some months would be required to Import the necessary machinery. Because of the serious increase in the consumption of water, amounting to about 1,500,000 gallons extra a month, the matter is receiving urgent consideration.