NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 55, 28 November 1942, Page 8

NEWS IN BRIEF

Train Bookings Heavy ■ A’' : . Passenger traflic'was l\eavy . bn the southbound express trains due in Wellington frour Auckland today. An extra express which will leave Auckland tomorrow’ night has bebn booked to capacity. ■ Plunge Into River. ' , . .. . An unidentified man was seen.to climb the railing of the footway on the Balelutha bridge on Thursday, hang by bis hands for a few s'econds and drop into the water below.-. The river is running very’high (and the. body, has. not; been recovered.—P.A. ■ _ Band Performances. The Wellington Municipal Tramways Band will give, a performance at the Botanical Gardens, and the bcots Col-, lege Pipe Band'will play at the Zoological Gardens tomorrow, commencing at 3 p.m. Failure to Report. , 7 . Two-reservists who failed to report lor medical examination were each sentenced to two months’ hard labour by Mr. ,Stout, 8.M., when they appeared in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. They were Eric Walters and Gerald Skipworth Goodall. ~ - ' 1 . ■ Supply of Bananas. > : ’ About 5000 cases of bananas, .which are at present ripening in the Internal Marketing Division’s stores, will be distributed throughout the Auckland / area early next week. The remaining <OO9 cases will be sent to other parts of New Zealand. •

Preferred Wharf \\ ork. ' The statement that some ot its drivers, after obtaining medical certificates and leaving their employment, had gone to work on . the waterfront, was made by the representative of a passenger transport company before the No. ’- (Auckland) Armed Forces Appeal Board.Egg Supplies. . ' .' A statement by the Minister of Marketing, Mr. Barclay, that mothers with infants were receiving priority in the distribution of egg supplies, m denied in Auckland, where no scheme of the Kind is yet in operation. Infants diets are reported to be below Plunket standards in consequence. Sinking of Rangitane. Yesterday was the second anniversary of the sinking of the motor-vessel Raugitane' by an enemy raider in the soutfi Pacific. The raiders were sighted from the liner shortly after dawn, and with over 100 passengers and a crew of 201 on board, the Rangitane was subjected to a severe shelling. Six people were .killed m the attack, and one woman died later from, wounds received during the action. Dear Strawberries. . Auckland strawberries are still arriving in Wellington in fair quantity. Though the season has advanced -nearly half-way there-is no falling off in price. At yesterday’s market the best of-them, “Captain Cooks.” reached 4/6 a full chip, and were retailed later in the day tor 5/6 a chip. Inferior sorts realized as low as 3/2 a full chip. With such prices ruling the standard helping of strawberries and cream” is necessarily meagre.

Policewoman in Court. A member of the women police -appeared for the first time in the witness box in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, when she gave evidence yesterday about a visit to a house in Colombo street 111 connexion with the selling of liquor without a licence. She was Constable Eileen O’Connor. The witness, who appeared in plain clothes,.described a visit with an American serviceman to buy > a bottle of beer which was sold for 4/-. Alien’s. Change of Address. A registered alien who was four days past the specified time in notifying the police of his change of address was yesterday.fined £2 by Mr. Stout, S.'M., mi the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington. He was,Leopold Friedlander, a Czech. Defendant said that on) previous occasions when he had moved he had given notice within the prescribed seven days, buz on-jtbat occasion he had been worried by illness in the family. , Warning from Bench. ''■;■ "■ “I am seriously considering imposing imprisonment for this type of offence; there have been a great many warnings and cases are too frequent,” remarked Mr.: Stout,' S.M., in the ' Magistrates Court, Wellington, yesterday, when fining Angus Murray Moore, labourer, aged 42, £lO for going on to the wharves, without a permit. It was stated on Moore’s behalf that ffie had been collecting magazines from ships in port _to distribute to hospitals and charitable institutions.

New Star Grows Faint. The new star, which was .first, noticed on Nov. 10 by Mr. A. G. C. Crust Wellington, is now very faint, though it may still be seen; with/ the- naked eye. It is likely that Mr. Crust - was, the first astronomer in the world to see the star, though that is not certain yet. It could have been seen in South Africa, but if it was the information has not reached New Zealand. In flaring up and promptly fading the object is following the life course of all new stars, or novae, as astronomers call them.

Christmas Shopping Hours. . The shopping hours to be observed in Wellington at Christmas have not yet been decided, but will be at a meeting to bo held shortly. Six'o’clock closing will be observed.-by retail shops in Aucklandon Christmas Eve. Most business premises there will resume on the following Monday, December 2S. Some firms have resolved to close between Christmas and New Year, while others, including all jewellers’ shops in Auckland, and some suburban drapers, will not reopen till January, 13.

American Potatoes. Further supplies of potatoes from California have been released on the Wellington market. These are what would pass as new potatoes here, but are twice to three times as large and are smoother skinned than the varieties favoured in this country. Some people have been so intrigued with the size and good shape—they have no wrinkles, malformations, or deep-set eyes, like some of the New Zealand potatoes—that they are using them as seed. These potatoes are still being sold retail for 4d. per lb.

Matches In the Post. “Notwithstanding my statement to the Press some time ago in which emphasis was laid on the danger of sending matches through the post, little improvement is noticeable,” said the Postmaster-General, Mr. Webb, yesterday. “Recently further packages containing matches have been intercepted in the post. The time has now arrived when definite action will have to be taken against offenders. The mails must be safeguarded, and, in future, prosecutions will be brought against persons who use the mails for the transmission of matches.”

Grit-Arrestors. Messrs. IV. Cable and Company arc making satisfactory progress with the erection of the grit-arresters at the Evans Bar power-house for the IVellington tramways arid electricity department. This long-delayed work' is a year behindhand, but that is not the department’s fault, as nothing has been left undone by the officers to expediate the arrival of the elaborate plant involved. Even today there are still two sets of steel fan-casings —each 11 feet in height—to eoine to hand from Australia. These are expected to arrive next month. There are four boilers in all to fit with the grit-arresters, and it is confidently expected that-two or them will be in commission before the end of the year.

Damage to Hotels. How serious was the earthquake damage to some of the IVellington city hotels was not immediately recognized. In the ease of the Caledonian Hotel, Adelaide Road, the whole of the top floor had to be discarded so that well-known house is now a one-story building. It used to be considered a mighty achievement in cricket to smack a ball from No. 1 P'tch in the Basin Reserve on to the root ot the Caledonian Hotel. The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, in Manners Street, is in the throes of reconstruction, lhe whole of the Manners Street brick wall, and the wall of the older part on the eastern side have been demolished to ground level, lhe Manners Street wall is to be rebuilt m reinforced concrete, and the new eastern wall will be in reinforced brickwork. Cracked sections of tbe Alhambra Hotel, Cuba Street are being removed, and a great deal of strengthening work has been done to tbe interior of the Loyal Oak Hotel opposite.