DOMINION ITEMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 March 1945, Page 2

DOMINION ITEMS

. COMPENSATION CLAIM. NEW PLYMOUTH, March 22. . Apart from the payment of small sums admitted by the Crown, the Taranaki Land Sales Committee, in a reserved decision given at New Plymouth to-day, ruled that the claimant, John E. G. R. Angerstein, . had no claim to compensation arising out of the taking of land ,by the Crown under Section 51 of the Servicemen’s Settlement and Land Sales Act. The case .was the first‘of the kind heard in New Zealand. ■The claim, which was heard last Friday, involved sums amounting to nearly £6lB, and was based on the losses that it was alleged would not have occurred but for the intervention of the Act. PENSION FRAUD NEW PLYMOUTH, March 22. . Convicted oil 10 charges of defrauding the Pensions Department, a pensioner, “Frederick Coldrick, was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment on nine charges by Mr.' W. H. Woodward, S.M., to-day. The Magistrate said Coldrick had obtained £329 10/- from all sources in the last two and a-half years, and a careful check showed no possibility of restitution. There was no justification for probation, as Coldrick could not have been ignorant of defrauding the Department, or of the fact that he was not entitled to live at the rate of £4O a month. As the war pension of £7 a month had been stopped, the. sentence cm the remaining charge would be postponed. The Magistrate said that if the pension was not stopped permanently, Coldrick could be given probation at the end of the prison term, conditional on repaying £7 mommy.

OVERSEAS BRIDES. WELLINGTON, March'23. A second party of British wives to arrive in the Dominion within two weeks was welcomed recently at a casualty clearing station. Their husbands, many of whom were repatriated or invalided home about a year ago, and are now back in civilian life, were waiting for them. Air Force wives numbering 37 were again in the maiority, three of them widows. Children, ranging from the three months’ old baby of a Christchurch stoker, to the nine year old elder daughter of a Hamilton Flight Sergeant were sturdy and plentiful. The Minister of Defence (Mr. Jones) welcomed the arrivals on behalf of the Prime Minister and Mr. Bowden on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Leadley reoresented the Returned Services’ Association. Sir Harry Batterby, as representative of the United Kingdom in New Zealand said they had come to “one of the best two countries in the world.”

FIRE INQUIRY. PALMERSTON N., March 23. Evidence presented to the Coroner’s inquiry by the Officer Commanding the ordnance depot at the showgrounds, Capt. W. S. Keegan, as to the damage caused by the fire on December 31 last, set the loss to the Army Department at £225,700. The total value of all stock at the depot 'at the end of December, 1944, was £1.100,000. He said that thefts up to the time of the .fire were very small from ordnance. The greater part of the overall deficiencies were the result of miscounting. In two years nine months the losses from all sources amounted to £627. For the same period there were brought on charge surpluses to the value of £l6OO, thus the surpluses outweighed the shortages by about £lOOO. Witness detailed the accounting system of charging for goods. From his knowledge of the store there could be definitely no suggestion that the fire was started to conceal shortages. Corporal Gould of the works branch, central military district, described the tests made with gas heated coppers under conditions representing those in the men’s cookhouse and ordnance store.

Detective F. X. Quinn gave evidence of inquiries into possible causes of fire. They have been widespread and exhaustive but produced no relevant information which had not been placed before the Court. No evidence could be found of sabotage, incendiaries or any interference like that: No person could be found who had lit the copper found burning by Sergeant Luffman. The insurance on the buildings of the A. and P. Assn, owners, which 'witness detailed were very substantially below replacement cost of the buildings to-day. The Coroner reserved his finding which he said he hoped to give next week.