NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 6, 2 October 1941, Page 3

NEWS IN BRIEF

Mails For South Island Commencing today, mails for the South Island per steamer express will close dally at 5 a-m., except Sunday. The late fee box, Ferry Wharf gates, will be cleared at 7.45 a.m. Ordinary parcel mails will close at 5 p.m.; express transit parcel mails and registeredmail will close' at 8 p.m. the previous day. Maori Twins’ Names. The liking of the Aiaori race lor commemorating events in personal and place names is shown by the action of a. parent at Rotoiti in.'naming twins Greecip and Crete. Another mother in the .district has christened a child with the name of the ship in which the father travelled as a member of the Maori Battalion. Bank of New Zealand Directorate. The . term of office of Air. A. E. Alabin, as a shareholders’ representative on the board of directors of the Bank of New Zealand, will expire, by effluxion of time on. Alarch 31 next. In terms of the bank’s deed of settlement the date for giving notice, of candidature for this office expired oil September 30.- As the seat on the board : was not contested ■ Air. Alabin is reelected for a further, term of .three years. Dental Requirements. When men were being examined for the army, 60 per cent.' of them had dentures and. 80. per cent, required some dental attention, said the denta’ superintendent for Wakari, Canterbury, Air. J. S. Nicolson, at the recent opening .of the Wakari School deutal clinic. This was an alarming state of affairs, he said, and the school dental /clinics all tad an uphill light agaius’ dental .troubles. ■ Sorting of Bottles. Some -inipression is being made by the sorters on the mountains of .bottles collected by Wellington ’ aud Lower Hutt school children during the winter months.' The common or garden beer bottle is easily the most readily disposed of, and certain proprietary, bottles (branded with the names of particular firms) can also be easily disposed of. But there are numerous other varieties of bottles and glass jars which may take a little time to "cash in!’ on, but it is not expected that that will be difficult once they are properly sorted. Demand For Barley. Because yields of malting barley from the 1940 harvest proved somewhat disappointing, specially in Canterbury, and made it necessary to import 40.000 bushels, malting aud brewing firms have arranged contracts for. a considerable additional acreage for 1940-41. Prices fixed for the sowing season about to start represent a rise on those of last year of 3id. a bushel for barley threshed from the stook, and 41d. a bushel du barley threshed from the stack, the new prices for Canterbury and Marlborough; being 4/11 and 5/3 respectively, Building Figures. Both in August and September there has been a sensible reduction in the amount expended on private building in Wellington, as compared with the amounts so expended in the corresponding mouths of idst year. In August, 1940, the value of new buildings for which City Corporation permits were given was £39,060, as compared with £37,433 for August this year. Similarly the amount spent in building in Wellington city in September, 1940, was £70,409, but during the month ended on Tuesday only £55,441 was expended. The largest amount in the latter figure was £lO,OOO for a block of flats in Brougham Street. Flies Worst Enemy. "Heat, flies and sand are the worst troubles of our men in Egypt,’’ said Alajor-G eneral E. Puttick, D. 5.0., when addressing 'the New Zealand Club in Wellington yesterday. He added that it was remarkable that when the heat was greatest the flies were fewest. They came lu the cooler weather, "the most obstinate, determined creatures, making life a misery.” The health of the soldiers was good, their spirit undaunted, aud they were rightly convinced that they would more than hold the Germans on equal terms of equipment aud air supportHuts and clubs in Egypt provided a very efficient and necessary service arid, concerning amenities, the men were very well looked after indeed. Tall. Men Not Wanted. Aleu for New Zealand’s first Army Tank Brigade will be mobilized about the. middle of next month. ‘Many ot the men will be technicians aud others with specialized mechanical and engineering knowledge which can readily be adapted to the driving and maintenance of tanks, in addition these, of course, there, will be the “nou-expert” recruits for traiuiug as members of crews and for various older tasks included in any Army formation, Au interesting feature of the mobilization will be that big men will not be suitable for manning the tanks. Wtan officers and non-commissioned officers were chosen a height limit of sft. lOiu. was imposed, and though the needs of the brigade will not allow this restriction to be continued for technicians and others, such heights as 6ft. or over will probably cause some men to be passed over when they are called up. Cosmetics of Local Make.

Mos-t of the cosmetic aids to beauty notv being sold in tbe Dominion are of New Zealand manufacture and not imported. Approximately two years ago, wheu the imports selectiou procedure was directed to the banning of overseas cosmetics, most retailers bought very heavily to safeguard their business as far as possible. At the time there were stocks of imported lines in the Dominion, and there was a scramble on tbe part of tbe retailers so that they might retain their goodwill built up on particular brands. "It is safe to say,” stated a chemist recently, "that these stocks are now almost entirely sold out. With the placing of restrictions on imported cosmetics, it became apparent that there was a very big opening for the maim facture of preparations to take their place. The result has been that there is a welter of Hues similar in appearance and use in a variety of brauds.”