NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 284, 28 August 1944, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF

Prisoners Of War

Of the 3538 New Zealanders known tp be in Italian prisoner-of-war camps at the time of the capitulation, 3362 have been accounted for as follows, states the Prisoners of War Inquiry Office. Transferred to German prisoner-of-war camps 2997. safe with Allies 263, safe in Switzerland 102. The majority of those yet to be accounted for were located at P.G. 107 before the capitulation, but there arc still a number outstanding from P.G. 57, P.G 106, P.G. 120. and other camps. The inquiry office headquarters specially requests copies of recent letters from Ger; man prisoner-of-war camps, and particularly from work detachment No. 180 GW of Stalag XVIIIA. Technical School Board. Following is the result of the election held recently for a representative of school committees on the board of managers for the Wellington Technical School: Neill, W. A.. 5S votes; Grange, L. 1., 54; informal 15. Mr. W. A. Neill has. therefore, been declared elected.

Body Recovered. The body of John William McGrath, aged 20, single, an oiler employed on tne Barrytown dredge, who had been missing since he came oft the night shift ou Tuesday, was recovered from the taihugs during dredging operations early on Saturday morning. Apparently McGrath stepped off the dredge in the darkness.—l .A. Biotic Fanning. A plea for the recognition of the usefulness of wild plants in preserving the existence of the life of the soil is triade by a writer in “Forest and Bird.” Farming consists in substituting “tame for “wild” plants., but many useful wild species could be managed as crops,, for it has been proved that many a species accused of inutility is necessary in the chain of life, even though it cannot be eaten. The new outlook in farming is that a good farm is one where the wild fauna and flora have lost acreage but not existence.

Children in Europe. An idea of tlie magnitude of the. task of giving relief to the children of Europe was conveyed by a speaker at a meeting convened by the Auckland Sunday School Union. Quoting figures given by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the House of Lords, he said that young children in need of urgent help numbered 1,800,009 in Greece, 300,000 in Holland, 3.500,000 in Poland. 1,600,000 in Czechoslovakia and 2,100,000 in Yugoslavia. Another speaker said there was not one child in Athens under four years of age. ns the younger ones-had been unable to survive.

Election Procedure. . Members of the Johnsonville Lown Board, nt a recent meeting expressed dissatisfaction at the conduct of the election for a representative on the Technical College Board of Managers. It was pointed out that of the three bodies concerned —the Wellington City Council, Makara County Council, and Johnsonville Town Board —the city council possessed an advantage in that the election was conducted at a city council meeting in the daytime, when all members of that body were present. It was decided to make inquiries into the conditions governing the holding of these elections.

Cost of Wives Reduced. The marriage problem in the Solomons is a very big one. according to Dlr. Stuart Mill, who resided there for a number of years. At au Auckland Y.M.C.A. Optimists’ Club luncheon be said that native chiefs used to pay anything up to tow sterling each for wives for their sons. “I knew one poor chap who paid about £450 about 20 years ago, and he hasut finished paying for her yet! We cannot abolish this wife-buying—it is an important native custom —but the Government is succeeding in getting the price down. In one district they’ve succeeded in bringing it down to £0- That is now the recognized price for a wife, and the natives are not permitted to pay more. It is a sort of price tribunal control, and has brought about stabilization.

Signs of tiio Tinies. ... Notices inviting applications from men for positions ns tram conductors now appear in Wellington tramcars in place ot those which invited women to volunteer for this class of work. Women have never been directed to tram conductor work, but their engagement has been subject to manpower authority approval. Male conductors now outnumber females, and it is' expected that as more men become available women will be reabsorbed into other work, specially those with experience in industries urgently requiring labour. With overtime the women conductors have made good wages, but with earlv starts or late finishes, plus the conditions of rush-hour tram travel, most people would probably think they well earned their money.

Women Confer on Birthrate. More than 200 women recently attended a meeting in New Plymouth to discuss New Zealand’s falling birthrate. The following resolutions, which will be forwarded to the headquarters of the National Council of Women for discussion at the annual conference were passed : J-hiit the sales tax on children’s clothes be lifted; that labour-saving devices be available to mothers at cost price; that there be no means test in connection With children's allowances: that, domestic labour be trained and subsidized: that the work of the Child Welfare Department be extended to include a system ot home supervision; that, every care be taken to safeguard the illegitimate child from penaltv, either social or financial; that in the interest ot health of mothers the dangers attendant upon abortion be publicized.