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Evening Star, Issue 26042, 5 March 1947, Page 6

‘/ These prices are extraordinary,’’ said the chairman of the Auckland Electric Power Board, Mr S. I. llrookes, when tenders for a passenger lift for the. No. 1 block of the new Newmarket building were received at a meeting of the board. The tenders were £6,454 and £4,220 for "a lift which the general manager of the board, Mr R. H. Bartley, said was almost the same as the goods lift in the present building, most expensive features being dispensed with. The opinion generally expressed was that such a lift would have cost between £BOO and £l,lOO before the war. The tenders were referred to the general manager. In a cable message from London the special correspondent of the New Zealand Press Association states that as the result of a proposal made at last weeks’ conference of the General Council of the United Nations Association in London by the New Zealand delegate, Mr- C. C. Aikrnnn, the council has agreed to make arrangements for the authorities in various, towns in Europe to establish contact with the authorities in New Zealand towns in order to facilitate the despatch of food parcels to distressed areas.

Last week 310 places in the Dominion obtained their weekly quotas of national savings. All the principal centres were successful, and in all postal districts the full district objective was attained. Eight additional places recorded the attainment of the full year’s quota, making 266 such successes to date, out of the 335 quota areas in the Dominion. Oamaru is the latest postal district to obtain more than double the full year’s quota. Other districts previously recording a similar achievement being Blenheim, Nelson, and Dunedin. Some 433 new “ group ” depositors were enrolled during the week. This is the highest number recorded for any week during the current financial year.

Criticism of the methods employed by the rehabilitation training centres in the training of paperhangers and painters was voiced by Mr L. Elder, of Auckland, at the annual conference of the Wellington Federation of Master Painters, Decorators, and Signwriters. “ I am sorry for any lad receiving training at a rehabilitation centre—l will not go so far as to say they do not know how to use a - brush, but they are taught little of how to do the work,” said Mr Elder. “ The trainees should be taught that they are not there on holiday. I very much fear that some of them are not kept with their noses to the grindstone sufficiently.” The following remit was carried:—“That representations be made to the Rehabilitation Department recommending ( that trainees in the paiilting section be placed with employers on completion of their training period.”

Matiu Ratana, M.P. for Western Maori, Was fined £3, with costs (17s), in the Magistrate’s Court at Marton by Mr A. Ooleman, S.M., for failing to clear variegated thistle from his property in compliance with the Noxious Weeds Act. It was stated that the defendant was head of the Ratana movement.

The city organist, Dr V. E. Galway, will give an after-church recital in the Town Hall on Sunday evening. The following programme of organ music will be presented:—Fugue in G Minor (Bach),. Lament from ‘Dido and /Eneas ’ (Purcell), Introduction and Allegro, Sonata No. 1 (Guilmant), Rhapsody ona Breton folksong (SaintSsens), ‘ Piece Heroique ’ (Cesar Franck), ‘ Evening Song ’ (Bairstow), and 1 Ride of the Valkyrie ’ (Wagner). Dr Galway will be assisted by Mr Charles F. Collins (pianist), who will play Rhapsody in G Minor (Brahms). There will be no charge for admission.

Detailed plans and specifications for up-to-date fertiliser works near Avarua, between Invercargill and Bluff, have been submitted to Kempthorne, Prosser, and Company’s New Zealand ’Drug Company Ltd. and the Dominion Fertiliser Company Ltd. by the designing engineers and the architects, the Fletcher Construction Company Ltd. The plans provide for an initial unit with a manufacturing capacity of 65,000 to 75,000 tons of superphosphate, or a total capacity in superphosphate reverted and mixed manures of more than 80,000 tons. While both these well-known South Island manufacturers are interested in the project, a substantial amount of the capital will be raised by the offer of shares to the public. Under the present restrictive conditions no definite date for the letting of the contract can be fixed, but the intention of the manufacturers is to proceed with the works as early as possible.—Press Association. “ It would appear from the Auckland Press Association report as though the proposals of the New Zealand Tramway Employees’ Union for a 'natioual agreement were something new, brought forward only within the last few days. That is not so,” said Mr P. A. Hansen, national secretary of the union, commenting on the remarks of Mr \f. H Nagle, chairman of the Auckland Transport Board. Mr Hansen said: “ The recommendations that the union should seek a national agreement have been under consideration within the various branches for mauy months and have been several times referred to in the Press. These Recommendations were put before the membership throughout New Zealand during December" last, and in a secret ballot, as reported in the Press on De- 1 cember 24, an overwhelming majority of members (1,'693 to 378) voted in favour of seeking national agreement.”— Wellington message. • An interesting excerpt from a statement to the Racing Conference in 1902 by Sir George Clifford, was included in the case presented by the conference to the Gaming Commission yesterday. He was speaking of a campaign against the totalisator and said:—“ All whose memories can recall the period anterior to its (the totalizator’s) existence know full well .that the reign of the bookmaker, which it terminated, .was fraught with the gravest abuses. He was, in those days, the dictator of the turf, the hidden owner of the horses, the corrupter of the trainer, the jockey and even the owner; and in many respects he had acquired a position which enabled him to pursue his • own interests to ‘ the degradation of the sport. Gradually his influence waned before the totalisator, until to-day he is reduced to his proper status of a speculating spectator, with slight power to shape the result upon which lie wagers.” Described by employers as an alarming situation, the shortage of experienced girls for office work and the growing tendency for unqualified applicants for positions to trade on the unprecedented demand for this type of labour is said to be having a detrimental effect on (says the ‘ New Zealand Herald’). Instances of deliberate attempts by applicants for jobs to force above the award level by inviting competition for their services were given by employers. In some cases office workers received between £4 and £5 a week without having a knowledge of shorthand and only an inferior knowledge of typing. Many of these girls are stated to remain with their employers for only a month, after which they seek work elsewhere at an increased salary. The manager of a large trading concern said that many applicants for positions refused to consider a wage of less than £5 a week. While they accepted a 40hour week they objected to Saturday work and wanted to finish their day at four o’clock in the afternoon. Although his firm refused to be dictated to as "far as terms were concerned, it had been forced to engage girls without qualifications and endeavour to train them.

The chief postmaster reports that advice has-been received from the Direc-tor-General, Post and Telegraph Department, with reference to the telegraph communications with Palestine, that owing to the curfew- in Tel-Ayiv, telegraph traffic for that city is subject to indefinite delay, as delivery is unceftain.

The dispute over the payment of extra rates to the shore workers en-gaged-un repairs on the Wanganella remains unsettled. A committee of the employers and workers has been formed, blit until further inquiries are made by the employers of their principals ill Australia no settlement can be reached. Meanwhile, the Wanganella is still regarded its black by the men of seven trade unions.