General News

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24536, 9 April 1945, Page 4

General News

* ' s j Egg Prices Increased !■ Another increase in the price of eggs will operate in Christchurch as. from to-day. This is the seventh increase since summer prices were fixed on August 21. The retail prices , which will operate until. further {notice, with the previous prices in | parenthesis, are: heavy, 3s IJd j (2s 10id) a dozen; standard, 2s Hid (2s 8Jd); medium, 2s 7d (2s 6d); pullet, 2s 2Jd (Is Hid); large duck, 2s Hid (2s B£d). The price payable at the depots to producers is. 2s 3d plus the Government subsidy of 3d a dozen. v Daring Theft in Auckland A daring theft took place at Morriingside, Auckland, on Saturday evening, when a wooden cash till containing about £3O in notes and silver, was removed from a counter in the dairy of Mr S. M. Gribble, of New North road, while Mr Gribble and his family were in their living quarters at the rear of the shop. The till, which stood at one end of the counter, was stolen in the space of three minutes, during the serving of two customers, arid at a time when people were constantly coming to ana going from, the dairy.— "Nobody Never Woke Me” Reminiscences were a feature of all speeches at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Hornby School on Saturday. One of those with the greatest fund was Miss. C. Menzies. one of the first infant mistresses of the school, and the oldest teacher present. After a tribute had been paid to one of the early pupils (now a well-known resident of the district). Miss Menzies interjected that once she had cause to reprimand this pupil for being late for school. His protest was: “Nobody never woke me.” Greymoutb Bar An abatement of the heavy seas on. the Greymouth harbour bar on Saturday enabled • the Gabriella and the Rata, which had been delayed for several days by rain and bar conditions, to leave port with coal cargoes. ‘ Appeal by Postmen Since the commencement of the war the staff of the Chief Post Office. Christchurch, has collected £25,000 for different . patriotic objects, and last year, with the help of the Red Cross Society and’other organisations, raised £12,000 to provide parcels for prisoners of war. Another appeal by Post Office staffs throughout the whole of the Dominion will be made on Saturday, April 21, when it is hoped to exceed the sum collected last year. The money raised will be handed to the Canterbury Provincial Patriotic Council to be applied for the provision of oarcels of comforts for prisoners of war, the' relief of sick and wounded soldiers, and for the Mayoress's Parcel Fund for the fighting services. The allocation will be on the basis of fourfifths for the first two objects and onefifth for the latter. , Overseas Mails The Acting-Postmaster-General (the Hon. F. Jones) said yesterday that unregistered letters up to one ounce may now be forwarded to the liberated portion of the Netherlands, betters to Finland and Bulgaria may now be registered, to a maximum weight of two ounces.—(P.A.) Veined Docket Takdn .. A locket belonging to Mrs P. H. Ward, the mother of New Zealand's first airman V.C., the late SergeantPilot J, A. Ward, was stolen from her purse during a' recent visit to Wellington, Mrs Ward left the purse in a taxi, and although the driver was handed the purse by a later passenger, it was discovered that all the money, some brooches and a gold locket, containing the photographs of the Victoria Cross, winner and his brother had been removed from it. Mrs Ward, who lives in Wanganui,-'was especially concerned at the loss of the locket, which naturally has a great sentimental value to her. New Zealanders Overseas

The high regard in which New Zealanders were held overseas was referred to by the Acting-Prime Minister (the' Hon. W; Nash) last evening, when he said the Government had undertaken to find some legal workers for positions in Kenya. Mr Nash said that the Governor of Kenya (Sir Philip Mitchell), while Governor of .Fiji, had had New Zealanders associated with him, and he was so pleased with their work that he had appealed to the Gov-, ernment to find him-some men for legal service in Kenya. In spite of the manpower shortage the Government would endeavour to do so.—(P.A.) “Suffering” a Fire “Just what constitutes ‘suffering’ a chimney to be on fire?” asked Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M.. in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court, when dealing with a defendant who had pleaded guilty to such a charge. "Any person who employs a sweep twice a year surely has taken all reasonable precautions against a fire. It appears to me that there must be a definite act of omission before a person can be said' to ‘suffer’ a fire. However, defendant has pleaded guilty, so he will be fined Is without costs.” Unusual Patriotic Donation An unsual donation to the Patriotic Fund has been received by the Mayor of Invercargill, Mr A. Wachner, who is president of the Southland Provincial Patriotic Council. It is a totalisator ticket for a place on Lisheen, which ran a dead-heat for second place with Minority in the Flying Handicap on the second day of the Riverton Racing Club's annual meeting. It is a 10s ticket. A letter accompanying the ticket states:—"Please accept this race ticket and cash it on behalf of the Patriotic Fund. It’s the only dividend I collected on a sad day at Riverton.” Motor Accidents There were 24 road deaths in which motor vehicles were involved during the first quarter of 1045, compared with 24 during the first three months of 1944, according to figures released by the Transport Department, Of those killed this year. 17 were occupants of motor vehicles (20 in 1944), six were pedestrians (10 in 1944). Only one cyclist was killed this year (four last year). In March.there were 10 accidents which resulted in the deaths ol II persons. In March, 1944, there were 14 killed: 15 in March. 1943: but only seven in March. 1942, Seven of the March accidents happened in the North Island (Auckland district three. Wanganui one. Hawke’s Bay one, Hutt Valley two) and three in the South (Lyttelton Dunedin, and Southland). Ship Delayed at Westport The loading of the Raima! with coal for Wellington was delayed at Westport on Friday and Saturday .as the result of a dispute about the time for the calling of labour to trim the cargo. The Kaimai arrived in port on Wednesday and was partly loaded when rain caused a stoppage of work on the wharf, Meetings of the Waterside Workers’ Union were held on Friday afternoon and on Saturday morning. The vessel sailed for Wellington yesterday morning. Appeal Board’s Problem A difficult problem was set the Southland Armed Forces Appeal Board at its sitting in Invercargill recently. It had to decide whether it should recommend the release from the Army of a young category A man so that he could take a job as a trucker at a coal mine, “There is a great necessity for such a man in the Army, but it is also necessary to keep up our coal production,” said Mr D. H. Cockburn, who presided at tne sitting. The board decided to recommend that the man be released from the Amy for an indefinite period. Industrial Efficiency

“At one time Britain led the world in industrial efficiency, but that is no longer true," wrote Mr Seebohm Rowntree in a recent article. "The average worker in the United States produces twice as much N wealth an hour as the British worker—not because he is a better worker, but because he has more machinery to help him. We must spend millions of pounds in equipping our factories with modern plant. The United States spends on research three times as large a proportion of the wealth she produces as we do. and Russia 10 times as much. We must remedy this state of things with the utmost speed."