NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 201, 23 May 1944, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF

Linesman Killed A 3000-volt shock from a transformer on which he was working at Fareham Camp, Delta Air Station, caused the death of Richard Reid, Public Works linesman. Mr. Reid was married, with four children, ami resided in Blenheim Road, Riccarton, Christchurch. He was aged 53. —P.A. Polling Hours. ’The returning officer for Wellington, Mr. J. Norrie, stated last night that the hours of polling in the elections and loan polls on Saturday will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., times which came into operation at the last election, three years ago. Not So Well. The condition of the soldier. Richard Townsend Chorley, who was admitted to Wellington Hospital on May 4 with a .22 bullet wound in his abdomen, was stated at the hospital last night as “showing no change—-not so well.” Smaller School Population. Attention was drawn to the decline in the school population in the Canterbury Education Board's district by Mr. A. E. Lawrence at a meeting of the board. He said there were 34,688 children on the roll in 1934 and 32,701 in 1943, and it had to be remembered that five-year-old children had been admitted'to the schools in the interval.

Freak Egg. , An egg of peculiar shape, somewhat resembling a bullet, was laid recently by a Black Australorp, owned by Mr. S. G. Mallard, of Selwyn Street, . Spreydon, Christchurch. The egg is two inches long and barely«an inch through at any point. The Australorp. a steady layer, is two years old. ,

Theft of Diamond Ring. For the theft of a £5O diamond ring, the chief steward of an overseas ship, Lawrence Henry Edward Donnell, was sentenced to three months’ jail by Mr. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. Accused, who pleaded guilty, had stolen the ring from a woman at a party and sold it for £55. giving £2O of the money to a friend. An Urgent Telegram, Frank Lawrence Porteous, labourer and mercer, aged 22, was convicted and discharged by Mr. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. for sending a telegram from Aramoho, Wanganui, and using without authorization the signature of Victor. Haulon. The telegram, sent to a relative of Hanlon’s, asked that £2 be sent urgently to the post office. The money was sent Jail for False Pretences.

Pleading guilty to three charges of , obtaining money by false pretences, a clerk, Henry Vaughan Ingham, aged &>, appeared in the Magistrates’ Court; Wei-. lington, yesterday and was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, cumulative, on each charge. Accused, it was stated, had been in the Air Force and when in Wellington he "approached the parents of different men he had known in camp and obtained the money. Polling Booths. Never before has Wellington been provided with the number of polling booths which will be used for the municipal elections on Saturday’next. There will be no fewer than 260 polling booths where people may record their votes for mayor, city council, hospital board and harbour board. It is not expected that many returns will be in before 8 p.m. because of the number of issues that are being-placefl before district electors and ratepayers. Unsporting Act. It was mentioned by the president. Mr. S. M. Macalister, at a meeting of the Southland Acclimatization Society that some duck shooters had bought an unlimited number of licences in order to obtain the issue of 25 cartridges with each licence. He expressed strong disapproval x of this practice, describing it as highly unsportsmanlike. He added that he was led' to believe that on the. black market cartridges were selling as high as £2/10/a box.

Shortage of Industries. Because of the lack of opportunities offering, he had had to send, men away from their West Coast homes to. Christchurch for work, said the Rehabilitation Officer at Greymouth, Mr. A. N. Campbell, when referring to the shortage of industries on the West Coast, at a public meeting called for the purpose of forming a Progress League, In reply to Mr. D. Mclvor, who said there were ample vacancies in the mines, Mr. Campbell said he was referring to grade 111 and IV men, ■who could do only light work. Service in Three Forces. Service in all three of the armed forces, as well as in the Home Guard, has been undertaken by Leading Aircraftman Albert Ernest Sinclair, aged about 22, of Tarurutangi, Taranaki. At an early age he was accepted for training in the Navy, and served for some time with the prospect of joining a Navy unit. However, being under age he had to stand\ down to await his turn. He then joined the Home Guard, and was appointed a noncommissioned office?. When his age qualified him for military training'he was called into camp and remained there till his application for service in the Air Force was accepted. He has now qualified as leading-aircraftman and is appointed for duty overseas.

Minister in Uniform. Unanimous support for the n aikato Returned Services Association in its protest against the wearinc of uniform by the Minister of Rehabilitation, MajorSkinner, and the Director of Rehabilitation. Mr. F. Baker, when on Government business, was given in a resolution passed at a conference in Auckland on Saturday of 25 delegates representing 13 branches of the Returned Services Association tn the Auckland Province. The president of the Auckland association, Mr. A. 1. Postlewaite, said it was wrong that men should have to approach the Minister and director as if they were high Army officers. The psychological effect was harmful. All interviews should 'be as man to man, not as officer to man.