Providing More Cheese Vats.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 199, 24 July 1941, Page 6

Providing More Cheese Vats.

A large shipment of Californian redwood, valued at between £‘2ooo and £3OOO, has arrived at Hawera from the United States and is to be used in the manufacture of 100 caeese vats. Potato Imports. “We will not import any potatoes so long as there are ample here,” the Minister of Marketing said when a recommendation of the North Canterbury branch of the Farmers’ Union that importations should not be allowed was referred to him for comment. Home Guards Provide Uniforms. The Marion Junction Home Guard platoon claims to be the first in the Wanganui military area to he uniformed. 38 members having found £1 each from their own pockets for the purpose. The unifprms are made of khaki denim trousers, and a khaki shirt.

Look Up Hansard! When the Minister for Railways solemnly informed the House of Representatives last evening that he had listened in silence for two years to the Opposition’s remarks, ho was promptly advised by Mr W. J. Poison, Nationalist member for Stratford, to look up Hansard. “You have been talking in your sleep for the last two years,” ho was informed. Nazi Successes.

In Nazi-occupicd Belgium where it is dangerous to discuss the war or politics, men arc now heard reporting audibly and cheerfully that the Germans have succeeded in landing at three points in Britain. “Oh,” say their friends, “is that true? Where?” “Yes,” they whisper, “in cemeteries, in hospitals, in prison camps.”— Sporting and Dramatic News, London.

Weather and Shopping. With the excellent early Spring weather conditions that have prevailed of late following the frosts many Palmerston North residents have taken advantage of the hours of sunlight to come into the centre of the city to do business. The Square has been thronged with people on a number of mornings and the shops seemed to be doing much business. This morning, however, as a result of the break in the weather following the cold snap which came upon the district late yesterday afternoon! it was very noticeable that fewer persons were in the streets.

Carnegie and Libraries. The origin of Andrew Carnegie’s assistance to libraries throughout the world was related by Mr A. J. Sinclair, of To Awamutu, in an address to the Auckland Rotary Club. When Carnegie was a boy in Scotland, said Mr Sinclair, a man in the neighbourhood threw open his library of about 500 volumes for use by the young people of the district. Carnegie started with the first volume on the shelves and read every one. This kindly aid, said Mr Sinclair, had far-reaching consequences, for in his lifetime Carnegie provided 2500 public libraries. Control of Home Guard.

A resolution that the Government be asked to take over the Home Guard organisation, as it was considered an integral part of New Zealand's defence force, was adopted unanimously at a conference of Wairarapa loca.l body representatives hold in Masterton on Monday night. Several speakers criticised the Government’s capitation grant for guardsmen as being inadequate. When it was suggested that if the Government did not move in the matter the local bodies should assist the guard, the Mayor of ‘Pahiatua (Mr S. K. Siddells) described this as dangerous as the Government might leave the whole task to them. Mischievous Actions. Mischievous actions by children ill the Hospital quarter of the city are tending toward the defeat, for the time being, of measures taken by the City Council (at the suggestion of the Fire Brigade) tor the provisions of emergency supplies of water. The Knwau drain has lieen “tapped m half a dozen places therewith concrete pipes to form sumps in order to provide the requisite dentil of water should the Fire Brigade have to pump water from the drain under emergency conditions. It has been reported by one of the wardens in the area that children have blocked several of these recently constructed sumps with stones and other materials. Should the use of one of these sumps lie necessary for fire-fighting purposes such a blockage could have very serious consequences. New Zealand and St. Paul’s. Mr Winston Churchill in a published picture stands musing over the ruins of the House of Commons, and one might say that here is Lord Macaulay's famous ‘New Zealander come true, savs the New York ’rimes. Such was the vitality of the Church of i Rome, said Macaulay, that “she mayj still exist in undiminished vigour when j some traveller from New Zealand shall,, in the midst of a vast solitude, take, liis stand on a broken arch of London | Bridge to. sketch the ruins of St. j Paul's.” The ruins of St. Paul’s have come to pass and conceivably there may be a broken arch in one of the Thames bridges, but there is all the difference in the world in the New Zealander. To-dav he is not a tourist sketching a picturesque St. Paul’s ruin. He is to-dav an Anzac in a tanlXor a Spitfire doing his bqst to ensure the rebuilding of St. Paul’s and its perpetuation into an indefinite future.

Increased Membership. Reporting, to the Manawatu Automobile Association, last evening, the secretary (Mr S. I. McKenzie) stated that the membership roll now totalled 3SIO. Ninety new members had joined since the last meeting. Losses by Frost. The Chinese market-gardeners at Otaki have lost heavily through the recent frosts, one alone suffering damage to the extent of £2OO, writes the' “Manawatu Standard’s” corres[wndent. Others have suffered almost as severely. Calves for Soldiers. The Northern AVairoa branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association lias adopted a scheme to help in the rehabilitation of soldiers under which farmers will be asked to donate boiler calves for distribution among the men o.n their discharge from the armed forces. The association expects to obtain 1000 heifers annually. Patriotic Appeal. At a meeting of the Wellington Provincial Patriotic Council yesterday the extent of the response in the Wellington district to the £1.000,000 all-purposes appeal was shown. A statement showed that Wellington itself had exceeded its quota (£100,000) by £3609, Masterton (£2O 000) by £10.419, and Levin-OtakinSliannon (£10,000) by £1961. Maori Population Increasing. “The Maori population has again shown a steady increase,” states the annual report of the Native Department, presented to Parliament. The population at the end ' of last. March was 92,248 compared with 90.980 at the j end of March, 1940. During the samel period the number of Maoris employed under the department’s schemes drop-1 ed from 4000 to approximately 2500. The Victory Crusade. In common with other towns in the Dominion numerous business * firms in Palmerston North have been displaying j the “V for Victory” sign. The signs have not only been placed on shop windows, but have also appeared on the mudguards of business vehicles and on the windows and other parts of private motor-cars. The number of signs shows a marked increase daily. Motorists have also been heard tapping out the | “V” sign (three dots and a dash) in morse on their car horns. Remembered Nothing of Game. One of the best backs on the field in , the Rugby match between Feilding ; Agricultural High School and Hawera j Technical High School at Hawera yes- | terday, the captain of the Feilding ; team, D. Aitken, remembered nothing | of the game after the kick-off. Aitken ! collided with another Feilding player I in the early stages of the match, cracking a cheek-bone and suffering eoncus- | sion. It was not until the end of the i match, when he did not know its result or anything about it, that his injuries were discovered. Pedestrian Crossings. At a meeting of the Manawatu Automobile Association, last evening, a letter was received from the North Island Motor Union advising that it had been suggested by a Christchurch traffic officer that the pedestrian crossings should be painted with broken lines to prevent pedestrians from slipping as they do on continuous lines. A reply : is to he sent to the effect that the I association is not in favour ol any ; alteration to the present regulation. It was also decided to write to the, Palmerston North City Council draw- j ing attention to the fact that all the pedestrian crossings in the Square were almost obliterated and urgently re- , quired painting. Timely Rescue. The danger created in the removal of gratings from storm-water sumps which arc situated at various points through- I out the city was exemplified yesterday when a child fell into an open sump in Russell Street and a tragedy was | averted otilv bv the timely presence of an adult.* The gratings (which are made so that they can be removed by City Council workmen) cover sumps into which water flows from the gutters and the sumps are so constructed as to catch dirt and other debris and prevent this from blocking the underground pipes. Some children had removed the grating from a sump in Russell Street and a small boy fell in head first and disappeared from sight. A woman who, fortunately, was passing at the time noticed the incident but she had to secure the aid of a man before the child was pulled from the sump.