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Evening Star, Issue 24096, 17 January 1942, Page 6

“ I would like the public to know that potatoes arc obtainable at a price,” said the secretary of the Wellington Retail Fruiterers’ Association, Mr A. Bonnot. “Wo could obtain potatoes from the growers, but we are not allowed by the Government to pay them more ’than £2O a ton, nor are they allowed to take it. I think the Government made a mistake in fixing the price. Before that was done there were potatoes on the market, and it was better for people to bo able to buy, even at 6d a lb, than for both retailers and public to be without potatoes. It the market were free, we could obtain supplies, and retailers would not object to paying growers a fair price, so long as they had potatoes to offer the public. I know of one retailer who is obtaining a supply from the south, and probably ho is paying well above £2O a ton. It seems clear that if the_ present situation continues the regulation will be broken.” “ The groat saving which must have been made to the dairy industry throughout New Zealand by the reconditioning of used butter boxes can bo gauged from the report submitted by our manager (Mr J. S. Aitken) to a recent meeting of _ directors,” said Mr P. S. Humm (chairman of directors of the Kaikoura Dairy Company). This season more than 6,500 boxes had been reconditioned and a saving based on the cost of replacement was estimated at many hundreds of pounds, the report said. Townsfolk have often been rather critical of the general body of farmers, because some of the latter are so frequently seen at race meetings, stock sales, and other places of assembly. But, according to the ‘ Waikato Times,’ a farmer, in Hamilton the other day, was enjoying the first occasion in five years that he has not been on duty in the milking shed. Asked if he enjoyed the day, he remarked that it was “ all right until about 3.30, when my fingers began to itch. I knew it was cow-time 1 ”

“ Do you know bow much our war effort is handicapped by the unfair treatment which the State gives to merchant seamen now? ” asked Lord Chatfield, formerly Admiral of the Fleet, in the House of Lords. “ They fight daily side by side with men of the Royal Navy wherever there is a convoy to bring in our food and supplies, and wherever there is a convoy to take our troops or their supplies into a war theatre: there the officers and men of the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy have equal risks. They suffer equally from tho violence of tho enemy, and the Tosses in tho Merchant Navy are certainly as great as in the RoyalNavy. But when they return to port under the Red Ensign, what then ? Do they get the privileges which the State organises for the men of the Royal Navy? No, indeed, they are treated quite differently. The question of uniform for the Mercantile Marine is not in a very satisfactory condition; there is a uniform, hut it is optional, and it has to be paid for by tbe men. The vast majority of the men do not have it; they have a small badge with the letters ‘ M.N.’ on it-which they can wear in their coat, but they consider that this is ineffective and is an inadequate symbol of what they are and of what they are doing for the country. Sometimes they turn it upside down so that it reads ‘ N.AV.,’ which they think bettor exemplifies what they are— 1 Not Wanted.’ ”

" If it is considered necessary for members of the Cabinet to have a deep air-raid shelter dug for them in Wellington, surely it is necessary for all of us to have deep shelters dug for us,” said a questioner at a meeting held in Christchurch, at which the organisation of the Emergency Precautions Services in Christchurch was described. The city engineer, Mr E. Somers, replying, pointed out that it would bo necessary to go down 40ft to prepare such shelters in Christchurch, and that the objections to such a scheme ought to bo obvious to all Christchurch citizens. London had not got completely bomb-proof shelters, he said, and New Zealand would not have them either. The intention was to provide protection from splinters and blast. ' There have been a lot of complaints in New Zealand lately about the shortage and high price of vegetables, but because of the extreme drought conditions prevailing in New South Wales, the position is a good deal worse in Sydney. An Australian broadcasting station reported, the other night that cabbages were selling at up to 2s 6d each in Sydney, and they were so scarce, not to mention dear, that retailers were selling them in quarters. “ There is no shortage of sugar at the present time,” said a representative of the Colonial Sugar Company in Auckland. Because of the heavy demand which had begun soon after the entry of Japan into the war, he said, it was difficult to distribute sugar everywhere at once, and that had apparently given rise to talk of a shortage. A report that a steamer had arrived at Auckland without sugar was incorrect; a shipment of approximately 150 tons had been made to the Dominion last week. A letter from a New Zealand officer serving in the Middle East shows how easily bad packing can spoil a gift parcel. In one ho received, from a North Island patriotic body, the sweets wore uneatable. They had been packed in tobacco tins, and shreds of tobacco, loft in the tins, had tainted them all. A cake in a tin without a lid, inside a cardboard box, had grown “ long whiskers.” To promote a scheme of settlement on the land of suitable soldiers returning from the war, a committee at Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay, representative of all local bodies in the district, set up a small committee which will prepare a list of properties in the district which are considered suitable for cutting up and for the use of men who wish to settle on the land. Speakers stressed that the main things wanted in New Zealand to-day were small farms and big factories. Tho committee decided to work on broad principles, and to do its utmost to avoid mistakes made after tho last war when land settlement was gone into. Small blocks, rather than large areas, wore urged for settlement. “ It was terrible to hear the news that the Prince of Wales and the Repulse had been sunk, and it was hard to believe, as I had only seen them steam out a couple of days earlier,” states a Wanganui man stationed in Singapore in a letter home (reports the Wanganui ‘ Herald ’). “ The survivors began to arrive about 10 p.m., and it was a sight I will never forget,” he adds. “ They had practically no clothing, just shirts, towels, lifebelts, and rags ..wrapped round them, and the majority were covered in oil. The number of men rescued was more than 2,000, and several were injured. Each man was given a couple of sausages, potatoes, and tea. Luckily there was no air raid alarm that night. I don’t know what would have happened if there had been,” concluded the writer.

