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Evening Star, Issue 25672, 21 December 1945, Page 4

Advice has been received from the Post Office that air mails which closed at Dunedin on November 27 and' 29, and December 1 and 4, arrived in London on December 4,5, 7, and 10. Newspapers often take a considerable time in transit from New Zealand to Britain. A ‘ Star ’ reader has just shown us a letter dated Edinburgh, December 8, in the course of which the writer remarks: “The victory niimber of. your local evening newspaper arrived this week. It certainly far excels any of our newspapers, and mad'e very interesting reading.”

The notifications of infectious diseases in Otago for the week ending to-day, were as follows:—Diphtheria, one case: scarlet fever, one; and erysipelas, one. “ When the Japanese were told by some Germans in Java that Roman Catholic clergymen, Protestant pastors. Jews, and Freemasons, were all very dangerous people, they collected nil the Roman Catholic and Protestant ministers, the Jews and Freemasons from the concentration camps in Java, and put them together in one camp, and these men in spite of their different religious views, got on very well together,” said Captain Johannes T. Sehoon. of the Netherlands Indian Army, in an address which he gave at a meeting at Invercargill. Buildings at the New Plymouth airport, which were occupied by the Royal New Zealand Air Force until recently, have been taken over by the Netherlands Government, and will be used to accommodate some of the Dutch families who will arrive in New Zealand next month from internment camps in the East Indies, reports an Association message. A party representative _of the Netherlands Government, including Mr J. B. Smythe, New Zealand representative for the Netherlands East Indies, and the Trade Commissioner for Australia, M. Jan Van Holst Pellekaan, has inspected the buildings, which-. Mr Smythe described as the most suitable he had seen in New Zealand for the purpose. The number of evacuees who will be accommodated at New Plymouth in the early stages of the scheme is not yet known, but it is expected that by the middle of the year there will be between 300 and 400 persons living in the buildings. An increase in the dues and charges of the Wellington Harbour Board to produce a rise of 30 per cent. : i the gross revenue has been approved by the Price Tribunal. The board had asked for a rise of 37 per cent. The increase will be applied by way of a surcharge on the dues and fees that are levied by the board. The matter will be reviewed after the submission cf the accounts for the year ending September 30 next.

A man aged 45, Dudley Roland Harris, appeared in the Pahiatua Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to answer a charge of having attempted to murder his wife, Rosetta Ruth Harris, at Makuri at 4 o’clock the previous afternoon. Accused was taken into custody by Sergeant R. J. Whiting and Constable A. G. Hogg, following a complaint by his wife that he fired three rounds from a .303 rifle at her as she was running away from their home following an argument. Mrs Harris suffered no injuries. Accused was remanded to appear in the Magistrate’s Court in Wellington oil January 2.

By the Destitute Persons (Crown Moneys) Order, 1945, which was gazetted last night, provision is made enabling a charge order under the Destitute Persons Act to he made by a magistrate in respect of moneys duo to a defendant by any Government department. A serviceman's pay and all moneys due to a serviceman upon his discharge, such as mufti allowance, deferred pay, and gratuity, are, however, excluded from tho scope of such charge orders. To facilitate tho sale to civilians of the substantial surpluses of tinned foodstuffs not now required for the New Zealand or American armed forces, the Sale of Food and Drugs Emergency Regulations were gazetted last night. Tinned foods normally cannot be displayed for sale unless they are labelled in accordance with the terms of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act. The regulations gazetted authorise the sale to the public of tinned foods prepared originally for consumption by the armed forces. Such tins are in njany cases not labelled in accordance with the requirements of the Act. The first forward step in the proposed coal briquetting scheme for Mataura will be . taken next month when one ton of air-dried Mataura lignite will he shipped for briquetting trials (says the ‘Mataura Ensign’). Advice has been received from the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Australia, that it would be prepared to introduce small quantities, cf perhaps one cwt at a time,, into a briquetting press to ascertain whether Mataura coal would briquette satisfactorily. This advice has been received by the secretary of the Mataura Lignite Utilisation Committee. Mr G, Thom, and a committee has been established to eollect and forward the coal, which will probably be shipped from the Dominion on January 20. Major R. Morrison, liaison officer for the New Zealand prisoners of war reception group in the United Kingdom, returned by the Mooltan. He said that the British market was being supplied with the minimum possible quantity of manufactured goods, the overwhelming bulk being exported. He had been surprised when he left England to see what varieties of goods were obtainable elsewhere, but were not available in the Home market. The work of the repatriation group, Major Morrison said, was practically complete, the only ex-prisoners left in England being special cases, for instance, those taking special courses. “ The divisional sign ‘ New Zealand ’ is the passport for our men,” ho added. “ There is no doubt the old Kiwis’ name stands very high in England.”

