General News

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23973, 14 June 1943, Page 4

General News

Game Season in Otago Since the close of the water fowl season, pheasants, quail, and chukor have provided good sport in Otago, and the secretary of the Otago Acclimatisation Society (Mr L. Millar) said that the supplies of ammunition which were made available by the Department of Internal Affairs had now been fully issued. Reports which have been received from sportsmen indicate that quail and chukor particularly have been plentiful, and good bags have been obtained. Chukor have been seen this season as far afield as Roxburgh, but the most favoured spots have been in the Alexandra and Cromwell districts. The season for pheasants will close on June 30, and that for quail and chukor on July 31. Danish Navy Formed The creation of a Danish naval force has been announced by Vice-Admiral King, principal liaison officer to the Allied navies, London, according to information received by the president of the Danish Association in New Zealand, Mr C. Langkilde, of St. Heliers, Auckland, from the Danish Consul in London. Hitherto the Danish Navy has been providing a number of small craft for harbour duties, but has had no combatant craft. The Danish manning of a naval force realises a long-cherished wish of free Danish seafarers and fishermen, who wish to take an active part in the fight against Germany. * The Danish force will comprise small units, such as minesweepers, with Danish officers and men. Excursion to Timaru Two excursion trains, carrying 128 and 185 passengers respectively, were run from Christchurch to Timaru yesterday. A special train from Timaru to Christchurch carried 286 persons. Unusual Procedure When Mr Justice Callan recently decided himself to call a witness_ in a will case, the procedure was without parallel in the experience of a number of the counsel engaged. This action was taken because it so happened that none of the seven counsel was willing to call as his witness a man who had been freely mentioned in the evidence and who had been closely associated with the testator. “I am determined. It is my duty to have a look at Mr Bradley,” said his Honour. This witness was called and examined by the Judge. The general legal principle is that a Judge may call a witness with the consent of all parties or in the absence of objection. High Prices Asked of Soldiers Complaints that some returned soldiers in Southland had been asked to pay excessive prices for farms were made at the meeting of the Southland Council of Primary Production on Friday. The meeting decided to bring the cases before, the notice of the appropriate authorities. The matter was raised through a letter from the Browns district committee, which urged that all land purchases for returned soldiers be sent to district committees before being completed. It was alleged that in a recent land purchase in the district the seller had secured a profit of £2 an acre, without gny improvements to show on his buying price of some years earlier. Stock purchases for returned men should also be scrutinised by the district committee. Eggs in the Services In view of the disappearing egg supplies available for civilian consumption in Auckland, the reaction of two young members of the forces, a girl and a young man, when eggs for .breakfast were suggested to them as a treat while on leave, is interesting (says the “New Zealand Herald”). Both emphaticaly rejected the proposed menu, declaring that ‘‘they were sick of the sight of them." The girl said that, in an attempt to make the best use of the eggs that appeared regularly on the bill of fare in camp, the cooks presented them in a dozen different ways, but her company had had a surfeit of them. The boy declared the invariable question of the mess orderlies was, "How many?" Cruelty to Fowls

"Fifty-one fowls were packed in a crate sft by 3ft and 18in high to travel to Hastings, a journey that would take at least 28 hours,” said Mr K. C. Aekins, appearing in Auckland for the Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals, when Percy William George Davidson denied a charge of ill-treating fowls. Defendant said he had had 30 years’ experience, and he would be foolish to send his birds packed in the way alleged. A fine of £3 was imposed by Mr F. H. Levien, S.M. A charge of causing unnecessary suffering by overcrowding 17 roosters in each of the two compartments of a case for carriage from the city markets to Mount Albert was admitted by P. Nola. A fine of £1 10s was imposed. "Better Off in Army” A claim that some men received more pay in the Army than they did when manpowered out to freezing works was made by a witness in a case heard by the Industrial Manpower Committee at a sitting in Invercargill. The witness said he admitted that single men were not better off, but in many cases married men with two or more children received higher pay in the Army, when allowances for their wives and children were taken into consideration, than they did in the freezing works. Women had told him that they were bettor off financially with their husbands in the Army. He knew of men who had gone to the freezing works expecting to earn £lO to £l2 a week, and had been greatly disappointed. Goods from Overseas "This is a radical change in the method of war-time procurement from the United States.” said the secretary of the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association (Mr F. L. Hitchens), commenting on the drawing up of a forward programme of New Zealand's import requirements from the United States, which was the subject of a statement this week by the Minister of Supply (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan). It has been impressed on the New Zealand Government, Mr Hitchens said, that the information required for forward programmes must be available in Washington at a very early date; otherwise the flow of essential goods and materials to the Dominion would be gravely impaired. The urgent need for the information was explained by the fact that goods which were probably already available for export release were likely to be withheld in the third and fourth quarters of this year. Drab New Bicycles “They are truly a war-time prdduct, and when assembled will look like second-hand machines done up,” stated a cycle dealer at Hastings when commenting upon the latest consignment of bicycles that arrived last week. The new machines will not only be dearer than the last consignment, but will not have anything like the same attractive appearance. The machines are painted black, even the handlebars being in enamel of that colour. “The only bright feature will be the spokes of the wheels,” commented the dealer. In spite of the increase in price, many economies had been effected in the manufacture of some of the parts. For example, the pads on the pedals are no longer made of rubber, but of wood painted black. Maoris the Original Farmers “Farming in New Zealand did not start with the advent of the English. - ’ said Mr Clive Wood, at a Dunedin Rotary Club luncheon recently. “The Maori was a farmer in the true sense of the word The kumera. grown under definite methods of cultivation, was his main staff of life. It was really a tropical plant, and it was only by close study of its habits that it was successfully grown in New Zealand. To succeed it was necessary to give close attention to soils and situation, and to working, draining, and fallowing the ground, and due religious ritual was observed. Possibly the moon had something to do with their success. and so perhaps it is not so strange that even to-day some farmers will only sow their seeds with a new moon. Subsequently the missionaries introduced th~ potato, then wheat, and later sheep and cattle. It is suggested that as a result of the interest taken by the Maori in his farming pursuits in those early days he became happy and contented.”