DOMINION NEWS Governor-General’s Pacific Tour

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 June 1948, Page 8

DOMINION NEWS Governor-General’s Pacific Tour

A New Zealand cruiser and an Australian destroyer will be in harbour together at Suva at the end of the month. The ships will be H.M.N.Z.S. Bellona, which will reach Suva on June 28 at the beginning of her Pacific cruise, and H.M.A.S. Arunta, a Tribal class destroyer which is to return to Suva on June 29 after taking the Governor of Fiji (Sir Brian Freestqn) on a visit to Tonga. The Bellona will be joined at Suva by the Gov-ernor-General of New Zealand (Sir Bernard Freyberg) and Lady Frey.berg, and with their Excellencies on board, she will begin a cruise of the New Zealand Pacific dependencies on July 2. It was officially stated in Suva last week that Sir Bernard Freyberg and Lady Freyberg would arrive in Suva by flying-boat on June 29, and that until their departure in the Bellona they would be the guests of Sir Brian Freeston and Lady Freeston. — (P.A.) Price Of Napkins

The price of napkins was discussed with the Minister of Health (Miss M. B. Howard) recently by a deputation of Kawakawa women. Speakers said the position was almost impossible .for young expectant mothers on low incomes. “For my twins I had to pay £l4 for babies’ napkins, and yet women are being asked to have larger families,” said one. Miss Howard agreed that £2 10s a dozen was far too costly, but added that the price was set in England, and the only way the New Zealand Government could overcome the trouble was by direct subsidies. No stocks were held. Women who were hard put to it would be able to find relief through the hospital board. Her own board had helped many necessitous cases. To a questioner who suggested that women might not care to seek charity, the Minister said there was no charity in New Zealand today. The Social Security Fund was built up by everybody paying into it in case they should ever stand in need of drawing some benefit.

St John Ambulance For the first time since the St John Ambulance Brigade began operations in New Zealand a Dominion-wide contest among ambulance (men’s) and nursing (women’s) teams was held at Dunedin. Eight ambulance teams and seven nursing teams competed. Each comprised four members. Dunedin competitors took first place in the nursing section and third in the ambulance section. Auckland, represented by the Otahuhu Railway

Ambulance Division team, headed the ambulance section with 284.35 points. The Christchurch team was second with 2G4.70 points, and Otago’s composite team from Port Chalmers and the Hillside workshops filled third position with 263,26 points. They were followed by Southland (253.34 points), Wanganui (245.86 points), South Auckland (229.82 points), Taranaki (228.06 points), and Wellington (223.41 points). Otago, with, the North-East Valley team, headed the nursing section with 267.99 points. New Plymouth filled second place with 262.70 points, followed by Petone (254.69 .points), Auckland (249.0 points), Canterbury (232.23 points), Southland (221.88 points), and Wanganui (216.47 points). _