“ While some of the younger men are enthusiastic about the prospect of going to Japan, the older hands of the division haVe not been so keen to volunteer and are more interested in the prospect of getting home,” said Major the Rev. J. S. Somerville, M.C., who returned by the Mooltan. “ With the cessation of hostilities,” Major Somerville added, “ there has been a tremendous difference in the division, and time hangs heavily on the men’s hands. The spirit has gone out of things, and the men are not looking forward to the prospect of an Italian winter.” Major Somerville is a son of Mr J. C. H. Somerville, of Anderson’s Bay. The Otago Land Sales Committee heard additional evidence and delivered its judgment granting the application of Albert Burrell and Hector Burrell for permission to transfer the Oval Hotel, Princes street south, to’ Earl Howard Everitt at a consideration of £IB,OOO. After commenting that the Crown had not called evidence, the committee pointed out that the evidence given on behalf of the purchaser had not been contradicted. It tended to show that there was a potential value in the hotel if fuller use was made of the available accommodation, and that there was the possibility of larger sales of liquor if the hotel was conducted by an ordinary licensee instead of by trustees in an estate. “At all events,” the committee added, “ we cannot go past the weight of evidence put before us. That evidence leads to the plain deduction that the figure of £IB,OOO applied for must be consented to.” Mr J. Lang appeared for the vendors, Mr H. S. Ross for the purchaser, and Mr J. R. Hampton for ; the Crown. An extraordinarily high opiniou of New Zealand has been formed by the majority of the officers and ratings of H.M.S. Indefatigable and her destroyer escorts, Wizard and Urchin, who have now left Auckland for Australia (says the Auckland ‘Herald’). Many of them say they have decided to seek permanent employment in the Dominion after they have received their discharge from the Navy. When the British Pacific Fleet was first assembled and sent north for operations against Sakishima Gunto, thousands of the officers and ratings spoke with amazement of the hospitality which had been lavished upon them in Australian ports, especially in Sydney. They longed to get back there. Now, however, scores of these same men are. not so keen on Australia. They came to dislike what they call the “ toughness ”of Australian cities. Sydney, they claim, is full of “ rackets ” and infested with people whose main object in life is to fleece the unwary visitor. “ We did not like the greed,” said one sailor. “ Australia is a beautiful country, but it is being spoiled by the people, who do not realise how lucky they are to live in a land where they can breathe fresh air, have plenty of leisure and easily reach places where they can enjoy it. I came to think Australia was all horse racing, strikes, and rackets.”

Despite rumours to the contrary, it is not the intention of the owners of Onslow House property to let or lease the property. When the necessary permits are obtained, the property will be subdivided into building allotments and arrangements to this end have been in hand for some months past. Holiday rail traffic, for the lirst peace-time Christmas, is not so heavy as was anticipated, although all the better trains are full. On Monday and on Christmas Day there is .still room on trains both for the north and for Otago Central. There are plenty of trains available, and in most cases they have been crowded. However, a good many people are staying at home simply for the Jack of accommodation in tourist resorts. Others are affected by the arrival of the big draft of returning troops to-night; and still others by the sporadic outbreaks ot measles and mumps at present prevalent.

Any visitor from England was immediately struck with the failure of New Zealanders to get into line, said Mr W. J. Jordan, High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, speaking at the Onehunga Primary School breakup. “ Women and children last ” should be the notice displayed in trams and buses, he felt. Wherever there was a demand for anything, the usual courtesy of New Zealanders appeared to be discarded, and a mad mob-like rush descended on the purveyor. This was in distinct contrast to English methods, where even in buying the morning paper, if one found a couple of people ahead of him, he promptly fell into lino.

The Sea Fisheries (Boats and Licenses) Regulations, 1945, which appeared in the ‘ Gazette ’ last night, are designed in the main to give effect to the provisions of the Fisheries Amendment Act, 1945, passed by Parliament in the session just concluded, says a Wellington Association message. Certain other provisions included in these regulations are matters which appeared in the existng regulations, and which have been recast' to suit the new conditions, or which have been revoked in the general regulations and included in this section of the Sea Fisheries Regulations for clarity and to render this section of the regulations complete as regards the licensing and registration of boats.