Individual risks may be individual affairs, but no individual has the right to endanger the community,” said Mr E. Hitchcock, lighting controller, in a broadcast talk on the blackout from Station 3YA, Christchurch, on Tuesday evening. “In this matter you are not your own; you are a factor in community safety. Do more than the bare minimum that must be done; the safety of your fellow-citizens calls for good measure.” “ Anything that you have stored in vour rafters that might help to feed a fire started by a fire bomb should be removed,” said Mr W. Machin when giving a public address on the organisation of the Emergency Precautions Services in Christchurch. He emphasised that householders should attend to such accumulations of old or new goods. For instance, ho said, Christmas decorations or old trunks might bo stored in the rafters. They would make an excellent seat for a fire ■which the normal fire-fighting appliances could not handle. To remove such material was an easy task for any householder. “ You're the victim in this appeal,” suggested Mr G. A. Maddison, chairman of the No. 7 Man Power Committee in Hastings, when William Edward Cockroft, branch manager of the State Advances Corporation, Napier, opposed an appeal lodged by the Director, of National Service against his calling into camp with the National Military Reserve. “ Yes, it’s not my appeal. I’m the chopping block,” replied reservist, who said that he was quite keen to go into camp, although it was certain that his going into camp would seriously inconvenience the business. Sergeant-major R. D. McCully stated that_ reservist had received special training in certain phases and was a very valuable man for the army. “ It’s jolly tough on you, but you are the head of a department which is becoming more and more important in the matter of soldiers’ rehabilitation, and I’m afraid we will have to allow the director’s appeal,” said the chairman. Never mind the rumours ; the principle is that of mother and child together,” declared Mr L. O. Hooker, controller of the evacuation and accommodation section of the Hawera Emergency Precautions Service, when asked whether there was any foundation in statements that in the event of an evacuation it was intended to separate mothers from their children. Concern had been expressed by parents, who heard a persistent rumour that it is intended to transfer young children to back country centres without their mothers. Rain again caused the abandonment of cricket fixtures to-day. This is the sixth out of 11 Saturdays set down for competition matches that such a course has been necessary. Club executives are also having an anxious time trying to raise teams to put in the field when weather conditions do allow of play, and there is a move on the part of certain clubs in the direction of amalgamation of forces in order to keep the senior grade competition going. One suggestion is that the two Carisbrook teams should combine and that the Albion-Y.M.C.A. and University teams might also amalgamate. The matter is to bo discussed at the meeting of the Otago Cricket Association’s committee on "Tuesday night. In the Police Court this morning, before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., James William Bennett pleaded guilty to an offence under the Child Welfare Act in that he attempted to hold communication with his children, who were inmates of an institution conducted under tho provisions of that Act. The prosecution stated that accused’s three children were boarded out, and, owing to the father’s bad record, he had been forbidden to have any communication with them He had been_ warned against this on several occasions, and the department had been compelled to take action. Tho magistrate pointed out to the accused that he was liable to three months’ imprisonment for this offence. The accused, however, was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within 12 months. Arrangements have now been completed whereby the services of personnel of the transport section of the W.W.S.A. will be made available to tho Army Department for various duties. The impressment of vehicles for military purposes has resulted in a good deal of movement consequent upon repairs, reconditioning, and other requirements being necessary. The services of women drivers in transporting the vehicles from place to place as called for will release a number of men in the motor transport section, making them available for other duties. The work of the women will be entirely voluntary, and the hours engaged will be between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Released by the Man Power Committee, Charles William Collins and Clive Cathcart Guthrie, both of _ Wanaka, will leave on Monday to join the overseas reinforcements which left for a North Island training camp on Wednesday last. Both men are attached to tho infantry section. Every week during the last few mouths more and more motorists are resorting to producer gas as a substitute for petrol, and many arc the unusual contrivances now to bo seen built on to tho bodywork of private cars. Some of them are more or less neatly constructed and mounted, while others still resemble miniature gasworks. Many, of course, are obviously the results' of amateur labour, but, though weird and wonderful in design, they nevertheless serve their purpose, and after all that is all that really matters these days. So far not many commercial vehicles have been thus equipped. One particular forwarding company is concentrating on horse-drawn rubbertyred wagons, and a recent appearance on the streets was made by a brightlycoloured Diesel-driven tractor which draws a wholesaler’s lorry and sometimes a four-wheeled trailer about the city. The latest novelty which tho emergency has brought out is a light delivery van on top of which is a large envelope filled with city supplied gas, capable of holding 250 units at a cost of approximately Is 7d. Tho “ gasbag,” which has been made from imitation leather, is held in place by a light wooden frame made rigid to the bodywork by a number of metal stays. Tho complete outfit was constructed by tho technical staff of the factory from which the van operates, and it is expected that one full bag of coal gas will bo sufficient for a normal day’s operations around Dunedin. The < show conducted by the Waikouaiti A. and P. Association to-day was attended only by enthusiasts. Tho skies were grey, and there was an Occasional fine drizzle. Friesians and Ayrshires were fewer in number than last year, but other cattle classes had a greater number of entries, and tho draught horse and sheep sections received better support. Light horses were in about the same numbers. The baking entries were up to the usual standard. —Own reporter.

Manchoser Unity Lodge activities for the coming week are advertised in this issue.