NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20635, 15 August 1941, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Native Land Court The Native Land Court will sit in Mohaka on September 10 for the purpose of consolidating interests. Kopua Ilill Cleared The obstruction to traffic caused on Wednesday night by a substantial slip which fell on the road over the Kopua Hill, near Bartletts, was cleared yesterday, and traffic was running normally this morning. The cessation of rain early yesterday morning enabled the cutting to drain out satisfactorily, and the work of clearance was not hampered by further falls of debris. Remand on Theft Charges Appearing before Mr. M. Doyle, J.P., in the Police Court to-day, a young Maori domestic, Maud Clever Lim, alias Maud Cribb, was charged that on or about August 1, at Mangatuna, she stole a pullover valued at £2, the property of Joan Kathleen Cave; and that on or about July 1, at Gisborne, she stole pairs of shoes valued at £2 15s, the property of Rhonda Mary Krebs. The accused was remanded, on the application of Detective Sneddon, until August 20. Warehousemen’s Award The new award covering general warehouse employees, other than those handling soft goods, is now operative, and affects a number of Gisborne firms. It varies only slightly the conditions of the previous award, and fixes the following rates: Male adult workers, £5 5s per week; female adult workers, £3 2s Gd per week, with a provision that there must be three male workers to every female employee. Travellers covered by the award will receive £5 15s per week, increasing to £5 17s 6d per week after two years. Cars at Funerals A suggestion that consideration should be given to the question of saving petrol at funerals was received on Wednesday night by the council of the Automobile Association (Auckland) from its Gisborne advisory committee. The association president, Mr. F. G. Farrell, said there seemed to be merit in the suggestion. At a time when petrol was so scarce, it might well be possible for supplies to be conserved by having fewer cars at funerals and filling those used, instead of having some with only one or two passengers. Literary Publication Among the latest publications received in Gisborne is one under the title of “English Diaries of the XVI, XVII and XVIII Centuries,” edited by the Rev. James Aitken, formerly a Gisborne resident in charge of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, and now living in Aberdeen. Graduating in Glasgow in 1890, he spent more than 40 years in the ministry in Scotland, South America and New Zealand, and while in the Dominion he engaged in literary work as the founder and, for 26 years, editor of “The Break of Day,” a journal connected with the church. In addition, he had published a study of the Book of Job. Mr. Aitken lived in Gisborne for a long time, and retired some years ago, when he left for Scotland. The Sub-machine Gun Considered to be the most deadly oi bullet-firing weapons, the Thompson sub-machine gun, or Tommy-gun as it is colloquially known, is now being used for instructional purposes at, Trentham. The gun, which fires a .450 bullet at a rate of 700 to 900 rounds a minute, is easy to handle and as an infantry weapon it has great shocking power at ranges up to 600 yards. It weighs lOJlb as compared with the 81b of the standard .303 rifle, and one of its most effective uses is in firing from the hip at close range. A most important advantage is that it gives individual infantrymen great fire power without reducing their mobility. It was the chief weapon of the German paratroops in Crete and other places .

Three-day “Wash Up” Three young women in a Hawera department store had a three-day “wash up” when a consignment of crockery arrived recently from England. The crockery had been dispatched from an English factory 18 months ago. During its long journey it had been sunk, salvaged, anjd transhipped, eventually arriving with straw packing sodden and stale, and with dozens of pieces of china broken. In the washing-up process the young women handled more than 200 dozen pieces and at the end had a motley array of sets. Some sets were complete, but many of the complete sets were made up of pieces salvaged from identical sets. Of one tea set all that remained was a plate, and another ■had plates, saucers, cream jug,, and sugar bowl, but not one cup left whole.

A Military Secret Lecturing Home Guard officers at New Plymouth on the Greek campaign, a New Zealand staff officer recently told a good story against himself. He said that he was with General Freyberg’s party. Soon after they crossed the Corinth' Canal they were attacked by an aeroplane. All rushed from their vehicles and ran into fields on both sides of the road. Suddenly around the corner came a solitary German parachutist armed with a Tommy-gun. Unfortunately, in the rush, all but one of the New Zealanders had left their rifles in the trucks. The exception, described as a Christchurch City Councillor and presumably Captain T. Milliken, shot and killed the German. The staff officer who told the tale went to collect some souvenirs from the body. He found a camera strapped on the Hun’s back damaged by the bullet. He took the camera back to Cairo and then found that it contained an exposed and rolled film. His first thoughts were of military secrets, but when prints were made he found that they were all studies of a Hungarian girl.