NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 101, 30 April 1943, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

WEATHER FORECAST Fresh to strong northerly winds. Weather mainly fair to cloudy, but some brief rain likely late tomorrow. Moderate temperatures. The further outlook is for fair weather. Special Church Services. Members of the Hospital Board and of the hospital staff have been invited to attend special services to be held on Sunday, May 9, at 11 a.m., at St. Mark's and St. Mary of the Angels Churches to commemorate the life and work of Florence Nightingale. Coupons for Fur Coats. A notice published 'in last night's Gazette announces a reduction in the number of coupons required for the purchase of fur coats not longer than 28 inches in length. Up to the present time 15 coupons have had to be surrendered for fur coats, but the humber now is 10. Social Welfare Expenditure. One committee of the Wellington Hospital Board, social welfare, has had a good year of under-spending. The chairman, Mr. G. Petherick, reported that the actual expenditure, £5911, was £ 1624 below the estimate, a result, he thought, largely due to the good understanding existing between the board and private organisations engaged in social work so that overlapping was avoided. During the year 199 cases were assisted with rations — milk, meat, and groceries—firing, and small cash grants. Auctioneering System. Recommendations to the Government by the Labour Party Conference yesterday included one stating that the auctioneering system was anomalous inside a stabilised price system, and that it should be abolished. It was also recommended that the sale of: tools and household utensils by auc- \ tioneers be abolished, and that com- j mission shops be set up to sell these 'goods at fixed prices. Sportsmen's Dawn Patrol. I Those sportsmen with adequate ammunition are now probably well prepared for their dawn patrol tomorrow, the opening of the 1943 shooting season. A fairly heavy wind with misty rain provide the best conditions for duck shooters, as the„birds fly low, and when disturbed from one spot on lakes or rivers, will blunder more readily on shooters in ambush. Both the Manawatu and Wairarapa waters are said to be well stocked, and shooters who have been able to gather a fortnight's supply of ammunition should have a good season. No Escape. Two collectors for today's flag day hit upon a happy expedient for raking in the money. They boarded one of the most crowded of the morning trains leaving Waterloo for the city, and when all the hundreds of passengers were seated they asked each one for a contribution. There was no escape, no possibility, as there is in the street, of hurrying past the collector and pretending not to have heard, and the result from the collectors' point of view was decidedly satisfactory. It was like shooting sitting, birds, remarked one victim. Tramway Employees. Under an order gazetted last night tramway workers required in pursuance of, the order to work in any week on a day which except for the provisions of the order would not be a working day, are to be given a minimum of eight hours work and are to be paid at the rate of time and a half. Sunday is not to be regarded as an additional day under the order. This provision applies to all workers and their employers who are bound by awards and industrial agreements to which the New Zealand Tramways Authorities Employees' Industrial Union of Workers is a party. Protection for Tenants. The purpose of an amendment to the Debtors' bEmergency Regulations gazetted last night is to extend to the tenants of business and similar premises, not holding under formal lease, the protection afforded by these regulations for summary ejectment without an order of the Court. A further provision eliminates a double protection which the principal regulations unintentionally conferred on the tenants of dwellings. The special protection of the Fair Rents Act will, of course, remain, but there is no need for that protection to be duplicated, especially now that all dwellings come under the Fair Rents Act. "A Miserable Thing." "It is an absolute scandal," said Mrs. J. N. Clarke at a meeting of the North Canterbury Hospital Board when she reported that a nurse who collapsed on hearing of the death of her soldier fiance overseas and was sent home, had had deductions made from her wages for being absent for three days, reports the "Press." When Mrs. Clarke mentioned the case, the Rev. J. X, Archer suggested that the board should go into committee. "No, the people should know what goes on," replied Mrs. Clarke. "I want to find out who is responsible for doing such a miserable thing as to deduct 7s 6d from the paltry wages of a nurse who collapsed on being told of the death of her fiance in action while fighting for us." Tne chairman (Mr. L. B. Evans) said the hospital committee would make an investigation. "I want to see the money refunded," Mrs. Clarke reminded the board. Outpatient Discomfort. At a meeting of the Hospital Board last night Mr. H. *F. Toogood again protested against the unsatisfactory conditions in which thousands of out-patients at the main hospital had to wait about and staff members had to work. Mr. J. Purvis said that the conditions had been made still more uncomfortable by the blocking up of windows by air raid protection bricking and woodwork; it was not fair to expect anyone to work long hours in such conditions, and either some of the bricks should be knocked ] out or fans should be put in. The Government had knocked brickwork out of the windows of one of its new buildings and the board might do the same, said Mr. F. W. Furkert. Tlie Medical Superintendent, Dr. J. Cairney, said that some improvements had been made, but he was not prepared to go further without a dispensation from the Public Works Department. Mr. W. J. Gaudin agreed that it would be a mistake to remove more protective work unless it was sanctioned by the authorities; who could say that if it was removed it would not have to be replaced later on?