News Briefs

Evening Star, Issue 26184, 20 August 1947, Page 4

News Briefs

Day’s Work in Parliament , Tlie House of Representatives yesterday cleared its order paper of Government Ritis, passing the Police Force Bill, the Births and Deaths Registration Amendment, and a private measure—the J. R. McKenzie Trust Bill. The introduction of the Imprest' Supply Bill gave material for discussion in the evening, when attention was paid wholly to the problems of the high country pastoralist. The debate had not ended when the House adjourned till this afternoon, when it was expected that Ministers’ answers to questions would be discussed, followed by a continuation of the Imprest Supply Bill debate.—Parliamentary reporter. N.Z. Road Signs Praised Road signs in New Zealand are models of clarity, and they are not bettered anywhere in the) world. This is the opinion ,of Mr Leon Trout, president of the Australian Automobile Association, who is visiting Wellington. Mr Trout said that the black and yellow signposting throughout the Dominion was 10 years ahead of that in Australia. Night sigtts on the New Zealand roads were superior to those, in Britain and the United States. Much of their excellence, he said, lay in. the fact that they were standardised. Road signs in the Commonwealth varied from State to State. This lack of uniformity often puzzled motorists on long journeys. The New Zealand signs were, in addition,, fully informative and ideally placed. The bare mention of “danger ” on some Australian signs did not convey much, and often caused too little or too much apprehension and either excess could lead to : accidents.—Wellington Press Association. Caretaker Attacked 1 Assaulted by one of two intruders in Phoenix Chambers; Lower Queen street,, Auckland, on Monday evening, the caretaker, William Aubrey, aged about 55, is a patient in the Auckland Hospital suffering from concussion and abrasions. The two intruders aroused the suspicions of a woman ill the chambers about 6 p.m. She reported them to Aubrey, who approached them in the Aubrey, who approached them in the passage on the first floor. .Without warning he was strhek on the 'side of the face. He can remember nothing more. First World War Funds More than £1,20(),(XX) has been spent in the work of. the Great War Funds Administrative Committee of the Joint Council of the Order of St. Johnand the New Zealand Red Cross Society since its inception in 1914. This was stated by the chairman, Mr A. E. Gibbons, at the annual meeting of the committee in Wellington yesterday. Mr Gibbons expressed satisfaction at the low cost of administration, which had amounted to only a fraction over 3d in the £. The number of Ist N.Z.E.F. patients in New' Zealand’s hospitals and homes during the year had averaged 894, and the various centre committees spent a total of £3.453 on comforts for them. Money was also made available for the relief of Ist N.Z.E.F. men and their dependents who, through sickness or disability,- were in need of assistance. After Hours Trading “ I expressly draw the attention of the police to the practice of afterhours trading, an 1 of drivers and passengers being supplied with liquor,” said Mr Justice Kennedy, in the' Supreme Court at Invercargill, when imposing a sentence of six months’ imprisonment with hard lahour on Raymond Roy Witting, a general contractor, who was found guilty by a jury of negligently driving a motor vehicle and causing the death df Robert Ileauchop Fotheringhain. The accused’s driving license was suspended. Reference was made by His Honour to the fact that Witting and his passengers had spent some time in hotels after hours. Electrical Accidents Compared with the previous year, the number of electrical accidents and fires for the 12 months ended Marcli 31, showed a fairly increase, according to the annual report of the' general manager of the State HydroElectricity Department, Mr F. T. M. Kissel. Sixteen of a total of 43 accidents due to purely Electrical causes were fatal, as against six out of 33 in the previous year. There were 27 fires, compared .with 17 in the year ended March. 1946. Five of these were due to the improper use of such household appliances as irons, radiators, ovens, and urns. / ■' Auckland’s Ten-year Plan After 16 months of planning, investigation and surveying by engineers of the Auckland branch of the Public Works Department, the 10-year-plan for Auckland, announced in April last by the Minister of Works (Mr Semple) is beginning to take shape. The first construction likelv to begin in the near future will probably involve the widening of the Great South road. The adoption by the Government of the Auckland harbour bridge proposal has resuited ’in modifications of the plan originally announced. Chief of these is a major change in,the proposed highspeed road through Whenuapai to the north. A major work not included : o the 10-vear plan, but of similar importance, is a proposal to provide Auckland with a civil airport. Every available member of the engineering staff of the department in Auckland has been occupied on the surveys, investigations, and costing of the jobs that, between them, represent an expenditure of possibly £10.000.000. Prices of Salmon Identical tins of third-grade American salmon recently released on New Zealand markets at a retail price of 3s 3d per tin sold at 8d in Fiji in 1941, Said a former resident of the colony, who is at present living m Auckland. She stated that the thirdgrade fish was bought solely for feeding to the workers in the sugar cane plantations, and was not used in the homes of the officers of the sugar company. A receut announcement stated that the fact that the bulk ot the salmon distributed was labelled grade three did not reflect oil the quality of ; the particular variety of fish. ,-