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Evening Star, Issue 25069, 10 January 1944, Page 2

The efforts that have been made to recover the two bodies which were observed on a dangerous portion qt Mount Malte Bruu on January 3 have so far proved unsuccessful. A party under police supervision has been stationed for some days at the Malte Brun Hut, which is situated at a height ot 5.500 ft and is ahout eight miles from Mount Cook. It has been impossib.e to reach the bodies in the prevailing had weather, and until better conditions allow, no further attempt will be made. In anticipation of the weather clearing within a few days, the party which was sent to tho scene of the discovery is remaining at the hut. The two bodies were observed on a cliff-like slope of the mountain by Messrs Bruce Gillies, of Oamaru, and H. Stevenson, of AVeston, who descended the mountain on January 3. It is thought that the .bodies are those of Sergeant W. P. Morton, of Auckland, and Leading Aircraftman W. I'. Wallis, of Chris-tchurch, who fai.ed to return to the Hermitage after a projected trip to the Malte Brun Hut in March, of last year.

- At one of tho largest meetings of fruitgrowers ever held in Hawke's Bay the new scheme proposed by the Government for the handling of fruit for the 1943-44 season was rejected without dissent. The meeting decided to urge the Minister of Marketing, Mr Roberts, to withdraw the scheme and resume the State purchase of pip fruit, giving the growers the advantage of the extra money that the Government was prepared to spend on the scheme rejected by the growers. The meeting, which lasted for nearly three hours, was addressed by Mr A. Brown, of Nelson, who outlined the wage provisions. Ho condemned the scheme aa having nothing in it for the 'benefit of the individual grower. Mr 11. Paynter, a memiber of the Advisory Committee, presided. A badly-wounded American soldier, Private (First Class) Charles E, Oats, was flown from New Zealand to New Caledonia to take part in a Christmas Dav broadcast from Noumea to tinUnited States. Private Oats has had 31 'blood plasma transfusions in the last year, the number being a record for the 39th General Hospital in New Zealand, where he is a patient. Private Oats was wounded at Guadalcanal on January 16 of last year, When a Japanese shell killed his friends. It was necessary to amputate an arm and leg, and for some months he was in an unfavourable condition and did not want to live. He found, however, that others were in the same plight, and slowly changed his attitude. To-day he has the reputation among his fellows of not thinking about himself, tout of always trying to help somebody else. The 'broadcast in New Ca-'.edonia . was from a ward in an army hospital. It was held on Christmas Eve, and after the broadcast Private Oate was flown back to New Zealand.

A total of 7,479,988 Christmas packages were distributed to members of the United States naval on duty at sea and overseas. A Navy Department statement which has been received in Auckland states that 3,479,988 of the packages were shipped overseas and the others were delivered on board ships at American ports. All the gifts were from friends and relatives of the men on service.

Owing to the difficulty of obtaining labour, one of Wellington's big laundries has notified a, number of private hospitals that it will no longer be able to' undertake their washing. This lias placed the private hospitals in somewhat of a dilemma, as their weekly wash is a large one and it is not easy to find anyone willing to undertake the work; in the majority of cases it cannot ho done on the premises and has to be sent out. Laundry and drycleaning firms have been experiencing great difficulties for a considerable time in coping with work owing to labour shortages, and tho manager of one firm stated to-day that there did not seem much prospect of an early improvement as it was well-nigh impossible to get an adequate staff. At one. time a suit could be cleaned and pressed and returned to its owner within a few days, hut now it was almost a matter of weeks.

The beauty of many of the reserves which adorn our city is enhanced by the trees which girdle them, and it is a sad commentary on the mentality of those citizens, young or otherwise, who wantonly injure or destroy them. An instance of such vandalism occurred during the week-end at the .Oval, when one of the trees there was gashed and a section of the bark stripped from it. What satisfaction the perpetrator of this senseless act obtained from the disfigurement, and possibly ultimate destruction, of what had become a shapely ornament, is difficult to understand. ]"t is a pity that one of the voluntary rangers lately enrolled for tho'purpose of detecting kucli offences was not handy at the time.

