NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 111, 13 May 1942, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealanders in Syria,

The latest bulletin issued by the National Patriotic Fund Board contains an extract from a report by a British V.M.C.A. official, which, though dated September 5, 1941, is of interest in view of the transfer of New Zealand troops to Syria. !'I have been up to Syria to open up," the report states. "Distances are great and difficulties many. Our centre is a mission school at Baalbeck —not far from the ruins of Baal Worship (inland from Beirut, north of Damascus)." "No doubt the centres established by the British V.M.C.A.," the Patriotic , Fund Board bulletin states, "will be used by the New Zealand V.M.C.A. and Church Army in servicing our troops. The monetary unit of Syria is the Syrian pound, equal to less than 3s New Zealand." No Wages Increase. The Full Bench of the Queensland Industrial Court recently declined to alter the basic wages of £4 9s for males and £2 8s for females. Combined unions had asked for an increase to £5 and £3 ss. The judgment , stated that in the period immediately ahead annual reviews of the basic wage were likely to prove insufficient, because of the probability of a steep rise in the cost of living. The Court proposed to declare the basic wage quarterly on the cost of living, beginning with figures for the first quarter in 1942. Sheep at University. A mob of sheep, bleating pathetically at dawn in the quadrangle of Canterbury University College, was almost the only evidence that last week was the joy week of the university student. This year there has been no students' revue. Some bright spirits, however, decided that the occasion should not pass without a celebration, and the sheep in the quadrangle were the outcome. It is surmised that the intention was to make a living manifestation of the three "toisons dor" or golden fleeces that figure on the seal of the college, and an expedition was organised to cut out three sheep from the flock in Hagley Park. The follow-my-leader habits of the animals were too much for the amateur shepherds, who, finding a small mob on their hands, solved their problem by parking the lot in the quadrangle. Unusual Course Taken. An opportunity for a conscientious objector to military service to discuss his attitude with the Army authorities was given by Mr. W. H. Woodward, S.M., when William Henry Murphy, 'of Waitara, appeared at New Plymouth on Monday charged with failing to report for militai'y duty, states a correspondent. Sergeant A. C. Fookes, who represented the Army, said the military authorities welcomed the opportunity of interviewing conscientious objectors and made every endeavour to see them. "As a result of some of them coming to us they have changed their attitude and taken up work in the medical corps and proved quite good fellows," added Sergeant Fookes. "They have found they could reconcile work in that corps with their conscience. If they would do that they might avoid having to pome here and we would much rather they did that. They become of more use to their country than they would be in a defaulters' camp." "You have got this thing tail first, you and your kind," said the Magistrate to Murphy. "You know only one side of the matter. Are you prepared to talk the matter over with the Army and hear the other side?" Murphy undertook to do as suggested by the Magistrate, who remanded him for a week. Night Doctor Service. "In no case did the medical officer concerned feel that his time was wasted," stated a report concerning the recently-instituted night medical service presented to the Auckland Hospital Board by the acting medical superintendent, Dr. W. Gilmour. The service provides for visits to homes at night by medical men who are available through the St. John Ambulance station. Most of the cases dealt with were of an urgent nature, and, if the patient was not actually acutely ill, the relatives were obviously distressed and the relief to them made the visit worth while, Dr. Gilmour's report stated. During the two months of operation of this urgent night service, all calls received except two were attended by the resident doctor supplied by the hospital board, and attached to the ambulance station. The board decided accordingly that the British Medical Association be informed that the board was prepared to continue to provide the doctor if the B.M.A. would pay his salary and liv-ing-in allowance, or, as an alternative, the B.M.A. could provide the service from the medical practitioners. .