CABLE BREVITIES Australian Soldiers In Japan Complain

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 March 1948, Page 6

CABLE BREVITIES Australian Soldiers In Japan Complain

Australian soldiers who returned from Japan by a troopship yesterday complained that too rigid discipline was forcing many Australian soldiers to “marry” Japanese girls according to the Shinto rites, and was causing a serious loss of ’“face” before tne Japanese, who respected Americans but were openly impudent to Australians. The men said that even innocent association between Australians and Japanese girls was not permitted, whereas American troops were allowed to walk with Japanese girls and take them, in cars and trains. —Sydney, March 14.

Plague in Rangoon The town and port of Rangoon have been officially declared to be infected with plague.—New Delhi, March 13.

Norway's Defences As a result of an agreement among all parties except the Communists, the Prime Minister of Norway (Mr Gerhardsen) has submitted a proposal to Parliament lor spending £5,000,000 in strengthening Norway's military and civil defences. —London, March 12.

Aircraft Wreckage Sighted _ American search bombers sighted near Lake Como the wreckage of an aircraft, beileved at first to be an American Curtiss Commando aeroplane, which had been missing for more than two days on a flight from Geneva to Rome. It was later learned that the Commando had landed safely in Italy. There is no explanation of the wreckage at Lake Como. —Geneva, March 12.

Sentence on Japanese . The last Japanese war criminal to be tried in Singapore was sentenced to life imprisonment by the War Crimes Tribunal. He was 61-year-old former Kenipeitai officer, Major Keiji Mizuno, who was found guilty of participating in the massacre of 120 Chinese civilians at Singapore in 1942—Singapore, March 13.

Arms Delivered To Greece Major-General J. A. Vandleet, who is head of the American military aidmission to Greece, said today thab 35,000 of the latest British rifles had reached Athens, and a considerable number of Vickers machine-guns and Bren guns were expected soon, says the Athens correspondent of the Associated Press. The delivery of American 75 milli-metre pack howitzers had been speeded up, General Vandleet added.—London, March 13.

Gold Coast Riots The police arrested six members of the United Gold Coast Convention, which the Governor (Sir Gerald Creasy) accused of inciting the recent riots. The Governor said he had learned of agitators who might try to seize power. He could not help exercising powers which he had hoped not to use. The Governor added that he had issued orders to “quarantine” certain people, including the six persons arrested, and control their movements and communications. —Accra, March 13. Food Parcels for Britain

Agents who have been collecting money in Britain for parcels of rationed food to be sent from overseas to people in Britain will henceforth be liable to penalties under a new Food Ministry order. An order making it illegal for a person in Britain to buy or solicit on his own behalf rationed foods from abroad already existed. The new order forbids anyone in the United Kingdom to order rationed foods. It also forbids firms in Britain to act as agents for collecting such orders.—London, March 13. London Wool Sales

A catalogue of 12,781 bales were offered at the London wool sales today, from which 11,495 bales were sold. New®Zealand submitted 5727 and Australia 4900 bales. Best Styles among Dominion wools were well taken up, but ordinary topmaking greasy Merinos declined 5 per cent. The Hometrade and France were the chief buyers. At Bradford wool tops quotations are: Merino, seventies IOOd, sixty-fours 90d, sixties 86d; crossbred, fifty-sixes, 42d, fifties, 34d, forty-sixes 31d. —London, March 11. Jet Plane Tests

The United States Navy’s 10-mile-a-minute jet fighter aircraft were operated successfully for the .first time from an aircraft-carrier off the Californian coast, during operational trials from the U.S.S. Boxer last Wednesday and Thursday. Only recently, naval officers said that jet-propelled aircraft were impractical for carrier use, because of the space limitations and slow acceleration. These problems were successfully mastered in flights on and from the Boxer’s deck. The flights were carried out under routine conditions. The - Navy has announced that it is starting a . programme to equip all carrier groups [with jet-propelled aircraft. —San Francisco, March 13.

Charges Against Former Priest The chief of Rome mobile police has announced that Eduardo Prettner Cippico, a former Vatican priest, will go into the Rome gaol tomorrow to wait trial on charges of robbery, forgery, misappropriation of funds, and traffic in foreign currency. The Associated tress says that the police chief estimated that Cippico’s gains, made mostly while he was keeper of the Vatican’s Secretariat of States Archives, totalled about £400,000. The police have also announced the arrest of Ida Gengemi, wife of a former general of the Fascist Militia, in whose home Cippico hid. The police have also implicated six others in Cippico’s dealings.—Rome, March 12.

British Price Orders The Board of Trade at the request of the Federation of British Industries, the Association of British Chambers of Commerce and the National Union of Manufacturers, has postponed from Monday to April 26 the operation of six of its 14 price-freezing orders. The organisations said that difficulties had arisen under the regulations. The president of the Federation of.. British Industries (Sir Frederick Bain) has informed the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir Stafford Cripps) that the chairmen of 380 companies with a total market value of more than £2,000,000,000, have promised not to recommend shareholders to declare larger dividends next year on the same amount of capital than they have declared for in the past—London, March 12.

Many Gratuities Not Claimed Efforts are being made by Army Base Records to ensure that war gratuities are claimed by between 8000 and 10,000 New Zealand ex-service-men and women who have yet to apply for this money, although in many cases it has been available for nearly two years. A special staff is to try to send out letters and application forms by the end of July to all personnel who have not applied It is stated that many men who returned from J Force last year have still to ask for their gratuities, and that a number of home service personnel have not bothered because the amounts owing to them are small. Supplies from the Air

The unusual task of dropping by parachute a quantity of medical supplies required urgently on a lonely Pacific island has been successfully undertaken by a Douglas airliner of the National Airways Corporation. The aircraft, the Pakgra, on the regular New Zealand-Cook-Islands service, was sent at the request of . the resident agent on the island of Mangaia with 2801 b of medical supplies and 101 b of mail packed in six containers, and these were dropped to the village green. Advice received later by cablegram was that.all the packages landed in good order and on the target.