General News

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25677, 14 December 1948, Page 4

General News

Notice to Subscriber* 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 Press” office as soon as possible of any alterations they require in the delivery Of their newspaper. Instructions about deliveries will not be received by telephone during the holiday period, when the main office of “The Press” will be closed. • Russian Wool Expert in Christchurch. Mr S. Tscherbakov, a Russian expert on wool, arrived in Christchurch yesterday afternoon by aeroplane from Wellington. He is staying- at an hotel until Thursday. When he arrived in Auckland by air from Sydney on Friday. Mr Tscherbakov refused newspaper interviews. He was then described as the first Russian woolbuyer to visit New Zealand, but a statement later issued by Mr P. K. Ermoshin, who is in charge of the Soviet Legation in Wellington, said he would be an assistant to the Soviet Commercial Attache (Mr W. P. Ourenev), and that he “knew about wool.” Mr Tscherbakov cannot speak English. He was accompanied by another man to his Christchurch hotel. When he was asked by the reception clerk where he came from, Mr Tscherbakov threw up his hands to indicate that he could not understand the question. His visit coincides with the first Christchurch wool sale of the season. Truck Wrecks Shop

When a 10-ton truck loaded with vegetables from Pukekohe for the Auckland city market swerved to avoid a car in Broadway, Newmarket, at 6.15 yesterday morning, several shop showcases were sntashed, and L. W. Tetley’s jeweller’s shop was wrecked. The driver swung the truck between a post and the shops. The truck was only lightly damaged.— (P.A.) New Zealanders’ Teeth “I am going to trail my coat tails a little in public and wonder why it is that more money cannot be spent in research to find why New Zealand teeth are so bad, and why the American soldiers described our country as the land of the people with the crockery teeth,” said the headmaster (Mr R. J. Richards) at the annual prizegiving ceremony of Christ’s College last evening. "It is all very well to go on exhorting us to more dental hygiene and less sweets. I have seen a good deal of both New Zealand and English boys, and New Zealand boys are not noticeably less careful of their teeth, nor are English boys, less keen on sweets. If seems rather to me to be due’ to some nutritional deficiency in our soil, and that we should make greater efforts to find out what the deficiency is.” Hydraulic Pit Props

A 42-year-old New Zealand test pilot, Mr Martin Fountain-Barber, conceived the idea of adapting the hydraulic undercarriage system of aeroplanes to coal mine pit props. The idea was adopted, and 594 hydraulic ifrops fitted as an experiment at the Williamsthorpe colliery, Derbyshire, proved so successful that they have been installed in other mines in the Chesterfield area. The new prop can be more easily fitted than the ordinary steel and wood prop and can support upwards of 50 tons. The hydraulic prop “gives” to increasing roof pressure, whereas the normal prop buckles. It is therefore also safer.— London, December 13. Police Called by Radio A false alarm of fire was given at Timaru on Sunday evening. The brigade arrived in quick time, and a bystander identified the culprit. Brigade Superintendent F. W. McCann communicated with the fire station through the two-way radio equipment installed on the fire engine. The tire station got in touch with the police, and a constable was despatched to arrest the culprit, who in the meantime was held by the firemen. Yesterday, in the Timapu Magistrate’s Court, the offender was fined £5 for giving a false alarm, and 10s, or in default 24 hours’ imprisonment with hard labour, for being drunk. The action of the person who informed the brigade of the identity of the culprit was praised by the Magistrate (Mr E. A. Lee, S.M.) and Sergeant C. J. R. Bisset who prosecuted. Superintendent Mccann said he would do his best to see that the assistance was recognised Rarely was it possible to detect such offenders, he said, and only then with the co-operation cf the public. Fog Interrupts Air Schedules Paraparaumu airport was closed for about two hours after 9 a.m. yesterday because of fog. Southbound and Cook Strait aircraft were mainly affected. Aircraft from Auckland and Napier were diverted to Palmerston North. The service returned to normal after 11 a.m., when the fog cleared. There was no adverse effect on northbound trunk schedules, although passenger aircraft to Dunedin were a little late. —(P.A.)

Overseas Goods Pillaged A major instance of pillaging was reported recently to the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association by a Christchurch importing firm. A case of propelling pencils, of a landed value of £l2O. was found to have been completely emptied on its delivery from the overseas freighter Fort Spokane. Christ’s College War Memorial

About £32,000 had now been raised for the college war memorial, said the headmaster (Mr R. J. Richards) at the annual prize-giving ceremony of Christ’s College last evening. When the memorial appeal was launched three years and a half ago, the target was £30.000, but whether the? £32.000 would now be sufficient remained to be seen. Mr Richards paid a tribute to the Old Boys’ Association for its work in raising the memorial fund. Niagara Salvage Plans Abandoned A Sydney syndicate’s plans to recover £151,000 worth of gold from the sunken liner Niagara have had to be abandoned because of the revaluation of the New Zealand currency, said a salvage expert. Mr J. E. Johnstone, who* returned from New Zealand to Sydney in the Wanganella. Mr Johnstone said that the syndicate had been formed with a capital of £25,000 (Australian). The revaluation of the New Zealand pound had reduced its capital by 25 per cent. It was impossible to raise the extra money for the expedition, so the plans had had to be abandoned.—Sydney. December 13. Food Parcels Reach Britain The Palana, which originally departed from Lyttelton, arrived in Great Britain on November 19 with 12.859 parcels weighing 125.1261 b. This represented postings in Canterbury. Marlborough, and the West Coast for the period August 12 to September 9. The Palana’s voyage was interrupted in the middle of the Pacific, when she picked up the disabled Fernmoor and towed her back to Auckland. Former R.A.F. Men on Way to N.Z. A party of 70 former Royal Air Force ground staff—the last draft of men enlisted in London—is on its way to New Zealand by ship to increase the ground crew strength of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The date of the men’s arrival is not yet known.— (P.A.) Infectious Diseases * Three cases of scarlet fever, four of tuberculosis, and one of tetanus were notified to the Health Department in Canterbury last week. On the West Coast there were two cases of poliomyelitis. In Canterbury, there was one death from pulmonary tuberculosis. Warrants of Fitness for Bicycles A suggestion that bicycles should be required to have warrants of fitness was received from the New Zealand Cycle Traders’ Federation at a meeting of the New Zealand Road Safety Council, said Mr Robert Wilson. South Island Motor Union representative on the council, at a meeting of the Automobile Association, South Canterbury, last evening. The Transport Department, which was asked to investigate the suggestion, said that its implementation would be difficult. Record Food Parcel Postings A record number of food parcels has been sent from the Auckland postal district to Britain in the last 12 months. In the year from December 1, 1947, to November 30, 1948. 603.305 parcels were handled, compared with 586,060 for the corresponding period last year.—(P.A.)