NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 56, 7 March 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

WEATHER FORECAST

Fresh south-easterly winds, decreasing: and becoming variable tomorrow. Weather fair apart from some earlymorning' cloud and possibly drizzle. Temperatures becoming milder. The further outlook is for fair weather. Temperature at 9 a.m., 61 degrees. Full moon, March 10: High Water.—Today, 3 p.m.; tomorrow, 3.21 a.m., 3.45 p.m. Sun sets today, 6.56 p.m.; rises tomorrow 6.9 a.m., sets 6.55 p.m.

Loan Authority Sought. The Wellington City Council yesterday afternoon decided to make application to the j Local Government Loans Board for authority to raise £156,000 for the construction of tepid baths, and £30,000 for branch libraries. Lights on Hutt Road. Hooded lights on the Hutt Road, kept burning all night but giving practically no illumination, were discussed by the council of the Automobile Association (Wellington) Inc. last night, after Mr. H. W. Shortt had pointed out that the Petone and Eastbourne foreshores were a blaze of light. It was decided to request that the shields be removed. Government and Petrol. "While the Government has been imposing- restrictions over all these years petrol has been too lavishly used by those people who have been preaching economy,"- said the chairman, Mr. E. A. Batt, at a meeting of the council of the Automobile Association (Wellington) Inc., last night, when petrol rationing was being discussed. "I hope, taking all the circumstances into consideration and the possibility of the Western Front being opened at any time that the Government, Ministers of the Crown, and members of Parliament will set an example they should have set years ago." Motor Registration Fees. Eegistration fees for motor vehicles were briefly discussed by the council of the Automobile Association (Wellington) Inc. last night, after the chairman, Mr. E. A. Batt, had stated that some reduction might be equitable in view of the reduced motoring as a result of the war. It was decided to go into the matter more fully and, if possible, collect figures showing the actual reduction in private cars on the road and the financial position of the thirdparty insurance pool, and submit them to the N.I.M.U. for further action. Letters to Italy.' The restoration of the civil postal service between New Zealand and Sardinia, Sicily, and certain provinces in southern Italy, namely, Bari, Brindisi, Catanzaro, Cosenza, Lecce, Matera, Potenza, Reggio di Calabria, Salerno, and Taranto, was announced last evening by the Postmaster-General (Mr. Webb). In the meantime, he said, the service would be restricted to unregis r tered letters not exceeding 2oz in weight and postcards of a purely personal nature. The postage rates charged would be the normal international rates, i.e., letters, first Joz 3d, each additional £oz up to a maximum of 2oz Id; postcards ljd each. P.O.W. Parcels. Large numbers of parcels from New Zealand next-of-kin for prisoners of war who were formerly in Italy had already reached the prisoner of war packing centre in London, said the Postmaster-General (Mr. Webb) last evening. ' The High- Commissioner, in reporting this, stated that concentration by the staff at the packing centre on the important task of redirecting parcels and letters for these men had resulted in the work of sending acknowledgment cards to next-of-kin falling into arrears. The cards would, however, be dispatched as soon as possible, but in the meantime senders, would be glad of the assurance that the parcels had reached London. The Minister added that, as announced previously, next-of-kin parcels for prisoners interned in Switzerland could not be accepted. City Planning. The City Engineer has been instructed to complete revision of the zoning section of the town-planning schem? for the city. After submission to the council the zoning plan, as adopted by the council, will be submitted to various bodies interested, after which it will be made public, according to a report approved at a meeting of the Wellington City Council yesterday. It was also stated that the bylaws committee had been asked to consider framing a bylaw to limit the height of buildings to be erected in the business area to one and a-nait times the original width of the street they are to front, irrespective of any street widening that has been or may be carried out. Tribute to a Chairman. From* a one-nurse institution in 1893 the Palmerston North Hospital has made rapid progress," until now it is one of the most important in the Dominion. The jubilee was marked on Saturday by a gala day held to augment the funds to provide a swimming pool for the staff. The function was opened by the Minister of Health (Mr. Nordmeyer) and proved a very successful affair. "The Post's" Manawatu correspondent says that the Minister paid a special tribute to .Mr. J. A. Nash, chairman of the Hospital Board, when he stated that there were some chairmen who wanted to usurp the functions, duties, and responsibilities of the medical superintendent, man-aging-secretary, and matron, and anyone else who could contribute to their sense of importance. Mr. Nash, however, had ..recognised that there were others who knew more than he did, and valued co-operation. Culture in the Forces. The excellent cultural work being done by the Army Education and Welfare Service was referred to by the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser) yesterday afternoon when he was opening the "Artists in Uniform" exhibition of pictures and craftwork. He mentioned that no fewer than half a million books had been borrowed last .year- there had been 9372 enrolments for the various A.E.W.S. courses, and effective enrolments for university courses had totalled 1600. Cultural interests had been furthered by the formation of 15 musical groups, and 24 play-reading groups kept up a sustained interest in the drama. There were, in addition, 43 film projectors in operation; Tribute to Home Guard. "Another thing the public did not know was that had anyone come our way the people who were going to take the first kick, who were going to have to hang on until the rest of the Army could find out where the strength of the attack was coming from and push in a solid blow, were the Home Guard. It would have been their job to have taken the first crack, and I know how they would have done it—they would have done it well" This tribute to the Home Guard was paid at a smoke concert by Brigadier A. C. Nathan, who commanded a mobile brigade -in Marlborough after Pearl Harbour, states the "Marlborough Express.' Moaning, Sad Music. "Go to a community sing in Christchurch," suggested Dr. . T Vernon Griffiths Professor of Music to Canterbury University College, speaking _ in Nelson, states the "Nelson Evening Mail" "Do you hear people singing songs which inevitably speak to you of the greatness of the past, of one sincere , thought, simply and sincerely expressed, one universal idea which every human being can ' understand, and speaking of that idea in dignified language or the happy language of innocence? You know perfectly well you don't." He added* that the music came from a land which had thrown it over. The people of the same culture as the audience in America would not have that stuff in their homes and they wondered that we did. "I am not talking about jazz, bright happy jazz. I am talking about that moaning, sad, disillusioned music, which we have accepted from the negroes of Africa. We may sum it up in one sentence, 'It's not British.' We don't sing that music or listen to it from choice. The publishers have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to force it upon our attention, whereas in the old days it came from the soul of the people."