Interest in R.S.A.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 121, 20 April 1940, Page 6

Interest in R.S.A.

A financial membership of 435, a record since the early days of the association’s history, is recorded m the annual report of the Hastings It.S.A. Expensive Contracts.. v Contracts involving £17,500 have been let by the Government ior the construction of radio terminal facilities and staff accommodation on lamaki Point, where Auckland s radio station for the guidance of ocean aircraft is being established. Proceeds From Stamps. A quarter of a million stamps have been collected in three years by the members of the stamp circle at St. Patrick’s College, Silverstroam, and sent to the headquarters of the Manst Order in Washington, United States, for disposal. The proceeds go toward the work of the Marist Missions in the Pacific Islands. Apathy Towards. Exhibition. “If the directors have any fault to find, it is with the citizens of Wellington, who have shown themselves to be the’most apathetic of any in New Zealand,” said Mr W. Appleton, chairman of the publicity committee of the Ceiltennial Exhibition, speaking lust night. “I cannot help feeling that, as far as the people of Wellington are concerned they have rather let us down, lie added. “Who Are These Australians?” A good joke concerning Hitler and the Australians was told by Mr S. J. Harrison, Dominion secretary of the New Zealand R.S.A., when speaking at the annual reunion of the Tailiapo branch. The story related to a conversation between Hitler and von Bibhentrop regarding the Australians. Hitler: Who are these Australians? Ribbentrop: 1 remember that eleven of them beat All England. Hitler: Mein Gott, there are thousands of them coining over hero. Queensland Sheep Theft. Graziers in western districts of' Queensland are suffering severe losses through the- activities of sheep and cattle thieves. Some in the Charleville district said that hundreds of sheep had been shot, thousands had been driven off by “rustlers,” and many more had been loaded into trucks by night and carried out of the district. Thieves, working under cover of darkness, drive trucks without lights alongside fences near rpobs of sheep, cut the wires and carry out their thefts. Merchant Navy’s Importance. The view that as a community the people of New Zealand did not recognise their responsibilities to the Merchant Navy as the agent through which ■tiie prosperity and the very existence of the nation were secured, was expressed bv the Bishop of Wellington (Rt. Rev. H. Holland), speaking at the annual meeting of the Missions to Seamen in Wellington. “I cannot understand it,” said the Bishop, “because, quite, honestly, we know that New Zealand depends for her very life on the men who are taking our produce from hero to the Old World.”

Three Hundred Cars an Hour. A Hastings resident who counted the number of motor cars which passed a, point in Karamu Road, Hastings, in one hour on Saturday night last found that over 300 vehicles used the highway between 7 and 8 p.m. Young Farmer Auxiliaries. Young women' are to work in conjunction with Young Farmers’ Clubs as auxiliary branches if a suggestion made by the Northern Hawke’s Bay district committee of the Young Farmers’ Club Federation is adopted by the Dominion conference. Dominion Pilots’ Deaths. Since the outbreak of war 3S iiilots and airmen from New Zealand have either lost their lives on active service or have been reported missing and believed killed. In addition three have been seriously injured in aircraft accidents, while two pilots have been interned. First Things First. “What shall it profit a man if he have an electric stove and lose the Empire?” asked Mr Kitson at a meeting of the Waimairi County Council. He urged that ratepayers should be prepared to go short in some facilities, and suggested that electrical expansion might be curtailed. Confidence at Stake. Criticism of the working of the arithmetic papers in the matriculation examination last year' was expressed by members of the Hawke’s Bay Education Board yesterday, when tears were expressed that confidence would be lost in the examiners or those counting the marks. An investigation into the marking of the papers was urged. New Number Plates. Rumours that the Government did not intend to issue new number plates for motor vehicles this year, but planned instead to supply wind-screen stickers at a greatly reduced cost, have been denied by the Minister of Transport (Mr R. Semple). The Minister said that number plates would be issued as usual this year. They would have white numerals on a Venetian' red background. Hours of Work. A suggestion that hours of work in New Zealand should be extended to 44 a week without an increase in pay was made by Mr W. E. Hale, chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Board, at the northern ward conference of the board in Morrinsville. Dairy farmers were arbitrarily tied to a high standard of efficiency and the same should be demanded of other sections of the community. Duty Toward Voluntesrs. Reported instances of men losing their employment as the result of their probable enlistment in the Royal New Zealand Air Force are looked upon with the greatest concern by the Government, and the Minister of Defence (Hon. F. Jones), speaking at Dunedin, expressed the hope that alt employers would realise their clear duty in - the matter, even if in some cases the efficiency of their organisations was temporarily affected.