Local and General

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 April 1942, Page 4

Local and General

The letters S, T, M, and O in the ration books have been the subject of many inquiries. They do not refer to commodities, such as sugar and tea, and are there only toi “departmental convenience.” —P.A. Despite the recent spell of wet weather, the stock feed position on the West Coast is generally good, the District Inspector ot Stock (Mr. J. Fleming) stated, to-day. Pastures have® been affected to some extent by the soaking they have received, but most farmers experienced good weather for hay and ensilage making, thus ensuring a supply of ieea. Pi-esent indications are that the Winter milk supply will be better than if w r as last year.

For the first time this month, there was no rainfall recorded at Greymouth for the -4 hour period, ended 9 o’clock this morning. As the last two days of March were wet, Greymouth experienced 16 consecutive days on which rain fell during the wet spell which broke yesterday. Brilliant sunshine prevailed to-day, but with the first of the Winters “barbers” there was a marked drop m temperature, the thermometer reading at 9 a.m. being only 43 degrees, the lowest so far this year.

Explaining to the central committee of the E.P.S. yesterday the method of classifying men enrolled under the compulsory system, Captain F. Govsky said a file had been provided for the cards of men with disabilities. “Or, rather,” he added, “for the cards of men who claimed to have disabilities. After we had looked into a number of cases, it seemed that there must be more men in Christchurch with weak hearts than anywhere else in the world.”

■ The deputy ' Mayor, Mr. A. R.' Elcock, has been nominated for the position of Mayor of Hokitika, his nominators being Mrs. Irene Lilian Perry, and David Patrick Stuart. Railway revenue for Canterbury (north of Tinwald) and the West Coast for the year to March 31 increased by £83,993, according to figures issued in Christchurch yesterday. Receipts totalled £1,621,077. Increases were recorded in all sections, except cattle and pigs. The highest increase was £32,696, ih passenger revenue.

The making of concrete pipes by the Marlborough County Council is no longer permitted (reports the “Express”). The engineer reported to last meeting of the council that he had secured 11 tons of cement but the district engineer, P.W.D., Nelson, had taken over nine tons of this and stated that the council could not now make its own pipes.

Good progress is being made with the reconstruction of the road at Batty’s Hill, Twelve Mile, where almost two chains of the roadway dropped into- the sea, during last week’s floods, and it is hoped to have the route open for restricted traffic on Saturday. A track has already been constructed, but almckt continuous blasting is required to cut the new road out of the hillside, making it impossible to allow traffic to use the road in the meantime.

“When you send tobacco, wrap it so that the shape doesn’t show and label it anything but tobacco. I haven’t had any of the tobacco which you have sent and I don’t know if it goes astray before it leaves New Zealand or after it gets here. The fact remains that quite a few of. the boys here have had tobacco sent and have never received it, but we get our other parcels all right.” The above is an extract from a letter received by Hastings residents last week from their son, who is a memberof the N.Z. Forestry Company.

Approval has been'given by the Education Department for members ot the Territorial and other defence forces to be enrolled at technical schools for classes wherever such classes meet their requirements, and it has been decided that any soldiers thus admitted are to be regarded as paying pupils with their fees remitted in the ordinary way to hold free places. This decision of which the Taranaki Education Board was advised yesterday, places soldiers in the same position as members of the air cadet ti aining scheme, for whom similar airangements were approved m November, 1941.

Because he had been in the middle of a contract for linen flax-pulling and had been too busy to read the notice calling him up for service with the military forces, an appellant belore the Armed Forces Apneal Board at Timaru yesterday explained that ne had not known there was a time limit for the lodging of appeals. He had known what was in the envelope and his wife had opened it. “Surely you have read in the newspaper that appeals must be lodged within 10 days, said a member of the board. Ive had no time to read the papers,” answered the appellant. “I’ve been working from daylight till dark for weeks.

In a report to the Grey Electric Power Board last evening, the Engineer, Mr Sinclair Trotter, stated that during the year ended March 31, 1942 154 new consumers were connected, making the .total number ol consumers at that date, 5,091, and that 117 electric stoves were connected in the same period. He added that since the last meeting oi the Board 18 new applications for supply had been received, making the total to date 5,093, that 15 new consumers had been connected; extensions and alterations to 29 existing installations carried out; and six electric ranges connected.

