LOCAL AND GENERAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 December 1939, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

To-day, December 11, is the third anniversary of the accession of King George VI. Flags were flown on all public buildings in Greymouth in honour of the anniversary.

The enlistment of Charles James Walker, of Nelson Creek, at Greymouth, on Saturday, raised the special force enrolments at Greymouth to 291. There were no enlistments to-day, and Saturday’s was only the second last week.

An event of great historical interest for North Otago was the unveiling, on Saturday, by Mr. James Rodman, chairman of the Waitaki County Council, at the Correidale Homestead, Windsor, of a stone commemorating hte foundation there of the Corriedale breed of shedp, ,in 1863, by the late Mr. James -Little. A good attendance watched the ceremony—Press Assn.

In the Magistrate’s Court, Greymouth, to-day, before Mr. G. G. Chisholm, S.M., Frederick Nicholas Reedy, 47, bushman of Kumara, was charged that, on December 9, 1939, at Kumara he did attempt. unlawfully to carnally know a girl aged nine years. Senior-Sergeiant G. F. Bonisch applied for a remand until next Monday. Asked by the S.M., if he had anything to say relative to the application, accused intimated that he intended to plead not guilty. The application for a remand was granted, no application being made for bail.

Even the commanding officer laughed. He had to. The reply was so apt and so quick. It was the rule in this camp that the men should change their working denims for serge uniforms when they went into mess. On this evening every man had changed into serge except one, and there he sat somewhat conspicuously. So conspicuous was he when the commanding officer came in for his usual mealtime round, he immediately noticed the one soldier who had erred. •‘Where’s your serge?” he asked. Then it was that the "Officer and indeed the whole mess laughed, for the soldier as quick as light made his classic reply, “Serge me, sir.”

“We have a wonderful Minister of Health in Mr. Fraser,” said Mr. A. J. Moody, chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, when speaking at the opening of the additions to the Whangarei Hospital (reports the “New Zealand Herald”). Dealing with officers of the Health Department, however, Mr. Moody said; “The only way to deal with them is to shoot them down with a gun, otherwise they will delay matters for months.” Hospital board chairmen were, however, becoming emboldened lately, he said, and were getting quite cheeky in their dealings with these officers. The Minister of Health was determined that hospital control should remain on a democratic basis, and not be placed in the hands of departmental officers.

Speaking at the annual prize-giving ceremony of St. Patrick’s College, Wellington, Archbishop O’Shea said that he 7 knew the respect and esteem in which the Pope held Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, because his Holiness was conscious that they had been doing their best to preserve the peace of the world. The present war was the culmination of three centuries of secular civilisation following the breaking of the unity of Europe and the era in which differences were settled by religious principles. It was then said that religion was all right for the individual, but that it was not “good form” to bring it into State affairs. Thus a void was created in the hearts of men and new gods had to be found. Men turned to worship of the State, and where there was an absolute ruler he was deified.

“There is no doubt that the Scottish people are humorous, but they do not seem to be aware of it,” commented Mrs. F. W. Triggs, of Napier, who has returned after a visit to England, when recounting some of her experiences in Scotland. “I was waiting one day in the pouring rain for a tram, and when one came along I asked a woman if it was the right one.” The woman replied, “Och aye, it’s the richt tram, a’rich, but wait another quarter of an hour an’ ye’ll get it a ’alfpenny cheaper.” Despite this reasoning, Mrs. Triggs did not wait, but later she was informed that in one particular city alone 9,000,000 tram tickets were sold in a week,' representing a return of £165,000. It was possible to travel 22J miles for 2d. On one hospital day while she was there the sum of £15.000 was collected for charity.

The names of Miss Rona Peillon and Miss Elsa Franklin were inadvertently omitted from the list of performers. who are contributing items at the entertainment in Trinity Hall tc-night, as published in Saturday night’s Star.—Advt.

People are always ready t 0 P° p,I J larise something distinctive, and it is this that contributes to the great selling success which Dewar’s Imperia Whisky is now meeting with. No whisky can compare with the, rare and appealing flavour of Dewar s—it is mild and smooth to the palate, a true friend to all men. You would be wise to procure a bottle or Dewar’s, as its distinctive - palatable flavour will meet with the greatest approval at all times. Messrs Griffen and Smith, Ltd., .Distributors, Greymouth, Westport and Hokitika.. Advt.

The new Truby King Harris Hospital, built at a cost of £20,000, was officially opened at Dunedin on Saturday by the Governor-General (Lord Galway), who commended the work of the Plunket Society and expressed the hope that the acquisition of a fine new building would enable the society still further to extend the sphere of its beneficient operation. Apart from a sum of £2500, the whole cost,of the building had already been defrayed.— Press Assn.

