General News

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24815, 4 March 1946, Page 4

General News

Heavy Rain in Hastings The first rain in any appreciable quantity for 38 days fell in showers in Hastings in the early hours of yesterday morning and set in solidly in the afternoon. Rain fell in most parts of the province during the eary morning, the fall in some places being as much as an inch. In Hastings only a quarter of an inch of rain was recorded early in the morning, but in the middle .of the afternoon thunder was the forerunner to a torrential downpour which after about an. hour developed into a steady downpour and continued into the evening. Before the week-end the rainfall recorded in Hastings for the last four months was i.l6in. —(P.A.)

Farmers’ Working Week Explaining how the 40-hour week could .be applied, to the farming community in an address at Horsham Downs the Labour candidate for the Raglan seat, Mr C. A. Baxter, said that farmers would spend three hours in the morning milking and dispatching the cream to the factories and washing up. A similar period would be required at night. For a week, this would occupy 42 hours, but the farmers should take a fortnight’s holiday each year, and then their weekly hours over the year would amount to 40. Harvesting, shearing, and other necessary farm work should be performed by contractors. Mr Baxter admitted that he was an idealist and that the scheme would take a lot of working out.

Carrier at Auckland The light British aircraft-carrier Glory arrived from Sydney on Saturday morning to embark No. 14 R.N.Z.A.F. Squadron for Japan. The ship was commissioned in February last year and was never in action. Her chief claim to fame is that the surrender of the Japanese forces in Rabaul took place on her flight deck. Mineral Survey of Soil A suggestion that the Department of Agriculture be provided with facilities so that they can carry out test's to show mineral deficiencies in soils will he made by the Geraldine branch of Federated Farmers in a remit. The subject was raised by Mr G. Johnston, whp referred to the claims of various salt-lick salesmen and the relative merits of salt-licks. Deficiencies varied, he said, and instanced a North Island case of cobalt deficiency where the department made up a lick and incorporated cobalt in “super” with great results. “Every farmer who buys a prepared lick, without knowing his particular soil deficiency, buys a pig in a poke,” he said. Honour For Philatelic Society The Philatelic Society of New * Zealand has received from the King permission to use the prefix “Royal” in its title. Apart from the London Society it is the only Royal Philatelic Society in the world. It is also the oldest philatelic society in the Southern Hemisphere, having been established in 1888. The patron of the society is the Governor-General (Sir Cyril Newall) and the president is the Hon. Sir R. Heaton Rhodes.—(P.A.) Prices Fixed for Hay and Chaff Maximum growers’ and distributors’ prices of meadow hay, lucerne hay, and chaff have been fixed by an order in the New Zealand Gazette. The maximum price that may be charged or received by growers for meadow hay is £7 a ton, for lucerne hay it is £8 a ton, and for chaff it is £9 a ton, with sacks in. The distributors’ price for meadow hay is £7 10s a ton, for lucerne hay £8 10s a ton, and for chaff £9 10s a ton, with sacks in. The prices are fixed in respect of sales f.o.b. for South Island produce and for f.o.r for North Island produce. Aircraft Still Missing No trace has been found of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Ventura aircraft which disappeared with a crew of four during a routine meteorological flight from Ohakea on Thursday morning. Several sweeps were made during the week-end over the sea and land in the area where the aircraft is missing. The search will be continued to-morrow.—(P.A.) Thanks to the Farmers If the thanks of the United Kingdom were due to any body of men in New Zealand it was due to the farmers and their workers., said Sir Henry French, addressing members of the Meat, Wool, and Dairy Boards and Federated Farmers in Wellington. He was quite sure, he said, that they must have struggled very hard to maintain and increase production. He had gained the impression in his tour of the North Island that the relationship between employer and employed on the farms was extremely good—everywhere it was most cordial.

Sunspots Visible The great sunspot of February, 1946, has now returned to the sun’s visible disc, according to Mr G. V. Hudson, of Karori, and is well clear of the eastern limb. It is apparently reduced in size, but will not be well placed for actual measurement for a day or so. Several other much smaller groups of sunspots are also in evidence.—(P.A.)

Cigarette Quota for Patients An allocation of 18,000 cigarettes a month, for distribution among returned men in hospitals and institutions, has been made to the Auckland Returned Services’ Association, according to a letter received by the association from the Department of Industries and Commerce. This is the full amount for which application was made. The president of the association, Mr A. P. Postlewaite. said the quota of 450 packets a week was sufficient, as some gift cigarettes were received from members and other sources. The association would pay wholesale prices for the cigarettes out of Poppy Day and Rose Day funds, and would distribute them free. The new supplies would not come to hand until this week, but in the meantime, as the result of donations of 400 packets from members, an allowance would be made to patients in mental hospitals. Returned men of both wars would share in the distribution. Loading of Buses A decision that drivers shall adhere strictly to the Transport Regulations affecting loading was made at a recent meeting of the Wellington Road Motor Services branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. The resolution affects the Titahi Bay, Ngaio, and Khandallah routes, and brings bus drivers on these services into line with the Eastbourne Borough Council and- the Lower Hutt bus drivers. It was stated that the loads taken by the buses in the last few years have continually been much in excess of those allowed by the regulations.

Auckland Hospital Staffs The number of resignations of persons who were directed to work at institutions controlled by the Auckland Hospital Board has so far shown no substantial increase as a result of the lifting of the manpower restrictions on Thursday. Some resignations of nurse aids and others, to ’take effect after the removal of the restrictions, have been received by the board since the beginning of the year, but the number, in relation to total directed personnel employed, has not been large. There was no indication on Saturday that any rush of resignations was likely to occur. Cost of Hutt Hospital A report to the Wellington Hospital Board last week stated that the cost of the Hutt Hospital to date was £701,749. The main items of expenditure were:—Nurses’ home, £86,024 4s 3d; main block, £309,647 16s; nurses’ home extensions, £74,016; emergency blocks Nos. 1 and 2, £66,238; boilerhouse and mechanical. £25,614; block F, £81,485; mortuary, £5452; male staff quarters, £26,575; female staff quarters, £18,401; access roads, £7923; workshop, £372.