General News

Press, Volume C, Issue 29687, 4 December 1961, Page 14

General News

What Is A Potato ? Ministers of the European Common Market wrangled in Brussels yesterday over—what Is a potato? The Italians,, and most other delegations, argued forcefully . that a potato was a vege- I table, the "Daily Telegraph” I reported The Germans firmly insisted that the C potato had never in the history at German agriculture been classified as a vegetable, b They finally won their point, and potatoes were deleted from a list of vegetables and fruit for which Italy asked J] that quality standards should be set. After three days of C argument. West Germany § had failed to agree with the rest of the “Six” on a common agricultural policy, the “Daily Telegraph’’ said.— London, December 3. Origin Of ‘Art Union’ The origin of the name “art tra unions” for the £lO,OOO lot- g r teries—the last of which closed, on Saturday—was ex- aCI plained by officers of the tai Internal Affairs Department m in Wellington. Under the law -x, operating when the art unions began in 1929, raffles or lot- < teries could have only works of art as prizes. Alluvial gold had apparently qualified as a work of art and for some years the prizes were £4OOO in alluvial gold, which had to 2” be deposited in the Bank of New Zealand and paid for before any tickets could be sold. Cash finally replaced alluvial gold, but the name n ?’ “art union’’ stuck.—(P.A.) ofc ve Heavy Diet As a party trick, Mr Andrew Yukich. aged 20, of 76 Nelson street, Auckland, has been eating razor blades to for years. He also swallows M IJin nails (one gulp, a shud- a; der and they are down), old sa ■ gramophone records or an n < (electric light bulb. "The ] 0 bulbs are lovely,” he said as s< Ihe chewed reflectively on a ct large one. "They’re nice and r ' crunchy—-tasty, too.” Has c j ihe ever had a stomach X-ray? y, ! ‘No—and I’ve never had a tummy ache, either,” he said, i—(P.A.) Record Births November was another bi record month for births at St. al Helens Hospital Births ir .totalled 142, and admissions S’ 161. compared with 137 births F and 150 admissions in Novem- oi ber last year. Although s< ; the October and September figures were higher, last ai month’s figures were the r; highest recorded for any eJ (November. Home nursing of f mothers who left the hospital p a’ the eighth day after delivery continued during the y month, but on a reduced scale c . compared with the two previous months. Many of the “ mothers who went home “ early did so at their own ” I request. a Coin Collectors r AU sorts of unlikely per- b : sons collect rare coins in tl Auckland. A regimental sergeant-major, some dock- s yard workers and assorted f schoolboys have written to 1 Lieutenant - Commander W. i M. M. Elderton, of the British t frigate, H.M.S. Cook, since a y published picture showed him 1 looking at William IV and George HI florins. On board : ■ the Cook, which is now at Devonport, coins up to 200 1 . years old are used in the > canteen and as loose change. 5 Commander Elderton reo cently bought £460 worth of - old silver from the treasurer Bi of the New Hebrides, who .! complained it was no use in , the group. The letter-writers 1 all asked Commander Elders ton if he would sell them 1 some of his coins. “I don’t - mind.” he said. "I’ve got t too many of them. At par, t aof course,” he added. “I’m a s not a coin-collector.”—(P.A.) i e ’ 1 i-l Globemaster Flights i The last United States Air • i- Force Globemaster to leave ■ McMurdo Sound this season ; arrived at Harewood on i S Saturday afternoon. Today the second stage of returning the forces to the United States will begin, and other Globemaster transport flights will be made tomorrow, and Thursday, Friday and the following Wednesday. About 250 persons still have to go. I Each flight to the Unified I States will start at 11 a.m. > f Scouting ■e The top administration of « the boy scout movemen’ is to ; be “streamlined to improve / the over-all direction and co _ ordination of scouting and to lS ; reduce overheads to the lc absolute minimum.” Andetails of the 5t ( reorganisation, the chief executive commissioner, Mr Selwyn Field, said: “The efn ficiency resulting from this ' streamlining should ensure ’ " greater confidence and understanding throughout the " (movement, as well as a more -. (effective employment of our ” basic income, which, in an v organisation of our size, must (come largely from those “■ taking part in scouting.”— (PA.) s.