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Evening Star, Issue 25617, 18 October 1945, Page 4

At yesterday's meeting of the Education Board a deputation was received representing the Naseby School Committee, which sought information as to what steps hadi been taken to ensure the provision of a new school to replace that which had been destroyed by fire a few months ago. Mr G. A. McNeilly, who led the deputation, said that conditions at the school were desperate, and that the committee had communicated with the Minister of Education without eliciting any definite information. The board's secretary (Mr G. W. Carrington) said that revised plans for a new school had been forwarded to the department six weeks ago, and no reply had since been received. It was decided, on the motion of Mr Richnrds, that the department be communicated with by telegram to ascertain the position.

The sale of the Garston Hotel for £3,000 was approved by the Southland Land Sales Committee last week, the vendor being John Morris Newman and the purchaser J. C. Hunter. In a Wahganui auction mart, 16 golf balls were sold at 27s each. The balls were new, and the bidder was given tho option of taking one, a number, or all. It is understood she took the lot. A golfer who saw tho balls before they were sold said that there was one first-class ball, about three or four second-class, and the rest were war-time third-class balls. A unique event in the poultry world occurred recently at Mangatainoka, when a hen laid an egg which might bo termed a " triple-yolker." It was a rather large one with what appeared to be a single yolk inside. However, on further examination, it was found that two distinct eggs lay inside the single one. The hen, an Australorp in its second year of laying, obviously endeavoured to maintain its reputation already established by the above-men-tioned feat by subssquently producing an outsize in eggs, one weighing OJozs, measuring 4in in length and 2in in width.

Fifty-two years after it was sold by the Government, the Cheviot House block of 5.000 acres, including the site of the Mansion House, the home of Mr William Robinson, M.L.C.. the second owner of the famous Cheviot estate, will revert to the Government. Ownership of the block has been acquired for soldeir settlement, and it will be taken over on Februarv 28 next. The price was £40.000, or £8 an acre. The vendors were the trustees of the estate of Mr Jeremiah Connolly, who bought the property from the descendants of Mr 'Robinson, whose occupancy began in 1853.

H.M.S. Arabis will pay her second visit to Dunedin early next month. The vessel, which is under the command of Lieutenant Clinton Stevens, will carry out a goodwill cruise to the various ports in the Dominion, and'will arrive at .Dunedin from Oamaru early on the morning of November 8, sailing for Bluff on the night of November 11. Arabis is a corvette of the improved Flower class, and has recently completed a task in tho Pacific area. She is a sister ship to the Arbutus and, like her, was given to New Zealand last year by the British Government. Her previous visit to Dunedin was in November of last year. The corvette is named after a plant of the cruciferae tribe, to which belong watercress, stock, and wallflower. Any impression that bowling is a game played largely by old men who have been in it for a long time is not borne out by figures given by Mr A. Fletcher (president) at the opening of the Wellington Bowling Club's new season. "It is hardly beliveable until you study the records," he said, " that even with men who have had continuous membership of over 40 years, tile average length of membership in this club is under 12 years." In a total active membership of 193, only two had been members for over 40 years, 10 others for upwards of 30 years, and 15 who had beon members for from 20 to 30 years. Those whose period of membership was from 10 to 20 years numbered 32, and those who had' under 10 years' membership totalled 134.

■Proposals to establish a fund of £IO,OOO or more with which to buy a farm for Captain C. H. Upham, V.C. and bar, ,were put to a meeting yesterday afternoon of local body representatives from all parts of Canterbury. The suggestion originated from a small committee which was set up to go into the question, and it was decided that as the gift to Captain Upham would be from the people of Canterbury a wide approach would be desirable. It is proposed to raise the fund on tlie Canterbury Provincial Patriotic Fund's quota basis.

The national position regarding artificial limbs was not a happy one, probably because the system was not in full working order, said Mr F. C Allerby, president, at tho eixth annual conference of the New, Zealand War Amputees' Association. The lack of manufacturers and materials, Mr Allerby said, had been a stumbling block, but the Government now had an advisory committee which was giving the matter attention. It was essential that the supply of limbs should be speeded un. Opinion was divided on the question'of who should control the manufacture of limbs and who should be the advisers. The Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr Skinner, who opened the conference, said his department would do everything possible for the association. There were 450 amputees from this war, only 250 of whom had so far been fitted with limbs. Sufficient progress was not being made, but he hoped the position would improve soon. At a meeting of representatives of women's organisations held in the Council Chambers yesterday afternoon to discuss matters in connection with the centenary of the province, Mesdames A. A. Fairbairn and W. K. Cameron were appointed to convene a further meeting of women's organisations early in the new year for the purpose'of appointing a representative committee which will be a subcommittee of the Otago Centennial Association.

