The Holiday Season.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXIII, Issue 22, 24 December 1942, Page 4

The Holiday Season.

The "Manawatu Standard" will not be published to-morrow, Christmas Dnv, hut,will be issued as usual on Boxing Day. Collection of Union Fees. A request that the Hamilton Borough Council should collect union fees from some of its employees was refused at a council meeting. A Good Test. Although the test of the E.P.S. alarm last evening had been well advertised, a number of E.P.S. personnel turned out for duty. The test was satisfactory, the whole battery having worked well and being heard in the suburban areas. Season's Greetings. Season's greetings by this medium from the Consul-Gcneral of Poland and Countess Wodzicki to their 1 friends throughout New Zealand will help conserve paper for war purposes and incidentally augment Christmas cheer for soldiers through the Patriotic Fund Board.

Motor Cyclist Killed. Fatal injuries were received by a motor cyclist when his machine skidded on the AVaterfront Poad, Auckland, last night. The victim was Mr John Owen Herbert Nicholls, aged 43, a married man, of Kohimarama. Mr Nicholls was an engineer employed bv the New Zealand Herald. Rehabilitation Committees. Advice has been received by Sir Alfred Ransom. M.P., from the secretary of the Rehabilitation Board, that consideration will be given early in the New Year to the setting up of committees in Dannevirke and other towns not already provided for. This information was conveyed to the Dannevirke Borough Council. National Savings. The district organiser for National Savings reports that deposits show a decided increase this week, the total for the city to this morning reaching £1052 3s. "Wednesday gave the best returns, and bonds were freely purchased and are becoming more popular daily. Apparently the rain did not deter the people, a large number assembling before the doors were opened. Samoan Chief's Monster Wedding. j One of the largest wedding feasts of recent years was held in November at Aleipata, when a high chief of Fasitoouta, Aione, married a taupou (village maid) of Aleipata. A large 'crowd of Samoans gathered from all parts of the islands to celebrate the event, in true Samoan style. An amount of over £4OOO was collected by the families and villages of the 'parties concerned, evidence of the I present period of prosperity and affluence amongst the natives of Western Samoa. Bitumen in Short Supply. Bitumen and bituminous products have been in short supply in New 'Zealand for some time and arrangements have been made for supplies from America under Lease-or-Lend, the Minister of Supply (Mr Sullivan) announced yesterday. It would be necessary, he said, for the use of this material to be strictly controlled and a control notice had been gazetted providing for a stocktaking of existing supplies and prohibiting the use of bituminous products for paving lor similar purposes after January 15 ! without the consent of the Main I Highways Board.

Safety of Theatre Audiences. A scheme to minimise any panic which m'ght possibly arise in theatres and other places of entertainment under emergency conditions has been adopted by the National Service Department as the basis of a plan of education of patrons of. cinemas throughout the Dominion. Mr Fuller, the assistant managing director of Theatre Management, Ltd., has been appointed by the department to tour New Zealand, at his own expense, to put the scheme into effect. It is estimated that it will become operative in Wellington early in the New Year, and after that in theatres throughout the Dominion. Amazing Adventure. Hearing cries of "Help, help," Captain Gerow, piloting a Boston fighterbomber, called out to Harry Griffiths, who was in the bow compartment making compass tests, asking if he was 0.K., says a Montreal message. Griffiths did not respond, whereupon Gerow, assuming that he had slipped through the floor-trap and was dangling 'beneath the plane throttled down the bomber, sought out a deep snowdrift, steered for it at a dangerously low altitude, and yelled: "Now, drop." He climbed steeply and saw his companion struggling to his feet and brushing off the snow. Griffiths was taken to hospital and is "resting quietly." Furniture Trade Essential.

The manufacture of furniture and i bedding has been declared an essential industry. "Skilled labour in this i country," the Minister of Industrial Manpower (Mr McLagan) said yesiterday, "has been reduced by more than 50 per cent, of its pre-war strength, and consequently the greatest difficulty is being experiencejd in meeting the requirements of the Armed Forces and the minimum essential needs of the civilian community. Therefore, in order to ensure that production is maintained at least at its present level and that there is a reasonable productive basis to meet the post-war demands from aeturned men and' others setting up homes, it is considered necessary to bring the industry within the scope of the Industrial Manpower Regulations, 1942." j