FLAG DAY.

Evening Star, Issue 23495, 8 February 1940, Page 8

FLAG DAY.

To-morrow the citizens of Dunedin will be asked to respond to an appeal by the Otago Patriotic Council. The young men of the province are offering their lives on the altar of patriotism and duty, and those people who remain at home are requested to open their pockets in order to provide some comforts for them. In our issue of last night the position was set out very dearly by the Mayor, so that there need be no misunderstanding of the manner in which the money is to be spent. It was explained that the Otago Provincial Council is the only body authorised to organise and direct the collecting and expending of sums for patriotic purposes in the Otago provincial district. A point that- can be stressed is that it has complete control of the funds that may be obtained, and added confidence in the organisation of the appeal will be gained from the knowledge that the whole of the Flag Day movement throughout the province is being arranged and conducted by The Returned Soldiers’ Association. The pressing need of the Patriotic Council is money for the provision of comforts for those in the camps, for various recreation facilities, for band instruments, and for equipment for the troopships. It has to be remembered that so far as New Zealand is concerned, ours is an army of citizens drawn from their homes and usual avocations, and in many ways debarred from the ordinary amenities of life. A liberal response to the appeal will help considerably to relieve the tedium and discomforts of camp obligations. The public can rest assured that the funds, which will be under the direction of a body of representative citizens, will be judiciously employed. Dunedin has never been behind in good works. It has a reputation, founded on examples of the past, for generous giving. In the circumstances it cannot he imagined that the organisers of to-morrow r ’s appeal will be disappointed with the result. If such a thing should happen, it would bo a case of letting down the young men who have so gladly responded to the call to aims in the hour of the Empire’s great need and dire peril.

The assistant commissioner of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, Otago, advises that officers and members of the brigade may assist the mayor’s Flag Day appeal in their capacity as private citizens, but not in brigade uniform. The city organist (Dr V. E. Galway) has arranged for his next after-church recital in the Town Hall a programme full of interest, including two items of which special mention may bo made viz., ‘ Prelude and Fugue in B Flat ’ (Bach) and ‘Allegro From Sonata No. 1’ (Borowski). Other pieces to be performed are ‘Gavotte,’ from ‘ Iphigenia in Aulis ’ (Gluck), ‘Toccata in F’ (Wider). ‘ Ave Maria,’ from ‘The Miracle ’ (Humperdinck), ‘ Caprice in G Minor’ (Crackcl), ‘The Sandman’ (Brahms), and ‘Finale’ (Wolstenholrac). Dr Galway will ho assisted by Miss Dora Drake, who "ill sing ‘ The Child and (he Twilight’ and ‘The Maiden’ (Parry), and Miss Blanche Frrington, who will contribute ‘ The Praise of God’ (Beethoven) and ‘ Ombra Alai Fu ’ (Handel). These two soloists will also bo heard in a duet. ‘0 Lovely Peace,’ from ‘Judas Maccabeus.' (Handel). There will be no charge for admission. The losing of the wedding ring is said to happen at many marriages, and it occurred at one in Dannevn-Ise a few days ago. The ceremony, which was taking place before tho registrar, had progressed to the stage where the bridegroom was asked to place the ring on tho bride’s finger. Frantic search of his pockets failed to reveal it, and lie decided that he must have left it in a shop in High street. The ceremony was delayed while the couple went to search for it. They returned triumphant after 10 minutes, having found the ring lying on the pavement. Hundreds of eels have been found dead in the Hatea River near whore it enters the salt water at Whangarei, states a Whangarei correspondent. At Mair Park swimming pool, employees of the Whangarei Borough Council have removed 50 dead eels from the river, and bathing has now been prohibited in this pool. An inspection was made of the river by Dr C. B. Gilberd, medical officer of health for North Auckland, and the borough health inspector, when it was found that the water contained iron to an injurious extent. Fifteen children bathing in the pool at the time were examined and found to have inflamed eyes and dryness of lips and month. Samples of the water and of the dead eels nave been taken for analysis. Such pains are taken to make milk supplies in Finland pure that there is only a i per cent, of tuberculosis encountered, according to Dr Halliduy Sutherland, the famous author, who spoke on Finland to the Rotary Club at its luncheon on Tuesday (says the ‘Press’). Dr Sutherland described tho efficient testing scheme which segregates affected cattle, and said that it wag much better than pasteurisation, which “ makes dirty milk fit to drink.”- He said that vats would avoid drinking pasteurised milk if they could, and if they were forced to live on it they Inst their fertility after three generations and were unable to reproduce ally more. An alcohol board governed the sale of liquor and caused wines to be cheap and spirits expensive, he said. A story illustrating the keenness of tho returned soldiers who are now on guard duty at points round the city is told concerning one man who was doing his four hours of guard duty on a recent night of rain and fierce wind (says an exchange). The inspecting officer found him leaning against a post and called him to attention, rhe man was slow to respond to questioning. so the officer took the matter up with tho corporal in charge. Later in the following day the corporal reported to him that the man was suffering severely from stomach trouble, but would not report sick lest he should be returned to civilian ranks. Tbe man had eventually to be ordered to rei»vt sick, and, after treatment, was quite fit again for duty. Mr W. D. Pirrett, S.B.St.J., assistant commissioner of the St. John Ambulance Brigade in Otago, and member of the Dunedin Recruiting Committee, delivered a recruiting address to members of the Dunedin ambulance division on Tuesday evening. The speaker pointed out the services rendered by St. John in both peace and war and drew illuminating comparisons between recruiting and conditions in the war of 1914-18 and to-day. An important improvement was the luxurious troop ships provided to-day as against the transports of 1914-18, carrying hundreds of horses on deck super-struc-tures, and troops quartered ’tween decks in dark and uncomfortable holds. As a result of the address seven members enlisted. There was no sitting of the Police Court to-day. An instance of the keen demand for rented houses in Dunedin at present was given during his evidence in a tenancy case in the Magistrate’s Court this morning by a salesman of a land and estate agent. Ho said that in reply to an advertisement inserted in the ‘ Evening Star ’ last Thursday by his firm notifying that there was a house to rent, 134 persons answered it bynoon the following day. In the Timaru Supreme Court this morning Lawrence William Cantwell, who was found guilty by a second juryafter the first had disagreed of negligently driving a car. causing the death of Helen Eva M'Auliffe, was fined £25 and his license was cancelled for five years.—Press Association. February this year is not by any means maintaining the usual weather standards. This month usually is one of the happiest of the summer, and even lust year, when the season was extraordinarily erratic. February proved kind. So far this year the month has been marked by continued high winds, not infrequently reaching gale force, with rainy spells at intervals. This sort of weather has hold good for more than a fortnight now, and throughout the barometer has been remarkably low. Temperatures latterly have been disposed to follow the example set by the barometer, and generally conditions have not been favourable. Such a long spoil of windy weather is most unusual for Dunedin, particularly at this time of the year, and by no stretch of the imagination can it he termed welcome. The winds have mainly been from a west or west-south-west quarter, with an occasional change to north-east, and there is not likely to be much improvement until there is a change to direct south-west, which should have the effect of clearing away the persistent westerly depressions. At Port Chalmers to-day Flag T)ay colleetions were carried out under the auspices of the local branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association. Tbe Otago District, M.U.T.0.0.F., will hold a meeting (o-niglit in the M.U. Chambers at 8 o’clock to confer past officers’ and purple degrees.