Christmas and New Year holidays for dredge workers were fixed at a meeting of the Westland Gold Dredge Workers’ Union, yesterday morning, it was decided, that the smaller dredges close from midnight on December 22, to midnight oh January 2 for the Christmas holidays and that no work at all to be performed during that period. In the case of the larger dredges, it was decided that no work be performed on December 24, 25, 26 and 31, and January 1. These days to be observed as close holidays.

Every coal mine has its colony of rats, and for a long time it was the belief of miners that the animals were reliable gauges of security, in, that they were sensitive to the presence of lethal gases. A mining expert who has been attending the sittings of the Royal Commission at Huntly, said that the recent disaster at Glen Afton disproved the belief, since exploration parties in the mine said they found many rats lying dead in the workings. Miners had believed that rats gave a danger signal by leaving the hurriedly as soon as. they detected the presence of carbon monoxide.

For many years the New Zealand Poultry Board has requested arrangements for the orderly marketing of poultry produce, and although regulations have been drawn up by the Government they have not been put into operation. Consequently the board approached the Minister for Marketing (Mr. Nash) and received an assurance from him that he would bring the matter before Cabinet before Christmas. Arrangements have been made by the board to call a representative meeting of poultry producers from all over New Zealand to consider the question of orderly marketing and organisation.—Press Assn.

As a result of a motor-car accident on the road between Chesterfield and Hokitika, on Friday afternoon, Joseph Bell, sawmill hand of Hokitika, was admitted to the Westland Hospital in an unconscious condition and suffering from severe head injuries. An improvement in his condition was reported to-day. Bell was a passenger in a car driven by Gordon Russell McPherson, of Kapitea. About half a mile south of Chesterfield the car ran off the road and crashed into a heap of soil. McPherson was slightly injured through being forced against the driving wheel. Bell was thrown against the windscreen. The car was badly damaged.

The unusual procedure of enlisting in the Special Military Force in New Zealand by means of the' radio was adopted by Mr. Earl Pleasants, a former Wanganui resident, who was conducting a legal practice in Samoa at the outbreak of hostilities. Mr. Pleasants, who is visiting Wanganui, said that as he wished to offer his services to the Dominion as soon as possible he took advantage of the radio-tel-:-phone to communicate with the office of the Army Department in Wanganui about a month ago. He underwent a medical examination before he left Samoa, and will be examined again before being enrolled in the Special Military Force. In Samoa he was a member of the Samoan Volunteer Force and held the rank of lieutenant, being promoted to the rank of captain about six months ago. Mr. Pleasants said there was no excessive animosity between ' the English, and Germans in Samoa, a former German possession.

The retail prices index (base: 192630 equals 1000) for the three food groups has risen 7 points, the figure for October being 1066, as compared with 1059 for the previous month. This increase, says the Monthly Abstract of Statistics, is due principally to the influence of the groceries group, the index for which rose 17 points (from 1100 to 1117) owing to a further increase in the price of potatoes. In the dairy produce group there was a fall of 19 points (from 980 to 961) caused by seasonal reductions in the price of milk in some centres. There was no movement in the index for the meat group. The wholesale prices index (base 1926-30 equals 1000) rose 13 points (from 1077 to 1090) during the month, the movement being fairly evenly distributed between locally-produced and imported commodities, the items principally responsible being potatoes and sugar in the former group and tobacco and whisky in the latter.

Concert Programme: Centennial Exhibition Film; a Play, “The Masque of Noble Women,” Trinity Hall Tonight. Don’t miss this entertainment. —Advt.

The number of Chinese included in arrivals in New Zealand is an interesting feature of external migration figures for recent months. According to the Abstract of Statistics, arrivals in the six months to the end of Octo her exceeded departures by 410. compared with an excess of 79 in the same period last, year and of only 28 in 1938. During September, 1?9 Chinese arrived and six left, and in the following month 207 arrived and seven left. Most of the recent arrivals entered New Zealand on temporary permits entitling them to remain for two years in the Dominion. The war has apparently had a considerable effect on external migration, judging by movements in recent months. Arrivals during October totalled 3168 and departures 1195, compared with 4130 and 1804 respectively in the same month last year. Tourist traffic suffered severely during September and October, and after having been well maintained up to the end of August. Tourists who arrived during the five months to the end of August numbered 2959, compared with 2905 in the same period of 1938, but in September and October this year the total was only 997, as against 1546 in these two months in 1938,