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Evening Star, Issue 25083, 26 January 1944, Page 4

Butter rationing has not proved to ibe an insurmountaible difficulty to at least one farm worker in the llangiora district. Working on his employer's property some distance from his home, he found it necessary to take with him each morning several meals!of sandwiches. His butter ration was not sufficient for his requirements, so his employer lent him a cow. He had neither separator nor churn at his home, tout he surmounted this difficulty by hand-skimming the cream from the milk. He then shook the cream in a billy, very presentable.home-made butter being the result.

A young Auoklander working in a collar-and-tie job with a large Auckland firm received an order from the man power department. He was to report for work on a duo date as a labourer. To his surprise, however, he was directed to the firm he was already employed by and was to be paid the ruling rates, which happened to be h(g'her than those in his previous position. Grade 2. he had never done any labouring.

When an inspection of an Auckland city warehouse) was carried out after intensive fumigation in an effort to control a plague of fleas, it was discovered that not only the fleas bad succumbed to the gas attack, but over 75 rats had perished, their sizes ranging from mere mosquito-weights, to an oldman rat which must have been the great-grandfather of all his tribe, states the Auckland ' Star.' His trunk is reported to have measured loin, excluding head and tail, and his girth at the greatest point nearly 12iin. The warehouse has no'connection with foodstuffs, and the reason why such numbers of rats should have made it their stamping ground is a puzzle. Judging by the big fellow's weight, they did not go hungry. "New arrivals among reinforcements for the Eighth Anmy were looked upon as fair game by newspaper vendors in Cairo," said a New Zealand machinegunner who returned wounded to Palincrston North recently. When, the New Zealandcrs were rushed back to Egypt from Syria they were not permitted to stop in Cairo, but went straight through by lorry and were in action in the desert almost immediately. " Although the move was very hushhush at the time, the Gyij)ipos got to hear of it beforehand'by some mysterious method of their own, and when we arrived a nmimlber of themi were waiting for us with newspapers for sale. Of course we fell for it, the whole lot of us, and they ran beside the lorries while we grabbed the papers and paid. When we made camp and opened them we found that most of them were at least three months old—and some were dated October of the previous year! Of course, by that time there was nothing any of us could do about it. Yes, we were considered fair game." . Anecdotes of mobilised service provided the major part of the entertainment at a National Military Reserve reunion at Wanganui. Lieutenant K. 13. Kelly, formerly commandant of a camp for Maori Home Guards, was awarded the palm for a story relating to the employment of National Military Reserve instructors for the Maori trainees, states the ' Wanganui Chronicle.' He explained that the instructors were of various racial extractions

and that all got on well with the recruits. The most lasting impression was made by one popular member ol the Gisborne' Company, who instructed the Maori troops in the use of weapons. Some time after this instructor's departure from the camp the commandant conducted a snap test of the recruits' knowledge. " What part of the rifle is this?" he asked one Home Guardsman, placing his finger on the weapon. From a trainee, whose .English was not verv fluent in the ordinary wav, came the smart answer: " Aye, it's the for-r-rc-sight, ye ken, sir!"

The Management Committee of the New Zealand" Amateur Athletic Association has officially recognised the ott lOJin rccentlv cleared by J. H. boriand, Canterbury, as a New Zealand junior high jump record. The heignt accepted was sft 10Jin, as eighths of an inch are not recognised. The previous record was sft 10m.

Legislation has been prepared in New'South Wales to ban horror films from Saturday afternoon matinees for children. It' is proposed to classify films into four categories, and it wi.l be permissible to show at matinees only those films which are passed as suitable for children. Printed matter relating to films will be censored and objectionable features will be eliminated from advertising. A research bureau is to be established to record the effect of films on children.

