CABLE BREVITIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 March 1946, Page 6

CABLE BREVITIES

MEN REPLACING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY The acute shortage of women workers, estimated at more than 20,000 in Sydney alone, is forcing, essential industries to use men in jobs traditionally held by women. A race for male labour is beginning as essential industries change their policy in this respect. The shortage of women is keeping production between 25 and 40 per cent, below normal. If the switchover from female to male labour becomes fairly general labour costs will rise. 20 per. cent. One large woollen mill firm--4s taking on every man it can get for spinning and weaving. Most of the men engaged are discharged soldiers, and the experience has been that only 50 per cent, stay after the first week. The comparative weekly wage rates are £3/18/- lor a woman and £5/9/-.for a man, both plus £1 5/-- a week bonus for efficiency. Another mill company claims that since early January about 2000 men have taken jobs formerly held by women. The higher wage rate is partly counteracted by the fact that men are more stable employees after the settling down period, and that two men can do the work of three women. —Sydney, March 1.

Roman Doctor Absolved. An investigating commission has absolved the famous tropical medicine expert, Dr. Aldo Castellani, from charges of collaborating with Fascism. He will therefore retain, his seat in the Senate and his chair in Rome University, and other high appointments.—Rome, February 28.

Lancashire Cotton Strike. Fifty Lancashire cotton mills are involved in an unofficial piece workers’ strike for a 107- a week increase. The strike is continuing in spite of a call for resumption (pending a decision) sent out by a joint meeting of the two spinners’ unions in Manchester. —London, February 28.

Hitler’s Secretary Arrested. Hitler's personal secretary from 1925 to 1930, Fraulein Taula Pheim, has been arrested at. Inzell, Bavaria, by military officials. She has been described as a “fanatic Nazi and a close friend of the Fuehrer.” She is being hold on a charge of being in possession of German army material. —London, March 1.

New First Sea Lord. Admiral Sir John Cunningham has been appointed First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, in succession to Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. Sir John Cunningham succeeded Lord Cunningham, to whom he is not related, as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, in 1943. He is 60 years of age.—London, February 28.

No Atomic Bomb Life Insurance. New life insurance policies will not be met if death is caused by atom bombs, according to an announcement made by a number of British life assurance companies. Previously many life policies covered normal war risks, but the companies now say that because of “the development o£ modern weapons” future policies will not cover the risk of death as a result of Avar. —London, March 1.

Monterey at Honolulu. When the. Monterey, carrying New Zealand and Australian wives and children of American servicemen arrived, the passengers were unable to leave the ship. They spent most of the time lining the decks, trying to get a glimpse of the city. The ship s chaplain said it had been a very smooth trip. “We have had American Government background lectures, but most of the wives seem interested in where they are going to live and what the educational and medical facilities are like.” —Honolulu, February 28.

Aircraft Carrier of Ice. The proposal of the British and American Governments to build a giant aircraft-carrier of ice to protect shipping convoys in the Atlantic and to be used later in the invasion of Europe has been revealed. While experiments were still going on in refrigerated laboratories in the United States, the Battle of the Atlantic was won and the project was dropped. Explosives have little effect on ice and the 40ft thick walls of the carrier would have withstood torpedoes and bombs. The carrier was to have been 3000 feet long, 200 feet in beam, and 300 feet deep, with a weight of 2,000,000 tons. It was to have a speed of seven knots. It would have carried 300 fighters and 200 bombers, and the complement would have been 3500 men.—London, March 1,