The annual report of the Mission of Lepers, of which the New Zealand secretary is the Rev. Fred. A., Thompson. Auckland, states that the financial year closed on November 30 last with the splendid sum of £9,400 contributed in the Dominion. This was an increase of £2.495 over the return of the previous year. Despite the increase, many destitute lepers had to foe turned away from the homes because there was no room for them. The famine conditions which prevailed, particularly in enemyoccupied countries, made the burden of the mission .and of the honorary superintendents of the homes a very heavy one. Tt was good, however, to know that because of the increased income New Zealand would have relieved the distress of manv more lepers. In normal times and under ordinary circumstances the increase in revenue would have been sufficient to support 490 new patients for a year. Gratitude is expressed to all those "who contributed.

The descendant of a pioneer family at Waiuku. speaking of the decline in the birth rate, tells how in the good old davs one married couple could boast of having 24 children to look after (savs the Auckland 'Star')- The offspring of this largo family were now scattered over a wide district. More recently one family at Waiuku totalled 22. He had heard it said that the birth rate of the township now almost totalled the number of the largest of some of these big families.

A moonshine angler, recently casting his fly into that enchanting dusk which shrouds the dimpling stream as day gives way to night, in the hope ol luring a fat trout, had the unique experience of foul-hooking a morepork by the wing. Both were flabbergasted (says the "Wellington ' Evening Post'). There were frenzied ilutteriugs on the part of the bird, anc! a dumb amazement, tempered by an instinctive winding in of the line, on the part of the angler. Finally the biril wound the gut cast round it so that it could no longer fly. Its beak was free and it snapped so vigorously that the angler decided to scoop it up in the net. and take it home like that, only a few hundred yards. When it was unwound and placed on the carpet beneath strong electric light, the morepork was docile, probably because it could not see. but it turned its head frequently as exclamations issued from the members of the family, and a five-weeks-old terrier snuffed round _it guardedly. When it was put outside there was a blur of fluffy motion, and no moreipork.

Due to rationing, the demand for clothes is so great in Sydney that thieves are stealing even worn underclothing, old socks, and worn shoes, an insurance loss assessor stated the other day. He said that in 1943 there had been record thefts from laundries and thousands of suits had been stolen from dry cleaners. He added: " Jewellery had always been high on the robbery list, but 'we haven't had a good jewel robber since ' the man in the pork-pie hat ' was gaoled about six months ago. Ho used to work the Vaucluse, Rose Bay, Point Piper districts. His method was to lock the woman of the house in her bathroom while she was having a bath and then help himself to her jewels."

December was a warm,-settled month (reports the Dominion Meteorologist). Disturbances while crossing New Zealand were weak and strong winds were of short duration. Most districts have had excellent conditions for harvesting and shearing, although some of the wool has been short. There has not been sufficient rain for many of the small crops, and burnt pastures are adversely affecting dairy production. By the end of the month the fire hazard throughout the country was becoming serious. With few exceptions the month was very dry. Average totals were reached locally at Whangarei and about Taupo and exceeded at most places between Hastings and East Cape. Other districts were dry. The South Island as a whole had only about half its usual rainfall and Canterbury considerably less. In northern parts of that,province some totals were extremely small. A country nurse stationed up north in 1927,' who later married a farmer in Auckland at the New Year, told of some of her. experiences when country district nurses ,had to do their travelling on horseback. The horses had to be shod as frequently as once every three weeks, for the shoes, were often pulled off in the stiff mud of the clay- roads. On one occasion she brought to the city a patient who was an urgent case. She had not time to change from a rigout which was familiar enough in the country districts during winter time,, but caused a sensation, in the city streets. She had on a sou'-wester hat, a waterproof outfit which she had oiled and mad© herself, leggings and heavy hoots. Now district nurses ride in motor cars, and are little exposed to the weather.

The City Fire Brigade was called at 2.30 o'clock yesterday afternoon to Anssac Avenue to extinguish a grass fire and at 3.43 o'clock it answered a call to a chimney fire in Young street, St. Kilda; A chimney fire occurred in Royalty street just after noon to-day.