General News

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24445, 20 December 1944, Page 4

General News

Notice to Subscribers Subscribers to “The Press” are advised that it will be necessary for those intending to be away from their homes during the Christmas and New Year holidays to notify the office as soon as possible of any alterations they require in the delivery of their newspaper. Instructions about deliveries will not be received during the holiday period, when the main office of “The Press” will be closed. The attention of advertiser® and subscribers is drawn to the advertisement in to-day’s issue. Rain in Christchurch Rain began to fall in Christchurch last evening, later becoming heavier. Up to midnight, seven points had been recorded at “The Press” Office. Yesterday was fine and sunny in the city, but in the late afternoon, the sky became overcast, and the temperature dropped. Showers of rain started shortly before 8.30 o’clock. Early this morning it was still raining. Wool Blindness of Sheep That the tendency for Southdown sheep to be bred towards wool blindness was causing farmers concern was an opinion expressed, by several members at a general meeting of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association yesterday. It was decided to write to the Southdown Sheep Society stating that the association was considering asking judges to pass over animals in the Southdown section showing a tendency towards , wool blindness. The contention of members was that clear-faced sheep were more suitable for fattening and the more wool blind they became the less useful they were for that purpose. Cranes to Lift Derailed Engine The engine of the ChristchurchWest Coast goods train which was de; railed near Kaimata on Saturday morning will be lifted back on to the Midland line early this morning with the aid of two 40-ton cranes which have arrived from Christchurch and Dunedin. Because of this an adjustment of time-tables has been necessary and the Christchurch-Grey-mouth rail-car will run only as far as Moana, going on to Greymouth later in the morning. Passengers, luggage, and newspapers will be taken to Greymouth by buses. The Hokitika service will be carried on with an emergency car from Greymouth. It is hoped to have the line clear for the passage of the Greymouth-Christchurch express at its normal scheduled time. Early Peaches Early peaches, the first of the season, were on sale in Christchurch yesterday, the retail price bping 4s a pound. Only a small consignment of about 401b was sent to the markets from tb? Halswell district. One box of apricot.:, the first of the season, was also offered for sate yesterday, and brought Is 6d to Is 7d a pound. The fruit, which came from the Horotane Valley, was still fairly green. More hothouse grapes are coming', on the market as several growers are starting to pick them, but the prices are still high. Larger supplies of raspberries are being sent in to the markets, mostly from Bowenvale and Halswell, and Riccarton growers are now starting to pick their fruit! The first of the early plums are also on sale in the fruit shops. Loss of Launfeh Hope Dissatisfaction with the decision of the Minister of Marine to hold no inquiry into the loss of the fishing launch Hope off Lake Ellesmere On June 0 was expressed at a meeting of the Port Chalmers Borough Council. It was resolved to ask,him to reconsider his decision or publish the full result of the departmental investigation. It was alleged by Mr G. Cassie that within 24 hours of the launch being reported missing a tanker passed Otago Heads, but the department concerned refused to allow a radio signal to be sent to her. offering instead a visual signal, which the weather and the distance of the vessel precluded being made. The captain of this vessel hrd expressed the opinion that’ he had an 80 per cent, chance of rescuing the crew.—(P.A.) • Cherries for Christmas Because of the lateness of the season, the large varieties of cherry which are usually on sale in Christchurch in the week before Christmas Day are not expected to arrive on- the market until towards the end of next week. Fruit from the orchards at Heathcote and in the Horotane Valley, and also in Central Otago, will all miss the Christmas market. British Medical Discovery A new cleansing agent, invented by the medical officer of a British aircraft factory, has reduced the Incidence of industrial dermatitis, or skin disease, to the extremely low figure of 0.25 per cent. Industrial dermatitis is one of the great problems in all factories .where workers are handling certain types of material. It Was particularly grave in 1 Britain when, with the huge, sudden expansion of output, millions of inexperienced workers had- to be brought into the factories. Dr. Howard Mummery, medical officer of the Blackburn aircraft works in the north of England, made special investigations, and as a result , evolved a cleansing emulsion which has proved a complete protection to workers’ skins. The cleanser has been made available to all departments concerned, and every, worker coming off duty has simply to wet his hands with water and rub a quantity of the cleanser into both hands and forearms. It is then rinsed off in cold water, taking all dirt and oil with it and leaving the skin comnletely clean and supple even after long exposure to harmful agents, As long as this simple process is carried out carefully, industrial dermatitis cannot occur. The Blackburn Aircraft Company, although uninterested in the . sale of the cleanser, have made it available to other firms. National War Savings Last week 212 towns attained their quotas of national war savings. Sixteen of the principal centres were successful, and in each of the 18 postal districts the full district quota was reached. At Tapanui, in the Dunedin district, the investments last week were four times the annual quota for that area.—(P.S.S.) 1 , Pea-picking Championship The New Zealand pea-picking championship, with a first prize of £25, organised by the Waimea Vegetable Growers’ Association, was won by Miss Valma Patterson, aged 20, who picked 433J1b in 6? hours’ working time. Her tally was 27 kerosene tin buckets, which was a comparatively poor figure on account of the below-average crop on the field where the competition was held. Her best tally this season is 36 buckets, equivalent to about 75 pecks. The champion’s elder twin sisters. Misses Joan and Ladell Patterson, took second and third prizes, £lO and £5, with 4281b and 4231b respectively. The competitors, all from Nelson, numbered 20.—( P.A.) Deaths From Earthquakes During the period 1848-1942 the number of deaths recorded in New Zealand due directly or Indirectly to earthquakes was 284, and of these 255 were caused by the Hawke’s Bay earthquake of February 3. 1931. This information is amongst the mass of statistical material in the 1944 edition of the New Zealand Official Year-Book, which is compiled by the Census and Statistics Department. This year the progressive cutting down of material, which has been a feature of recent issues, has been discontinued, and the 1944 edition includes again the Section on the consumption of commodities, the results of the general election and licensing poll of 1943, and new items of interest, Borstal _ Institution “A lot of parents have the impression that Borstal is not a good influence, but rather a forcing-house of crime,” said Mr J. K. Moloney in the Supreme Court yesterday. He made the remark when, during a plea for the Court’s leniency towards a young man appearing for sentence on a charge of having broken and entered premises, he mentioned that the accused’s mother had expressed a wish that her son should hot be sent to a Borstal institution. He suggested that the accused might be sent to a treeplanting farm. Special Oil Fuel Ration - Owners of motor-boats and launches in Canterbury are now being allowed a special licence of oil fuel to cover the holiday season. Special licences are being ’ issued on application entitling owners to a 50 per cent, increase in December and January. These remain operative to the end of January.