General News

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31775, 4 September 1968, Page 14

General News

Use Of Pill New Zealand uses more oral contraceptives a head of '■ population than any other country in the world, according to Professor D. G. Bonham, of the National Women’s Hospital in Auckland. Professor Bonham was speaking at a symposium for specialist doctors being held at the Christchurch Women’s Hospital yesterday. Whitebait Supplies Whitebaiting conditions on the West Coast are so bad that only a few pounds arrived at the Christchurch fish market of P. Feron and Sons, Ltd, yesterday. The 141 b of whitebait offered at auction included four or five pounds of Canterbury whitebait, and sold for between $2.74 and $4.50 a pound. The retail price at one Christchurch fish shop was $1 a quarter-pound, but there were few takers. The market does not expect much improvement in the supply until the end of the week. Helmet Change White helmets are to become standard uniform for the police in the day time all the year round. The white helmets were formerly worn only with the summer uniform, but a new general instruction is that they are to be worn from 5 a.m.'to 5 p.m. Blue helmets will be worn at night. The Commissioner of Police (Mr G C. Urquhart) said that improved appearance was the main reason for the change. Lay Interest When new hospital services were first provided, such as those at the Christchurch Women’s Hospital, there was always an upsurge of lay interest telling doctors how to run the hospital, said the head of the Post-graduate School of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Auckland National Women’s Hospital (Professor D. G. Bonham) in Christchurch yesterday. But this did not do much harm, provided it was handled in the appropriate way, he said.

Sales Down Sales of health stamps during the first three weeks of the 1968 campaign were well below those of last year. By August 31, sales had totalled $24,209, compared with $27,683 last year. Sales during the week ended last Friday totalled $761, compared with' $633 in the same week last | year. World Weather The world’s weather on Monday, as compiled by the Associated Press and Reuters, was: Rome 59 degrees minimum, 81 degrees maximum, sunny: Paris 60, 70, partly cloudy; London 57, 66, sunny; Berlin 54, 73, fair; Amsterdam 56, 63,'cloudy; Brussels 56, 64, rain: Madrid 55, 75, sunny: Moscow 57, 82, clear: Stockholm 63, 77, overcast: New York 63, 75, cloudy: San Francisco 60, 65, clear; Tokyo 70, 84, cloudy; Mexico City 55, 74, partly cloudy: Singapore 76, 86, fine: Johannesburg 40, 64, fine: Hong Kong 76, 82, cloudy; Sydney 47, 64, cloudy. Independence Gift New Zealand would be represented at the independence celebrations of Swaziland on Friday by the High Commissioner to India (Mr B. S. Lendrum), the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) said yesterday. New Zealand’s independence gift to Swaziland would be two parliamentary dispatch boxes and letter racks in New Zealand woods, and a selection of New Zealand books.— (P.A.) Aid For Iran The New Zealand Red Cross Society had sent $2OOO to Iran for earthquake relief, its national secretary (Commander M. C. Ashdown) said yesterday. The society would forward any other donations it received.—(P.A.) Czech Thanks The Czechoslovak Charge d’Affaires in Wellington (Mr Jaroslav Matous) said yesterday he wished to thank the hundreds of New Zealanders who wrote and telegraphed expressing their sympathy and support at the time of the Russian invasion. He said it would be a physical impossibility to answer personally all telegrams and letters.—(P.A.) Quest For Whitebait The Kairaki motor-camp is beginning to fill with whitebaiting enthusiasts but although many are attempting to catch whitebait at Kairaki. most catches have been very small, according to the camp caretaker (Mr A. Whyte) yesterday, the largest being about 11b. No Record The Post Office is trying to find someone who registered a trailer at the Fendalton Post Office and was handed three copies of the registration. The Deputy Chief Postmaster (Mr C. V. Jury) said yesterday that insurance difficulties could result in the event of accident if records of the registration were not available. A licence label numbered L.T. 875001 was issued to the person who registered the trailer. Mr Jury asks the person to return a copy of the registra- ■ tion to the Fendalton Post Office as soon as possible. August Record 1 A record August tonnage of fertiliser was sent from the : Hornby fertiliser works last month, the sales manager for the works (Mr A. R. Claridge) ! said yesterday. The output of ■ fertiliser last month was the second highest in any month