General News

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26204, 30 August 1950, Page 6

General News

Round the World in 53sec It took Mr Ness Edwards, Britain’s PostmaSier-General just 53.6 seconds to i girdle the earth to-day. That was the i time it took for a cablegram he sent to reach the Minister of Education (Mr I G. Tomlinson) sitting next to him at the centenary exhibition of the laying of the first submarine cable at the Science Museum in London. The message flashed round the world by way of Montreal, Vancouver Island, Fanning Island, Sydney, the Cocos Islands, Singapore. Colombo. Aden Alexandria, , Malta, and Porthcurno in Cornwall and back to London. The total distance covered was 33,871 miles.—London, August 29. Ship for N.Z. Coastal Trade A three months’ voyage ended yesterday at Auckland for the crew of the small ship Fenja, which was brought to Auckland by the Northern Steamship Company for use round the coast of New Zealand. The Fenja sailed from Newcastle-on-Tyne on May 20 with a cargo for Adelaide. After discharging this she went to the nearby port of Bunbury and loaded timber for Auckland. The voyage across the Tasman Sea took 20 days, and during this the worst weather of the trip was experienced. The Northern Steamship Company will use the Fenja between Whangarei, Tauranga, Lyttelton, and Dunedin. Her name will be changed to the Hotunui. After discharging about 220,000 super feet of sawn timber the Fenja will be docked before sailing to Tauranga to load for the South Island.—(P.A.) Bread “Every baker hates to hear that old plaint, ‘Bread is so fattening.’ ” ’says the “Australian Baker and Millers’ Journal.” “Every kind of food is fattening if you take too much of it, but bread actually is one of the least fattening types. The fact that people on extremely rigid medical diets, calculated down , to the last calory a day, are nowadays advised to eat bread in quantities up to 12oz and even more a day, is ample demonstration of the truth of the paradoxical advice, ‘Slim by eating bread.’ ” Applicants for £3OOO Post Three applicants for the position of general manager of the Auckland Harbour Board, a newly-created post with a salary of £3OOO a year, met members in open board yesterday. Selected from 134 applicants, they were flown from England at the board’s expense for personal interviews. They were Mr A. C. Clark, a member of the staff of the general manager of the Port of London Authority; Mr R. E. Large, assistant manager of Coast Lines, Liverpool, the world’s largest coasting company; and Mr D. Smith. engineer-manager of the Greenock Harbour Board, Glasgow. .The name of the successful applicant will be announced next month.—(P.A.) Use of ltd Health Stamp The IJd health Stamp which will be issued on October 2 will not be available for posting accounts. The Post Office emphasised yesterday that the lid health stamp represented Id for postage and id for health, but that the postage rate for accounts and other commercial papers was lid. The health stamp could be used for such purposes only in conjunction with the ordinary id stamp. The lid health stamp could be used for the postage of notices of meetings, newspapers, and other articles coming within the definition of “printed papers.’’ International Film Festival Two National Film Unit films which are included in the Ne*w Zealand entries for the International Documentary Film Festival to be held in Christchurch as part of the centennial celebrations were screened privately in Wellington yesterday. “Journey for Three.’’ produced by Stanhope Andrews and directed by Michael. Forlong, is of particular Canterbury interest as it describes the experiences of three immigrants from Britain, two of whom go to the South Island to work in Christchurch and at Lake Pukaki. “Journey for Three,” which is the nearest approach to a feature film made under Government sponsorship, has been shown in Britain for the last four or five months. It has a background of music composed by Douglas Lilburn and played by the National Symphony Orchestra. The second film. “Otago,” was directed by Oxley Hughan, who made the Canterbury centennial film “Canterbury is a Hundred,” which will be shown for the first time at the International Film Festival. “Otago” contains some magnificently photographed scenes of Central Otago and also gives glimpses of other parts of the province.—(F.0.P.R.) Air Force Day Celebrations In something under three hours a Mosquito aircraft of the Royal Nev/ Zealand Air Force is expected to fly from Dunedin to Auckland on September 16 carrying a letter from the Mayor of Dunedin (Sir Donald Cameron) to the Mayor of Auckland (Sir John Allum). The flight will be part of the Air Force Day celebrations, and will serve to demonstrate to the public the speed with which it is possible to cover the 591 nautical miles between Taieri and Whenuapai. The aircraft will be one belonging to No. 75 Squadron, stationed at Ohakea. —(P.A.) Golf on Sundays The poor attendance at the service in the precincts of St. Peter’s Cathedral, Hamilton, to dedicate six new cathedral bells, was the subject of comment by the Dean of Hamilton, the Very Rev. C. W. Chandler. Regretting that more residents of Hamilton were not present, he said many of them were so busy making money during the week that they hsd no thought of the things that mattered on a Sunday, and preferred to play golf.

Filming of Centennial Celebrations Although the National Film Unit has made a special film for the Canterbury centennial, it is not in a position now to film the celebrations as it did those in Otago two years ago. The second-to-last issue of the “Weekly Review” included preparations for the centennial, but this newsreel has been discontinued since the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) announced the reorganisation of the Government information and publicity services early in July. When Mr Holland announced that the “Weekly Review” would be discontinued he said that the National Film Unit would be established as a trading unit and would be required to stand on its own feet. Unless the Government agrees to meet the cost, the National Film Unit will be unable to film any aspects of the celebrations.— (F.0.P.R.) New Australian Stamp Issue To celebrate the centenary of adhesive postage stamps in Australia, the Commonwealth Postmaster-General’s Department will issue next month two new red 2£d stamps. In 1850 the young colonies of New South Wales and Victoria issued postage stamps and the design of one stamp of each of these State’s first issues has been used as a basis for the centennial issue. The first New South Wales stamp was based mainly on the design of one of the Great Seals of the colony and shows early settlers landing at Sydney. The other stamp incorporates a portrait of the young , Queen Victoria holding the sceptre and orb. The stamps will be on sale in Australia on September 27. Book Tokens On and after September 1, book tokens will be available at booksellers throughout New Zealand. A person will be able to purchase from a bookseller a token which will be accepted by him or by another bookseller. The token will consist of a greeting card and stamps. It is valid for exchange into books to the full value indicated by the stamps. Stamps will be issued in denominations of 10s; more than one stamp can be stuck to a card. The donor sends the token to his friend, who takes.it to his bookseller, chooses the book he would like, and pays for it by surrendering the token.

Probation Officer System Commenting on the fact that police officers are often probation officers, Sefiior-Sergeant J. H. Dennehy. officer in charge of police at Stratford, in an address at the annua] luncheon of the Taranaki Justices of the Peace Association. said he saw undesirable features in the present system. The Prisons Department. he said, usually appointed the senior police officer of a district as probation officer. Thus he might prosecute a man and then have to report to the Court as probation officer. Though police officers were just according to their views, the offender might think he was not getting a fair deal.