The concern of the Post and Telegraph Department that many occupiers of State houses were operating unlicensed radio sets was expressed by the radio inspector in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court, belore Mr. J. Moiling S.M. The inspector, who prosecuted in 34 cases against persons in possession of unlicensed radio sets, said his department and radio inspectors were experiencing great difficulty in locating persons who operated unlicensed sets in State houses. Many qi these people, he added, previously lived in apartments where they useo unlicensed sets. As no aerials or earth wires were visible in State houses, i' was most difficult to detect the radio “pirates.” The Magistrate imposed fines ranging from 5/- to £5 am costs.

Although it was announced some time ago that the marketing of this season’s honey was to be on the zoning system under the control of the Internal Marketing Division, no regulations have yet been gazetted. It seems now that the system will not be introduced this year. The honey crop has been very light, possibly under half that of a normal season. The quantity available for the general public will be very limited because of the demands of the military forces. In addition to the needs of men in camp, several hundred tons of honey have to be found for distribution by the Geneva Red Cross among New Zealand prisoners of war. Some difficulty is being experienced in securing sufficient honey to supply the military forces, particularly in the North Island, where the crop has been exceptionally poor.

The Annual Reunion of the Brunner R.S.A. was held last Saturday. The visitors from Greymouth and Runanga were welcomed by the President. Toast list: The King. “Fallen Comrades”, responded to by Mr. G. Smith (Runanga) who paid tribute to a late member of the branch. “G.R.S.A.”, Mr. W. Trouland responded, giving facts concerning the work of the R.S.A. “Subbranches,” Mr. J. Smith. “Nursing Services”, Mr. J. L. Hill. “Fighting Services”, and a special toast to Mr. W. Trouland, Past President and a foundation member of the G.R.S.A. who was accorded musical honours. Several items were given by visitors and members. Pleasure was expressed in having so many members of the National Military Reserve present.

Deliberate vandalism of the worst type, practised in the Hastings Public Library during the Easter holidays, has aroused considerable indignation in the town. A scene of confusion greeted the librarian when she opened the premises the day after the holidays. The floor of the library was littered with books swept from shelves, the contents of ransacked drawers were thrown about at random, and fittings had been deliberately damaged. Bottles of ink had been poured on the trays of subscribers’ cards on the public desk, and library record cards were torn and scattered. Not content with knocking books from shelves, the vandals turned tneir attention to doing further damage to the volumes, many having the covers torn off and leaves removed. A small sum of money was stolen from the librarian’s desk. The intruders gained entry by climbing a flight of stairs, edging along a brick wall, and opening a fanlight above a door at the rear of the library.

For the town and country lady White’s are showing beautiful examples of tailored coats in varied styles in interesting new materials and shades. White’s Corner. Your Fashion Centre—Advt.

j New cosy Woollen Scarves. Latest tonings in attractive mufti-coloured stripes and checks, 7/6 each. —C. Smith’s.—Advt,

A total of 4535 ration books had been issued at the Greymouth Post Office up till 2 o’clock this afternoon, to-day’s tally being 540. There has been a steady stream of applicants during the ordinary post office hours, but the special arrangements made for the evenings are still not being fully utilised.

Two Dunedin schoolboys, Stephen and Terrence Johnson, both keen -entomologists, have discovered that the parasite introduced to combat the white butterfly is waging a war of extermination on the Red Admiral butterfly. A local authority reports that their investigations give conclusive proof of this. —P.A.

The Greymouth Technical High School Cadet Company was inspected this morning by Major F. Grear, M.C., Area Staff Officer, Nelson. The cadets were put through various exercises and Major Grear took the salute at the march past. He expressed pleasure at the efficiency of the unit, particularly in view of its comparatively recent establishment.

Sickness among members, and in? clement weather combined to make the April meeting of the Moana W.I. rather small. Mrs. Collier spoke on mothers’ clubs run in conjunction with free kindergartens. Mrs. Rankin and Mrs. Dense were nominated as delegates to the annual meeting in Greymouth. Detailed arrangements were made for the group meeting of the Institutes on the Otira line. Two new members were admitted. Mrs. Taylor was the winner of the programme competition, with Mrs. R. Dense second .

Girls’ Black School Hose, sizes 3 to 6 3/11 and 4/6 pair, also Girls’ Black Gym. Hose, sizes and 10 7/3 pair —C. Smith’s. —Advt.