Claims for world shearing records usually excite some controversy, particularly as it is often difficult in scattered country communities to secure authenticated information, but no figures have been quoted yet to dispute the attainment of Sonny White, at MiFrancis Stafford's Sherbrooke Station, Pheriri. nine years ago, states the ' Gisborno Herald.' Last week's Putaruru performance of 417 ewes in nine working hours by Henry Thomas Tuwhangai, Kawhia, is another instance of a claim which has fallen short of the Gisborne district feat. Sonny White's record was created under ideal conditions, with clean sheep in excellent condition, and with the floor keipt clean by two pressors and five shed hands. *Thc sheep were Romney ewes, of which 433 were shorn in nine hours. The Putaruru tally was 417 ewes in nine hours. Sonny White's gang came from the Urewera Country, and was well known in the Gisborne district, where it had put up some splendid performances (previously. The party ol six shearers with whom he was associated put through 1,561 sheep in the one day, or an average of 312 per man in the nine hours. The record prior to that was held by Bill Higgins. who operated in the lower half of the North Island and whose record for nine hours was said to have been 407 shecip. [n its first year of operations an Australian Boston Squadron in New Guinea has piled up a uniquely impos-, ing record of activities and provoked a high tribute by the Minister of the Air (says -the Melbourne 'Age'). This squadron has participated in no fewer than 151 operations, in which it has dropiped more than 725,0001 b ot bombs and fired nearly 707,000 rounds of ammunition. These operations havo been carried out in support of the Buna, Lac, and Salamaua campaigns and widespread strikes, in which it has I exacted heavy toll from the enemy. In addition to blasting > Japanese installations, equipment, air fields, troop concentrations, and shipping, and sharing with other Australian and Allied air units the honours of' the famous Bismarck Sea victory, the squadron has on numerous occasions been called upon to succour Australian troops with food and other supplies dropped by parachute. The squadron has a creditable list of awards to its credit, including the Victoria Cross awarded to the late Flight-lieutenant W. E. Newton, of St. Kilda. Mr Drakeford said the dash, daring, and offensive spirit of the squadron had earned it the respect and admiration of all arms of the fighting services. " You can picture the boys going home frpm the war with a pretty good first-hand knowledge of the characteristics of tho Egyptian, the Greek, the Italian, and the German, and an understanding of the way these people live and of what they want out of life, and the difficulties they're up against in trying to get the things they want. Or think of an Australian airman who is seeing for himsolf what the average Englishman is like and what he has on his mind; or an American soldier who's getting a close-up of New Zealanders in their own homes and cities and finding that they're pretty much like his own people back in the United States. Even if tbev don't realise, it yet themselves, the minds of all these men are being broadened and filled out by what they are seeing. They, will automatically pass on to their folk at home a great many of the things they have learned, by the very act of writing letters, and, in the happy days ahead, of reminiscing around the family fireside. That's what I mean when I tell you the world isn't such a big place after all. Evil as wars may be, this one is having a far stronger educating influence than any that have | gone before, because it has knocked at the door of almost every home in almost every land. And I have seen everywhere a determination to get tho very-best out of the victory which has taken so much time and effort to bring within our reach.."—Robin Miller, New Zealand war correspondent, in a 8.8. C. broadcast.

Advice to the public on the control of mosquitoes is given by Dr P. Miller, chief entomologist at the Cawthron Institute, who points put that though we are fortunate that no carriers of human materia yet occur in New Zealand, it must be clear that the present world conflict has brought us dangerously near, if not within, the zone of these insects; and the section of the population already infected with malaria affords ample reservoirs upon which mosquitoes could draw. Even in the absence of carriers, however, the attacks of mosquitoes remain art important influence upon public health, lhe control of mosquitoes is a simple matter once the preliminary difficulty ot stimulating a community effort has been overcome; the success or failure of a campaign depends upon such a. unitv of purpose be states. Though some relief from mosquitoes can be secured bv protection against their attacks, the key to efficient control lies in the systematic removal or treatment of their" breeding grounds. It is reported from Oreti Beach, near Invercargill, that practically every bach there has been entered., at one time or another by unauthorised persons. The owner of one bach has had his place entered so often by intruders making a forcible entry through a window that now he leaves the door unlocked. His idea is that as he cannot keep the intruders out ib is. best that they should make their unauthorised entries without causing any damage. In the case of one bach the intruders used some of the furniture for firewood.

The appearance on the local market recently of some surplus stocks of emergency ration chocolate has created some interest. A limited quantity of this particular pack was made for the Food Controller for a specific purpose, but, as it was not required, the Food Controller instructed a local agent to dispose of them on his behalf. -The ration chocolate itself is made to War Office specifications, and, although it contains all the ingredients of chocalate, it differs slightly in taste and texture from ordinary chocolate through the addition of a highly-sustaining: substance which makes it very nutritious. Well over 3.500.000 have already been produced for the War Office by a local factory, and a further 1,500,000 are in course of production.

Many and varied are the stories of fishenmen, but an A'bbotsford angler will be a.ble to outdo them all as the result of an experience on Saturday evening Inst. Just at dusk he was fishing in the Berwick River, and, with his line dangling in the water, ho sat down to watch a fish rising on the side. Suddenly his rod was nearly pulled out of his hands. Holding tightly, he jumped up and discovered to Ins surprise that he had a wild duck firmly hooked on the end of his line. Before he could land the bird, however, it broke his east, and got away with cast, hooks, and all. The bird"must have been gliding in to land, and the angler neither saw nor heard anything tilfhe felt the strong pull on h'is rod.