NEWS IN BRIEF,

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 115, 10 February 1944, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF,

Extra Expresses A number of visitors to Auckland who have not yet been able to return to their homes will be accommodated on special expresses leaving for Wellington tomorrow and next Monday. Both trains will depart at 7.15 p.m. There will also be expresses from Wellington at the same time. Watersiders’ Meeting. The monthly stop-work meeting of the Wellington Waterside Workers’, Union was held yesterday morning. The business was made longer than usual by the presentation of a report on the Dominion conference held in December. Work on the wharves began at 14p.m. Mosquitoes Troublesome. Holiday-makers in the Marlborough Sounds districts this season have brought back to Wellington more mosquito bites than has been the case in previous years. People in the French Pass area suffered so badly from this insect pest that they were asked to obtain samples of the mosquito larva for inspection. Since the drought was broken, however, the mosquitoes have not been so numerous.

Boysenberry Menace. The Department of Agriculture is to be asked to classify boysenberry as a noxious weed and prohibit its sale, according to a decision reached at a meeting of the Waikato Sub-Provincial Executive of tlie. Farmers’ Union, It was stated that the berry, which is a cross between the loganberry and the blackberry. is an underground runner and is more difficult to eradicate than blackberry.

Ships’ Deserters. For deserting an overseas ship nt Auckland on December 29, Larry Kenneth Steele, ship’s fireman, wns sentenced yesterday in the Magistrates' Court, Wellington, to one month's imprisonment with hard labour, by Mr. Stout, S.M. Two other seamen, Albert Edwgrd Roberts, chef, and Charles Francis Darcey. greaser. pleaded guilty to a charge of desertion from another overseas vessel and were sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. Record Swimming “Gates.”

At the recent New Zealand swimming championships held in. the Olympic Pool at Newmarket. Auckland, a total of 5024 adults and 912 juveniles paid for admission during the three-night programme, the total gate takings being £5481 which, together with additional revenue from programme sale? and entry fees,, gave a final return of £722. This, according to Mr. ,T, 11. Miller, chairman of the Auckland Swimming Centre, was an outstanding record for the Dominion. Christinas Card Design.

“It is an insult to the men in the Pacific area to depict them like that,” said Mrs. A. V- Campbell at a meeting of the Auckland Metropolitan Patriotic Committee recently when displaying a copy of Christmas cards supplied by the National Patriotic Fund Board to the servicemen in the Pacific for posting to their friends in New Zealand. The committee decided to ask the board how many cards had been printed and how much they had eost.

Overcrowded School. Overcrowding at the Epsom School, Auckland, has reached such proportions that children are being taught in a tent, also in an iron shed and in a stone basement, previously condemned. Y’esterday the entire Normal School, primers to Standard VI, were seated at desks under a large marquee. The master said the children were enjoying the experience. The days so far had been sunny and he hoped the weather would continue fine.-— P.A.

Load on Land. ■Speaking at a meeting of the Masterton County Council, Cr. G. Moore said that out of revenue from the land, , hospital, road and rate levies bad to be met, in addition to Government tax and social security. The demands were ever increasing, till all the revenue was going. It was hardly possible to maintain the land, let alone improve it. Cr. Moore said he did not know how the land could carry rates levied by a catchment board. Interests of Ex-Servicemen. A tour of North Auckland has been made by Mr. B. J. Jacobs, Dominion president of the New Zealand Returned Services Association, and Mr. L. C. Logan, Auckland district vice-president-They visited 15 centres and addressed meetings of ex-servicemen. Many blocks of land which ate claimed to be suitable for the settlement of soldiers were also inspected. A full report is to be. sent to the headquarters of the association in Wellington.

National Savings. National savings receipts in the Auckland postal district last week were £19,650. compared with £17,259 the previous week. Twenty-nine sub-centres reached their quotas, the best results being secured at Te Kopuru and Otahuhu. The deficiency in the proportionate amount of the annual qpota to date has been reduced to £2116. A further £115,978 is required from the district aa a whole during the next seven weeks to ensure that Auckland , is among the successful districts on March 31. Wellington-Lyttelton Service. The Union Steam Ship Company announce that in addition to the cancellation previously announced of sailings from Wellington on February 10, 15, 22 and 29, and from Lyttelton on February 16 and 23, it is now found necessary, because of the limitation of passenger traffic through the railway restrictions, to cancel further sailings from Wellington on February 24 and 26, and from Lyttelton on February 25 and 28. .Passengers booked for the cancelled sailings are requested to communicate with one of the company's offices. Making Lipstick Containers. A report by art investigating officer on a statement that a firm which was registered as essential, was manufacturing lipstick containers was read by the manpower officer's representative nt a sitting qf the Auckland Manpower (Industrial) Committee. It was stated that the work was done with the approval of the factory Controller, but waste metal omy was used. The manufacture was carried out only when essential work happened to be slack and machines and staff would otherwise be idle. When the investigating officer called one machine and two girls were engaged in the work. Who Moves Sea Leopard? A sea leopard which has taken up its quarters on the foreshore of the Anderson’s Bay inlet, Dunedin, is beginning to prove a nuisance, and it has been rtmicea reclining in the middle of Somerville Street, adjacent to the lawn tennis courts. The City Corporation had been prepared to carry the leopard, by moans of a caterpillar shovel, to other pnrte. but it has been found that it cannot interfere with the unwelcome visitor. The Marine Department is the authority which has- to do with seals, sea leopards, and the like, and the Dunedin office is communicating with AVellington to see if some action can be taken to remove the nuisance. Wont Trainway Tracks. Beyond a little packing here and there, there is no evidence of any start being made to repair AA’ellingtor.'s tramway tracks in the city. One gang was watched at work yesterday. All that was being done was to take out a little of the asphalt and metal on eitheriside of the track for a few feet, clean out the hole, and then' pack it with bitumen-coated chips of metal. AVhile such packing may stabilize the rails temporarily, this work does not reinstate the damaged track, which is beginning to make tramway travel a rather unpleasant experience. The tramway department has the money and material for the work, but cannot secure the labour. Forest Fire Prevention. In an endeayour to reduce the possibility of forest fires during summer months, the use of gas producers on vehicles travelling on certain roads through forest areas is prohibited by a notice in the Gazette. The period during which the restriction operates is from August 1 in any year to April 30 in the following year, both days inclusive, lhe areas covered by the regulation are part of the Rotorua-AVaikaremoana road between AVaitapu and Murupara, adjoining or passing through the Av aiotapu ana Kaingaroa State forests, a distance of miles, and 11 miled of the DargavilleOpononi road passing through the '»<**' poun State forest. An exception is made by the notice, which states that permit* sion may he granted for the use of gat producers by a conservator or other forest officer.