FAMINE IN FRANCE

Grey River Argus, 24 August 1945, Page 5

FAMINE IN FRANCE

TO BE AVERTED FOOD IMPORTS ARRANGED (Rec 10.30) PARIS, August 23 Many hundred th °u sand * su °. French people have expected. to_ sut fer acutely from the lack of foodUJ the winter months. New theyhave been assured of a reasonable of nourishment by the Food M. Pineau, who, after visiting Britam and America, has announced th under an Anglo-French agreement, signed in Washington, France will buy a minimum of ten per cent, the Britjsh-Argentine meat contract. Britain agreed to advance * rance fifty thousand tons of sugar, which France will return from here sugar from the French West Indies. France is also importing from the United States and Canada 350 thousand tons of wheat monthly, of which two hundred thousand tons is going to French North Africa. The Combined Food Board at Washington has allocated’ France two hundred thousand tons of afts for the second halt of this year. France is also importing sixty thousand tons of meat, both tinned and the carcases by the end of the year, and one million tons of agricultural machinery, chemical manure, and insectisides monthly, 'these coming principally from America. M. Pineau promised the people they would receive an average of 2,500 food calories each daily. By October France will receive as much imports as she can handle with her present port facilities. . ' (Rec. 11.30) ' HAGUE, Aug. 23 The Dutch Minister of Agriculture has announced a fifty P er cent, cut in the Dutch meat ration as from September 2 to. three ounces weekly.

N.Z. CLOTHING FOR EUROPE WELLINGTON, Aug. 23. ■Over £250,000 is the., estimated worth of second-hand garments contributed’throughout New Zealand for shipment to Europe. Clothes are still arriving at the depots, and much sorting and packing has to be done yet. There are 2785 cases and bales packed ready for shipments; 900 being at Wellington, 185 at Lyttelton and 1700 at Auckland? It is estimated that* in Wellington there are enough clothes on hand to fill another 600 cases. The average weight of the contents of cases is 2001 b. and the average weight of the contents of a bale is 350 to 4001 b. Over 500,0001 b of clothing have been packed and the estimate of £250,000 as its value is based on the supposition that the average value of a garment is 10s.