Kakariki Freezing Works.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 238, 5 September 1940, Page 6

Kakariki Freezing Works.

With a view to increasing the cool storage capacity for meat along the AVest Coast of the North Island refri'*eratinp; machinery aamiicli is beinp; dismantled from the Port Bowen is being taken to the freezing works at Kakariki. near Halcombe, to bo reassembled. An Easier Vocation.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Fruitgrowers’ Federation m "Wellington, yesterday, Mr T. C. Brash mentioned that one of the delegates to a provincial conference for many years had retired from fruitgrowing because of his age—more than 70. This grower had looked round' for something easier, and eventually decided on dairy farming. Fish Salvage.

The rapidity with which the Selwyn River (Canterbury) is trying up has necessitated early attention being given to the removal of stranded fish by the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. Already 2249 trout, varying in weight from lib to 61b, have been transferred to permanent water, and a daily inspection is imperative to the recovery from various pools of some thousands of fish. On a Torpedoed Vessel.

A member of the crew of the Dunvegan Castle, the armed merchant cruiser reported to have been torpedoed in the Atlantic, was Air Maynard Canning, son of Air and Airs A. J. Canning, of King Street, AVhakatane. Air and Airs Canning have so far not received advice whether their son was among the survivors. Air Canning signed on the Dunvegan Castle for 12 months, and had been engaged on voyages of convoy between Africa, America and Britain. Nazi Airman’s Tablet Food.

A German airman, hiding in a Berkshire wood, kept himself alive for nine days on tablet food, his iron rations, and other supplies taken from the pockets of his dead comrades. A brown bakdite ease, about the size of a cigarette-lighter, holds 36 tablets, which is enough to keep a German alive, at four tablets a day, for nine days. A Daily Mail reporter, who swallowed one, *aid that within a few minutes he was seized with nausea. There is a smell of chlorine and a bitter taste on the tongue persists. The tablet left him still with a feeling of hunger, but with no immediate Avisli to eat, Women On Farms.

i That there were quite a number of young women in AVellington anxious to do some work on farms n summer was mentioned in a letter received by the Alanawatu provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union, at its meeting yesterday, from the head office of the union. The women would be prepared to do such work as hoeing crops, the letter said, and the executive was asked for an opinion as to whether the services of women’s organisations set up to assist the Avar effort Avould be required on the land. It Avas decided to reply expressing appreciation of the gesture of the Avomen and saying that if the occasion arose farmers Avould be pleased to make use of their services.

Drainage Board Economises. As an economy measure the Moutoa Drainage Board lias decided to meet, every second month in the meantime, instead of monthly, with a view to reducing travelling by members and thereby helping to conserve petrol. Blown to Pieces.

A New Zealand soldier in Egypt, writing to his father in Dunedin, says Mussolini had a nice big statue pf himself over the border with his arm raised in the old familiar way. “Some of the New Zealand sappers went over the other night and blew it to pieces,” he added. Annexation of Malta.

To-day is tlio anniversary of the annexation by British forces of the Island of Malta in 1800 from the French. It was not until the Treaty of Paris in 1814, however, that Malta became definitely part of the British Empire, this being received with acclaim by the Maltese. Drivers’ Licenses.

In view of the peculiar circumstances resulting from the petrol restrictions whereby an unusually large number of motorists have not taken out new licenses, tlio regulation requiring drivers whose licenses have lapsed for more than three months to undergo a practical driving test lias been suspended. Practitioner Service.

The question of the introduction of the general practitioner service under the Social Security Act was discussed at a meeting yesterday between representatives ot the Government and the British Medical Association. The Minister of Health had no statement to make when seen at the conclusion of the discussion.

Concession For Mayors. Mayors and chairmen of town boards, besides being regarded as essential to their districts and thus being exempted from military service, have liad a further concession. The New Brighton Borough Council has been advised by tile Municipal Association of New Zealand that the Commissioner of Taxes had advised that both the social security and national security taxes will be deducted from only half of the honoraria of Mayors of cities and boroughs and chairmen of town boards.

Old Papers Come to Light. The demand for papers for wrapping parcels has brought to light some earlier issues of the “Manawatu Standard,” which have apparently been kept in homes until recently 6old. Lately, wdien a local resident made liis purchases at a city shop, lie found them wrapped in a copy of this journal dated January 5, 1915, and derived interest from reading the war news of that time. Another copy was much older, and afforded an interesting contrast with to-day’s presentation of the news.

Mails Reach Egypt. Advice that ordinary mail and parcels are now being received by members of the First Echelon in .Egypt lias reached Aucklaud. In an air mail letter which was posted in Egypt on August 14 a soldier said that long-awaited parcels, papers, and letters sent by ordinary post had reached the camp in large quantities, and, after four days, were still being sorted and distributed among the men. ‘You will find it hard to imagine,” the letter adds, “the difference in the spirits of the men how they have received full news from home.” Cream Substitute.

One disturbing factor of the use of margarine in Britain as a substitute for butter was that it liad been discovered that when margarine was mixed with milk and emulsified an excellent substitute for cream could be obtained, said Mr J. It. Lloyd Hammond, group representative, in an address to the Manawatu provincial executive of the New Zealaud Farmers’ Union yesterday. The people of Britain now wished that this had been discovered before, lie said. . The future of New Zealand’s butter market in Britain was not as good as that for cheese. France’s African Colonies.

The opinion that it was unfortunate that so few New Zealanders appreciated the importance of the decision of France’s equatorial African colonies to link up with the Allies was expressed by a Dunedin man who for a number of years was captain of a steamer on the Congo ltiver. The Congo, he said, was the key to Africa, and it was this fact which made the colonies’ decision such good news for those who understood the position. Had the French Congo been opposed to the Allied cause, it could have effectively blocked the river, but now this route would be open, giving Britain access from t'he west to the important colonies of Tanganyika, Uganda, and Kenya. In these territories there were good roads which could be fised by heavily-mechanised units, which could be brought up the Congo. The position now was that Britain nad available to her an uninterrupted route from the mouth of the Congo, through Central Africa, to the Nile and Egypt. It followed that Britain’s strategic position in relation to Italy had been greatly improved, and that the value of Mussolini’s grip on a considerable stretch of the east coast had been to a large extent nullified.

No Channel Tunnel, One certain result of the German occupation of France will be that’ we are not likely to hear anything further about the Channel tunnel in our lifetimes, observes the Manchester Guardlaa. The possibility of such a project has been in men’s minds since the beginning of the nineteenth century, when M. Matthieu discussed the matter with Napoeleou I, but no action resulted until 1876, when a company was formed in France and another in England with the object of making a beginning. On each side an experimental tunnel was bored for a distance of over ‘2OOO yards, that on the English side being near the Shakespeare Cliff; Dover, and that on the other side being at Sangatte, near Calais. But in 1882 the work came to a standstill and has never been resumed. In recent years the idea was revived, one of its prime advocates being Baron Emile Beaumont d’Erlanger, of Hytlie. He never lost enthusiasm for the scheme. “Methods of warfare have changed,” he urged, “making the tunnel more vital than ever from both the military and the commercial view.” He became chairman of the Channel Tunnel Company in August, 1939 and believed that he would “pull off the Channel Tunnel before lie was himself pulled off.” But he died two weeks after be coming chairman, at the age of 73, and it seems as if his cherished project has died witli him