General News

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26117, 20 May 1950, Page 6

General News

Check on Vehicle Lights

The lights of 1517 vehicles were checked by Transport Department inspectors in the second week of the Dominion-wide drive on vehicle lighting faults. Traffic offence notices issued totalled 125. The total vehicles checked in the first txyo weeks of the drive were 3551, and the traffic offence notices issued totalled 318. Of vehicles checked to date 1011 had faults of some kind. The most common faults were incorrectly adjusted lights, which numbered 334. There were also 198 vehicles with incorrectly focused lights. 217 with no tail lamp, and 262 with other faults. — (P.A.) Salaries of U.S. Executives

American business in 1949 paid at least 51 executives 200,000 dollars or more each. It paid at least 160 between 100.000 and 200,000 dollars. The highest was 585.100 dollars in salary, ' bonus, and shares paid to Mr Charles Wilson, president of General Motors. His rate of income tax on this part of his total income was 77 per cent.— Washington, May 18. Portrait to go to England A portrait of one of the early chairmen of the Canterbury Education Board, the late Mr William Chrystall, is to be given to his eldest son, Mr John Chrystall, a retired brigadier, m England. This was decided by trie board at its meeting yesterday. A request for the painting was contained in a letter which Mr C. S. Thompson brought to the notice of the meeting. In it Mr Chrystall asked if the board would consider giving him the portrait. He guaranteed to pay all ex- , penses for its shipment to England. I Monkey Escapes from Zoo I A brown six-months-old baby In- ; dian monkey, only eight inches high, ’ has escaped from the Wellington Zoo and it has been hunted for two days ' without success. Baits have been laid and traps placed to snare it, but all attempts at capture have failed. Trie quarry leaps from house-top to housetop, chattering derisively at its puri suers. The monkey escaped from its 5 owner’s arms this week when, with four other Indian monkeys, it was being sold to the zoo. The owner, a ; circus proprietor, was demonstrating ; the monkey’s quietness when it leaped ! into a nearby pine tree. Scaling i rapidly upwards, it swung on to the roof of a nearby house, and it has been in that locality ever since.— (P.A.) Shortage of Railway Waggons No overtime was worked on discharging ships at Lyttelton on Thursday night, or last night, because of a , shortage of railway waggons. Only I three vessels were affected. An unusually large number of waggons is | under load at Christchurch and *Lyt- • telton with goods and produce for shipment, the wet weather this week having* delayed loading. Sulphanilamide for Industry Sulphanilamide powder can now be included in first-aid kits in factories, Public Works camps, mines, and sawmills, and on the waterfront provided the application to the chemist for a supply of the powder is made by a responsible person in the industry. This information was issued by the Division of Occupational Health yesterday. It was said that research had shown that there was -general agreement that the application of sulphanilamide powder for first dressings and redressings of minor injuries in industry reduced the sepsis rate. Penalty for Ship Desertion The maximum penalty for ship desertion was described as inadequate in the Magistrate’s Court at Dunedin yesterday by Mr J. C. Robertson, appearing for the Shaw Savill Company. Ltd. The police had done a wonderful job in apprehending ship deserters, Mr Robertson said, but until the powers of the Court were increased, the deserter “racket” would continue. Men did not mind serving a month in prison and until the maximum penalty was increased, the “racket” would continue. The Magistrate (Mr J. G. Warrington, S.M.) said it was the practice of the Court to impose the maximum penalty under the act for ship desertion. 'Judging by the number of cases coming before the Court, it seemed that the maximum penalty was not a sufficient deterrent. —(P.A.) Weed Research Support for a proposal made some months ago by Federated Farmers that a full-time officer, wifh the assistance of other research officers, should be appointed to investigate every aspect of weed control was expressed by the president «Mr G. C. Warren) addressing the fifth annual conference of the agricultural section of the North Canterbury district of Federated Farmers yesterday. The menace of weeds was one of the most serious problems confronting farmers to-day, he said. Although rapid advances had been made in the field of selective hormone weed killers, there was still much to learn. Methods of economical application were well advanced, but every step should be taken to see that spraying materials were placed on the market as cheaply as possible without losing ; their effectiveness.

New Van For Library Service A new van has been built for use’ by the Country Library Service to replace one that has been in use since 1938. The van, which is much larger than the old one. and carries about 2000 uco-.s. will be put into service cn Monday. The body has been built by a Christchurch firm of motor body builders on a truck chassis.

Wear on Railway Tracks The gradual deterioration of main line railway tracks through shortages, mainly of materials, threatened further railway congestion through reduced speed limits, said Mr J. Dow, district civil engineer of the Railway Department at Auckland, speaking to the Penrose Industrial Progress Association. “The material position is so acute that I have 23 special gangs for heavy repair work doing other work, because we have not got the rails in the country,” said Mr Dow “I have about sufficient 801 b and 751 b ra il S T *° U P on . e g°°d ra il smash, and I have no advice as to when new raqs will arrive in the country.” Thi* arose from the system of controls in England. Although the production of steel there was a record, someone could cut down an order for 100 miles of track to 10 miles. It took a lot of track renewals to keep the main lines running and these were gradually falling back.—(P.S.S.)