WAR GRATUITIES Few Accounts Yet Touched In North

Northern Advocate, 1 April 1946, Page 7

WAR GRATUITIES Few Accounts Yet Touched In North

Few withdrawals from war service gratuity accounts have been made at the Chief Post Office in Whangarei. In a few instances heavy withdrawals have been made but most of the ICOO accounts so far opened, covering the whole of Northland, with the exception of Dargaville and Kaitaia, have not been touched. The Dargaville and Kaitaia post offices are ledger offices where gratuity accounts are domiciled and no iofermation has been received at the chief post office of the position in those centres. WITHDRAWALS IN CITY The first payment of the gratuity was made in Auckland this morning following the posting on Saturday of I over 7COO passbooks and the opening of I a similar number of accounts at Post I Office Savings Banks in the city and. suburbs. Many of the passbooks arrived by the first mail this morning and the first applicant desiring to operate on his account arrived at the savings bank attached to the chief post office at 10.30 a.m. Ex-servicemen then entered in dribs and drabs and about 50 had been dealt with up to midday. Of these, a bank official stated, roughly 50 per cent withdrew the entire amount with which they had been credited, thus closing their accounts. The sizes of the accounts vary from a few shillings to a maximum of £270.