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Evening Star, Issue 24919, 17 July 1943, Page 4

The Salvation Army Street Day appeal yesterday resulted in the collection of £540, which is £l3O more than last year's amount. Brigadier Goffin, who was in charge of the collection, said this morning that he was most gratified with the results and wished to thank the public for the generous response. He also wished to thank Mr A. Thomas, manager, and the staff of the Dunedin Savings Bank for their help in checking and banking the money. The most noticeable feature of the appeal was the number of young people, including many soldiers, who supported the Army's request for funds.

Illustrating the German soldier's vandalism, a Dunedin soldier writes from Tunisia: —"We had a look at Enfidaville. The Hun has wantonly smashed up all the homes—doors, windows, furniture, mirrors, wash basins, everything. Even the room at the rear of the Roman Catholic church was smashed and stuff thrown everywhere—impossible to say what it was, just a : tremendous iness on the floor. The church itself didn't escape. Statues were desecrated—one of the Christ with an arm knocked off, another of the Madonna with the nose senselessly, cut off, and. so on. A French civilian turned up while Ave were there, looked at the wreckage, shook his head 1 ! and said, 'Sale Tfilthy) Boche!' His tone was enough. Outside streams of prisoners were coming down the road. I said: 'There's your "sale Boche." His reply was more expressive than words. He spta on the pavement." The executive of the Dunedin R.S.A. is making arrangements for the entertainment of returned men of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. at a function to be held at an early date. The\ exact nature of the function and the time and place at which it will be held will be determined and announced at a later date. It will not in any case be held until after the 'function already arranged by the civic authorities.

A number of the men on furlough from the Middle East were asked at Invercargill what were their ideas of post-war organisations for the troops. The opinion was expressed that the great majority favoured joining the existing New Zealand Returned Services' Association. The Association was firmly established and had a good reputation for its efforts on behalf of ex-servicemen. * Any separate organisation would involve splitting the ranks and weakening any representations which might be) made. Hazards _ encountered by naval personnel during intense aerial bombardments are illustrated by the experiences of Lieutenant Gordon Duff,' R.N.Z.N.V.R., formally of New Plymouth. When his ship was off Pantelleria- he saw a bomb bounce oyer the bridge and explode half a mile beyond. Describing the short sharp spasms of bombing by °Focke-Wulfs off Panielleria, Lieutenant Duff said that one German attempted to skid his bombs into the ship's side by attacking almost from sea level: '' Releasing the pill he zoomed up and away," continued Lieutenant Duff. "We saw the bomb strike the water and tensed ourselves for the inevitable explosion a couple of seconds later." Such was the angle of impact, however, that the bomb literally skidded, botinced 100 feet over the ship's bridge, and went ( on to crash into the sea, where it exploded half a mile beyond the ship. * Thornbury, a small township about 20 miles west of Invercargill, has alreadv one Liberty Loan record to its credit: it was the first centre in New Zealand to reach its quota. Hut Thornbury may have established another record, It may have exceeded its quota by a greater percentage than any other centre. Thornbury had a target of £3,000 and raised £10,337, or 344 per cent, of the target.

The Benevolent Committee of the Otago Hospital Board reports having dealt during July with 16 cases for relief at an expenditure of £3O 10s 7d. Planted just 80 years ago to commemorate the marriage of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII., to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, in 1863, an oak tree „on the north side of the Avon River, to the rear of the Public Hospital, is the oldest tree in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. It is .in a healthy condition,- stands 60ft high, and has a, spread of 00ft. Great celebrations were held in Christchurch at the time of the Royal marriage, and the planting of two oak trees, named " Albert Edward " and " Alexandra," was a central feature of the occasion. The superintendent of the province presided at the planting of the trees, one of which is the tree at present standing.

In the election to fill the vacancy in the iSouth Ward of the Otago Education District, Mr Robert Flett (Milton) polled ]4j3 votes, and Mr Walter Allen Parker (Kaitangata) 71 votes. Mr Flett will thus represent the South Ward oti the Otago Education Board in place of Mr Donald Marshall, who recently retired.