NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 68, 21 March 1945, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

WEATHER FORECAST

Forecast to 5 p.m. Thursday:— Light to moderate variable winds, with norlherlies predominating and freshening- gradually tomorrow.

Weather fair to fine, with cool night and moderating day temperatures. Further outlook: Fair.

Situation report.—An anti-cyclone is centred over the western Tasman Sea, and pressure is low to the south-east of the Dominion. Temperature at 9.30 a.m., 61 degrees. Rainfall for 24 hours to 9.30 a.m. today, nil. Full moon, March 29.

High water.—Today, 11.35 p.m.; tomorrow, 12.2 p.m. Sun.—Sets today, 6.33 p.m.; rises tomorrow, 6.25 a.m., and sets 6.32 p.m. National War Savings. Last week 242 towns attained their quotas of National War Savingsnine more than in the previous week. I All the principal centres were sue- j cessful, and in seventeen of the nineteen postal districts the full district quota was reached. In the Blenheim, Greymouth, Oamaru, Timaru, and Westport districts all places attained their individual quotas. A Fine Example. j The raising of over ;T.IOOO towards1 the cost of an assembly hall by the! Waterloo School Committee was referred to by Mr. Nash, Minister of i Finance, when he opened the Waterloo flower show last week. This was a very praiseworthy effort, said the Minister, and it had led to the Government deciding on a policy of granting a £2 to £1 subsidy to &ny school which displayed .similar initiative. Schooling- and Train Travel. "We are told by the Minister that the coal in New Zealand is a record, yet there are children who travel by train who are having only three days' schooling a week," said Mr. G. A. Maddison, the chairman, at a meeting of the Hawke's Bay Education Board when urging that there shoulcl be a restoration of the railway services. "You know the answer already. You will be told that no coal is coming from Australia," remarked Mr. R. Sainsbury. Opossum Menace Brought Home. The owner of a crib at Eastbourne is now well aware of the opossum menace. Opening the door he discovered footmarks traced in soot in many places, and soot in the fireplace. Assuming correctly that an opossum had come down the chimney, he closed that entrance by placing stones on the top of it. On his next visit a scene of devastation met his eye. Things were knocked down, and soot was spread fairly evenly on all level spaces, including the bed. Realising that he had shut the visitor in, he made a search and discovered it hiding under the stove. A spade was used on it in two ways. Ireland's Wartime Position. "In New Zealand we have felt the shock of war more directly than Ireland," said his Lordship Bishop Lyons, at the grand Irish national concert in Christchurch on Saturday evening, "but we must not think that the tragedy and horror of war have not come into the homes of Ireland, too," reports the "Press." "Mr. de Valera remained neutral because his people wished it, but Ireland has helped Britain in many ways. In Eire, whose population is 3,000,000, one-quarter of a million of her people are serving with the British Army, and that excludes the large number of men and women working on England's industrial front." Social Security in the Past. "I see in some of your remits that several of your lodges think that social security benefits now overshadow those provided by the Order, and consequently they suggest new fields of endeavour. In my opinion, such proposals are signs of health and vigour," said the Mayor, Mr. W. Appleton, addressing the Druids' biennial conference today. "They are in direct contrast to an all too common tendency to accept what is provided by a benevolent State—and quite rightly—without asking the question, "What can •we still do to help ourselves?' You may accept it as a matter for self-congratulation that the State now provides much that your Order gave its members years before social security was ever advanced on a »political" platform, benefits that subsequently became an accepted part of social legislation." The Wrong- Horse. For a considerable period, said Senior Detective P. Doyle, in evidence before the Royal Commission on Licensing in Wellington yesterday, he had watched a well-known Maori sly grogger in the King Country, who was the possessor of a white horse. Riding one, and with the white horse carrying liquor in packs, he had frequently taken grog into the proclaimed areas. Tbe Maori travelled late at night or in the dawn. "But at last I caught him," said the witness, "and made him reveal the contents of his pack. Together with certain household goods he had twelve bottles of whisky." The Maori looked at the whisky, pondered for a timer and remarked. "Now, is that not extraordinary? I must have taken the wrong pack-horse." However, the explanation did not satisfy a Magistrate, and he was subsequently fined. Honey Producers Defiant. A form of passive resistance to the honey marketing regulations is being adopted by Canterbury beekeepers, according to unofficial reports, states the Christchurch "Star-Sun." At the last conference of Canterbury beekeepers on February 15 a motion of no-confidence in the Internal Market- ■, ing Division as their marketing organi- ! sation was carried with one dissentient. Since that date it appears that Canter- j bury beekeepers have been selling I their crops on the free market and j have been disregarding the regulation which demands that 301b of honey for j each hive should be sent to the Internal Marketing Division. Last season, honey producers were expected to send 70 per cent, of their crop to the Internal Marketing Division, but this season they are able to retain two-thirds of their crop assuming that they have a good yield. As a result of the existing conditions many retailers have been unable to secure honey supplies this season, producers preferring to sell their honey at from 10£ d to ls per lb to private buyers rather than sell to the Internal Marketing Division at a considerably reduced price.