"Juke boxes," as the call them, may become as familiar in New Zealand as they are in the United States, if the hopes of a New York firm are realised. These machines are gramophones which play a certain number of records after a coin has been dropped in a slot, and are popular in American bars, restaurants, and places of entertainment. The New York firm, writing to the Associated Chambers of Commerce in New Zealand, stated that it understood many inquiries' for the machines were being made, and asked that its name be listed on the chambers' files, under the heading of " Jobbers and distributors of coin-operated phonographs." Answering a request by Mr R. Walls to state whether he is now in a position to indicate when the survey of the proposed Sawyers Bay-Waitati railway tunnel deviation can be undertaken, MrSemple, Minister of Works, replied: " The survey of the Sawyers Bay-Wai-tati railway tunnel deviation will be commenced as soon as a competent survey staff, many of whom are still in the services, is available. It is not at present possibk to say when that will be."—Parliamentary reporter.

Payment by the National Patriotic Fund Board in connection with the troops overseas during the year ended September 30 last totalled £466,025, compared with a 1944-45 estimate of £243,300. Of the total, £282,948 went to the Middle East and £72,408 to the Pacific. Repatriated prisoners of war absorbed £43,434, and men in the United Kingdom £26,197. The money spent on troops in New Zealand totalled £51,687. Ordinary household dust was one of the commonest causes of catarrh and asthma, said Dr E. G. Sayers in the course of a lecture on allergy to members of the Auckland Institute. The actual substance in household dust which was responsible for this particular allergy had never been isolated, he • continued. Persons allergic to household dust found it necessary to live in Spartan surroundings. The*bedToom in which the subject slept should be without carpet, upholstered furniture, or drapes, and all efforts had to be made to prevent dust from collecting. A curious feature was that tho dust in some houses varied in degree of allergy from that in others. It was not always recognised that practically all allergic diseases could be caused by foods, ])r Sayers continued. Asthma, eczema, migraine, hives, and nasal troubles all came amder this category. Foods which commonly caused them were wheat, eggs, milk, peas, beans, nuts, and fish. Other foods to which some persons proved allergic were apples, tomatoes, and chocolate. The district rationing officer (Mr Ernest J. Smith) stated this morning that the nnmber of ration books to be issued in Dunedin was estimated at (16.500. Up till last night 24,745 books had been issued and 9,237 new hosiery cards supplied. The new books wiil operate from October 29. It is a coincidence that the Andes, bringing 2,300 returning servicemen from the United Kingdom and the Middle East, will make her first call in New Zealand at the port from which she cleared on her previous visit to this country. On May 1, 1940, she embarked portion of the Second Echelon at Lyttelton and anchored in the stream that night, sailing early next morning. The vessels carrying the remainder of the Second Echelon were met in Cook Strait. Before reaching Colombo the' convoy, which by this time included several vessels carrying Australian troops, was diverted from the Middle East to Great Britain via Cape Town and Sierra Leone. Tho Andes is a vessel of 25,089 tons gross built'in 1939 by Hnrland and Wolff, 'Belfast, and owned by the Royal Mail Lines Ltd.

Advice has heen recei?ed that the form of procedure of rlgistration of butter consumers with gricers will continue, and that, as thq new ration books operate from Octoler 29, it will be necessary for registration to be effected as early as possibe. An application for a tnnsfer of the New Club Hotel, street, came before a sitting rf the Otago Land Sales Committee (Sessrs W. M. Taylor, acting chairman: and D. J. Ross) this afternoon. The vendor was Patrick Tracy an(] the buyer Edward Henry Young, tls price being £IB,OOO. No opposition vaa offered by the Crown. The intervention _of an interested party led to j hearing on an application of a cit? residential property. About 40 oiher applications, which were not contested, came before the committee. ; A united rermest was trade from the members for Mataura, Cjntral Otago, and Clutha that their ditriet.s should receive the benefit of tie' additional rail cars which are being purchased'. Mr Semple, Minister of Railways, has replied: "The RailwaysjDepartment proposes taking stepsto iiiport a number of Diesel-engined I articulated trains, which will have a lirger seating capacity than the present type of railoar. The claims of Certral Otago, Otago and Southland residents for railcar services will be given yery care'ful consideration, along the many claims received from other ireas, as and when the Railways Pepatmeut funis it is in a position to inaiijarate additional services." I