NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 109, 1 February 1941, Page 13

NEWS IN BRIEF

New Air Force Caps

The appearance of new field service caps for members of the Air Force has aroused considerable interest. The new caps have a white slash at the front and are worn only by flying personnel, who are in training for service overseas. An announcement that the caps would be issued was made in December, but it is only in the last few days that they have been seen in any great number. Opossum’s Antics.

A newspaper worker homeward bound early yesterday morning disturbed au opossum near the Karori tip. The animal scurried across the road toward a lamppost and tried to climb up but fell into a clump of weeds. This happened several times and looked like going on indefinitely so that opossum was left in peace. Comrades in Arms.

When a party of Free French navai ratings arrived at a New Zealand military camp recently, it was found that most of them were temporarily short of ready money, but not for long. In characteristic fashion, soldiers at the camp wasted little time iu organizing a “tarpaulin muster” of silver coins, which resulted in their delighted, if somewhat bewildered, allies each receiving £l/10/-. It was, one said, an example of the comradeship among Free French and British troops.

Payment of City Rates. Wellington city ratepayers have sth three weeks iu which to pay their rates without incurring the 10 per cent, penalty for late payment. Officials of the Rates Office, however, emphasized the desirability yesterday of prompt payment, so as to avoid the delays and extra work involved by last-minute payment. The staff has been reduced through members being called up for military service and, though their places have been filled by temporary workers, the personnel is still below normal strength. Late payers, therefore, cannot bo guaranteed the same service this year as last year. Lion Cubs Born. •*

Among new arrivals at the Auckland Zoo are two lion cubs born to a popular pair of animals which have been at the zoo for many years. Including two sets of quadruplets and one of triplets, their family now totals about 20, though few of the youngsters have been kept at the zoo. The latest arrivals are making good progress. Because of limited accommodation, a yearling leopard, cub at the zoo was recently sold to Taronga Park. Zoo, Sydney, and has already been shipped. The Auckland Zoo has no lack of exhibits of this species, for, in addition to adult animals, three cubs were born about two months ago.

Newspaper Advertising. Newspapers can scarcely be numbered among God’s gifts to Man, but few will deny they are of service to him. How great is this service and how far it extends must have assumed elephantine proportions, however, in the mind oE the woman who honestly thought newspaper advertising was free. Having dictated by telephone a small For Sale notice, she was astounded when the clerk asked for her name and address so -that an account could be sent. She refused this request in no uncertain manner, and after telling him she had always understood that advertising in that paper was free, she concluded iu a tone of disgust: “You have it (the advertisement), you can use it if you like.”

Twopenny Piece Discovered. A twopenny piece, minted in the reign of George the Third and dated 1797, has been discovered among the possessions of the late Mr. John Miller, formerly mayor of Invercargill. The coin is somewhat massive compared with those of more recent years, measuring two-fifths of an inch more across than a modern penny and being about three times the thickness. On the obverse side is a profile of the monarch, his patrician head decorated with a wreath of laurel leaves and surrounded by the inscription “Georgius HI. D.G. Rex." The figure of Britannia on the reverse side is more buxom than the modern lady. She faces the left and her trident rests along her ■left forearm. In her right hand she holds an olive branch and there is no helmet on her head. Her shield rests by her side and on the waters at her feet lies a three-masted ship with sail? furled. Too Many Policemen.

Writing from a village in England on November 21, a member of the Home Guard says: “A ‘Jerry’ has just gone over, and I can hear him circling around. It gives you a funny feeling te know that at any moment something might crash down on you. There go some shells up to greet him. Our warning went at 7.5 p.m., which means that we are in for at least 12 hours of it. To be in the shelter, which, by the way, is flooded, all night during the winter would kill us, so we prefer to remain iu the house and take our chance. A German parachutist landed in the next village to ours right in a street, where there were a number of women evacuated from London. It took 20 policemen to escort him to safety. Mhat a pity so many were available! Me are all wishing the invasion would start. We have been well trained and have our orders, and the invaders would be killed as fast as they landed.”