General News

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24028, 17 August 1943, Page 4

General News

♦ 7s a Pint for Whitebait Whitebait in small quantities has been netted by fishermen in the Buffer and Orowaiti rivers during the last few days, and the price is 7s a pint. Timber Consignments Consignments of West Coast timber to East Coast destinations, which were formerly conveyed by coastal shipping, continue to be heavy on the railways, far exceeding in quantity any of recent periods. The result is reflected in the tonnages of goods railed from the West Coast during the week ended on Saturday, when the total was 17,376 tons compared with 15,633 tons in the corresponding period of 1942, and 14,358 tons in the corresponding week of 1941. Standard Cornsack Proposals for the introduction of a standard size cornsack throughout New Zealand will be discussed at a meeting to be held in the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce on August 24. Some months ago a general committee representing farmers and other interests concerned appointed a sub-com-mittee to investigate the size of cornsacks, and this sub-committee will submit its report on the experiments carried out and the conclusions arrived at. Representatives of all organisations interested in the use or transport of sacks, and those who may be affected by any change in the size of cornsacks, have been invited to attend the meeting. Case of Infantile Paralysis A case of infantile paralysis, the first for several weeks, was reported to the Christchurch office of the Health Department last week. The patient is an adult living at Timaru. Other notifications of infectious diseases in Canterbury last week were three cases of tuberculosis, one of septic abortion, and one of eclampsia. There was one case of tuberculosis on the West Coast. In neither area was there a death from infectious disease. Display of Orchids A tribute to “a really beautiful display of orchids” was paid at yesterday’s meeting of the Christchurch Domains Board by Mr O. D. Fraser. He asked if the public could be given an opportunity to enjoy the sight and was assured that, as usual, a display would be arranged for this purpose, probably in the Townend House. Issue of Hosiery Cards Since August 2, when the new system of hosiery rationing came into force, 6835 of the special cards which replace the coupons have been issued at the rationing counter of the Chief Post Office. Fifty thousand cards have been allotted to Christchurch, and it is expected that 40,000 will be issued. So far there has been no rush by women to obtain the cards, but it is expected that there will be a greater demand towards the end of the month when social security payments are made. Applicants for the hosiery cards must produce their social security book as well as their current ration book, and the X sheet torn from the old ration book. Nylon Stockings The origin of the nylon stockings which are shortly to be made available in Australia is a matter of speculation among Auckland traders, says the “New Zealand Herald.” Nylon is a recent product. It has not been long on the American market and since the United States entered the war its export has been prohibited and the whole output diverted to the making of parachutes. Consequently, the shipment which has arrived in Australia in the form of “diverted cargo’’ is not new stock. It is not thought that any part of this shipment will be made available in New Zealand. Power Scheme for Bay of Islands A deputation from the Bay of Islands Electric Power Board waited on the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) at Russell yesterday to discuss the proposed scheme for generating electricity by the waters of Lake Omapere. The board’s engineer said the scheme was simple, requiring no tunnelling, but a fairly long pipe ,:ine and three-quarters of a mile of open race. The scheme was more akin to Waikaremoana than Arapuni. “Right now the scheme looks good to me,” said Mr Fraser, who undertook to raise the question with the Minister concerned. It was pointed out that a local hydro-electric scheme would help to solve the national power problem.— (P.A.) . N.Z.-Made Meat Skewers Meat skewers, which were imported from Canada, Australia, and Japan before the war, are now being made in New Zealand from New Zealand woods. Butchers in Christchurch, who had to conserve their stocks of skewers when imports were restricted early in the war, will not have to continue to economise by the use of New Zealand made linen flax twine for tying their meat. The average butchery firm uses in the vicinity of 100,000 skewers annually, and before the war huge quantities were imported into the Dominion. The majority came from Canada, and were made from hickory and maple wood, which are without taint. Australian hardwood skewers were also imported, and for a time bamboo skewers from Japan were in use. Most butchers in Christchurch held substantial stocks of skewers when imports were restricted, and although supplies were very short at one time, they were able to carry on by economy in their use, and by supplementing skewers with the linen flax twine., Now two firms in Christchurch are making skewers of birch and red pine, and another firm in Auckland is using a native wood called tawa. Overcrowding of Stock The overcrowdin'* of stock, particularly of calves being dispatched by trucks from the Addington saleyards, was reported by Inspector D. T. White to the council of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at its recent meeting. Members of the council decided to issue cautions to first offenders, but to treat a repetition of this as a serious offence. 62-Year-Old Address An illuminated address presented to Mr Robert Allan, first president of the Industrial Association of Christchurch 62 years ago, has now come into the possession of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association. The address, which was discovered in the office of a firm of Christchurch accountants, has an elaborate frame and is signed by a number of well-known manufacturers of the day. Many of the firms represented are still in business in Christchurch. IVEJV FICTION FASCISM IS LIKE THIS The Seed Beneath' the Snow. By Ignazio Silone. Cape. 384 pp. Through Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd. Silone, one the most distinguished modern Italian writers, has long been at war with the Fascism to which his country surrendered. Part of his problem as a writer, in the front and at the rear of his consciousness, is that he has to settle the conflict between his patriotism, in the deepest sense, and his alienation, physical and spiritual, from his own land and people. No such resolution is ever perfect, except in brilliant intuitive flashes. This novel, which reaches many of them, is as a whole the fullest imaginative exposure or what Fascism really is and does. A comparatively trifling episode is expanded and ramified untifi in character, scene, social view, and climax, this exposure is complete and damning. RUSSIAN STORIES Soviet Anthology. Selected and edited by John Rodker. Cape. 231 pp. Through Simpson and Williams Ltd. Four of the 23 stories in this collection are by Zoschenko, whose simple, astute satires have already reached English readers in a selection printed a year or two ago. These are in the same vein. Other names which will be recognised and welcomed are Gorki. Pavlenko, and Kataev. Nearly all the stories, and very readable they are, point a (political or social) moral, and often a nice, mild moral, too. The fire and fury of revolution are not here. There was more of them in the anthology of Soviet poetry (Allen and Unwin) last year.