Local and General

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 November 1943, Page 4

Local and General

The Christchurch Area Office has sent out about 2000 notices-provisionally posting men for one month’s Territorial training, but inquiries made at the Greymouth Army Office to-day revealed that the notices to West Coast men who will be required to proceed to camp for a month have not yet been sent. Most of the notices sent out in Canterbury 9lso contain formal notification that the men will be liable for out-of-camp training on two days a month. The full out-of-camp training scheme has not yet been announced.

Although dairy production on the West Coast is not expected, this season, to reach the proportion of previous years, substantial consignments of butter are being made to the cool stores in Lyttelton. The _ “export,” which commenced at the beginning of the month and will last till March, now averages about 65 tons a week. Each Monday Greymouth rails 10 tons, Westport 10 tons, and Hokitika, Ross and Inangahua, seven tons each, while on Thursdays Ross, Hokitika and Inangahua each rail a further seven tons.

For the purpose of gathering material for an official history of the New Zealand forces in the present war, some 200 eye-witness’s stories of actual battlefront experiences in the Middle East and the Pacific have been collected by Army Archives. It is l desired that this collection should be amplified, so that the historian will have an idea of what the actual fighters thought about, and experienced, and stories of returned men will be welcomed by the officer in charge, archives, Army Headquarters, Wellington. The way in which such stories are written by the men concerned will not matter, as it is information that is sought to help in the making of a complete history of the 2nd Expeditionary Force.—P.A.

A sitting of the Armed Forces Appeal Board is set down for Greymouth at 10.30 a.m. on December 7. The Board will sit at the same hour at Reefton on November 29 and Westport on November 30, and at Hokitika at 2 p.m. on December 9.

The rail-car travelling between Christchurch and Hokitika will in future stop at Seaview for the convenience of nurses from the Westland Hospital and Seaview Mental Hospital. These nurses will, however, require to have reserved their seats and to possess passenger and reserved seat tickets.

The Blaketown School Committee have displayed enterprise in improving the equipment of the school by the purchase of an astatic type microphone. The apparatus will be used in conjunction with the talking machine equipment, enabling vhe amplifier portion to be converted into a public address system for use on gala days and similar occasions.

The Napier Harbour Board has declined to support a proposal from the Otago Harbour Board that the local body elections be postponed until May, 1945. “I see no reason why the elections should be postponed, said Mr T. M. Geddis, chairman, when pointing out that the Board had always held that the elections should take place at the ordinary time.

Indicative of the volume of traffic which the Midland line will carry during the Christmas holiday period, the rail-car which will leave Greymouth for Christchurch on December 23 was completely reserved within 10 minutes when bookings opened this morning. So far, only a singleunit car is set down for that evening, but a double-unit car will run the following evening with accommodation for 120 passengers.

The latest available figures on the recent licensing poll we’re presented at the Auckland conference of the New Zealand Alliance by the secretary, Mr L. E. Falkner. With a few more votes to come, he said, the vote for continuance was 528,040, a decrease of 18,955 since 1938. Other figures were: State, purchase and control, 123,388, an increase of 27,257 votes; and national prohibition 269,615, an increase of 6407. With a more complete organisation, he said, the vote ior abolition of the liquor traffic could have been greatly increased.

The Greymouth bar continues to be a hindrance to ships using the port, a considerable swell combined with poor depth restricting movements. The Kartigi, which arrived on Saturday and was scheduled to sail on Monday, was still in port to-day. The depth at high water this morning was 18ft. 7in., an increase of seven inches on yesterday’s reading, and from now on the tides are expected to make each day. On the other hand, it is not certain that the bar condition has not deteriorated further owing to shoaling, and soundings to ascertain the oosition will be taken at the first opportunity. “What we need is a good flood,” commented the Harbourmaster (Captain H. Moar) this morning.

Commenting upon the announcement made by the Minister of Transport (Mr. O’Brien) of the extension of the validity of warrants of fitness for private cars from six to twelve months, an officer of the Wellington Automobile Association said that the concession, which followed upon representations made by automobile associations, applied to warrants in force at the moment, as well as to new warrants. “Notwithstanding that the legal requirement has been eased,” he remarked, “there still is the need for meticulous care by motorists for the maintenance of their cars, for, besides the safety point of view, there is the important consideration of difficulty over parts and repairs. It is wholly to the advantage of the car owner to keep his machine right up to standard.” The relaxation does not apply to cars which do more than 2000 miles in a half-year or to trade vehicles.

Greymouth cyclists and motorists have become lax in observing the regulations requiring their vehicles to be adequately lighted, and a determined effort to remedy the situation is being made by the traffic authorities. A “raid” was conducted on Friday night as a result of which a considerable number of summonses have been issued. The Borough Traffic Inspector (Mr. H. Lane) commented today that cyclists were required to carry a light which would be visible at a distance of 300 ft., and, although several had complained that they were unable to procure batteries for their lamps, the onus was on them to provide the necessary illumination. In view of the likelihood of motor traffic being heavier this Christmas with the release of a larger quantity of benzine an endeavour is to be made to reduce to a minimum the risk of accident due to lack of lights.

Guests at Revingtons Hotel include Mr A. Stewart, Mr K. R. Jordan, Mr R. E. Lynch, Mr. R. H. Wilson, Mr. C. C. Dodds, Mr C. H. Flanagan, Mr P. W. Macintosh-Cox, Mr H. M. Anderson (Christchurch); Mr Geo. Georgeson (Invercargill); Miss M. B. Lock (Rotorua); Mrs M. A. MacFarlane (Hokitika); Mr. H. L. Young, Mr. and Mrs J. E. Hornblow (Palmerston North); Miss K. Mclnroe, Mr S. G. Green (Waiho); Mr and Mrs Garner, Mr L. Salt (Wellington).

“Secrets of Popularity,” by a Greymouth Hostess. When questioned as to the reason for her success as a hostess, a Greymouth lady explained that her first “secret” was most important—she always saw to it that she felt her best —and in this she was materially assisted by sending all washing to the Westland Laundry. Why not end the worry and drudgery of the weekly wash and send your clothes to the Westland Laundry. It’s so dependable, too. Wet weather means nothing to us, and you’ll appreciate the quick, thorough and economical service. Try our No. 2 Thrifty Service: 5/- for 181bs flat work, washed and perfectly ironed, the equivalent of 2/6 _per week for the average household. Enquire to-day ’Phone 136. Depot 27 Albert Street. Westland Laundry Ltd. —Advt.