NAVAL CODE STOLEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 12 May 1939, Page 4

NAVAL CODE STOLEN

FRENCH COURIER'S LOSS j TOOK EIGHT YEARS TO COMPILE ! [By Air Mail-Special Correspondent! LONDON, Bth April. :' British and French experts, who have •! been at work for eight years eompil- ; j ing a secret code, which was to have ; j been used by the Allied Fleets in the ; | event of a war, were dismayed to hear

: I this week that the code had been stolj en. The police believe that it was takS en from the reserved compartment of : | a French courier in the Golden Arrow ; boat train at Victoria Station, London. ■. It was believed to be the most peril feet ever invented and would have en-

: j abled the two fleets to exchange radio' si messages which an enemy would nevsjer have been able to decipher. It \ i was completed a short time ago and a »j French diplomatic courier was sent to 2 London to collect a copy. E Placed in a sealed despatch case, it E was handed to him, and, with other E baggage, it was placed in his reserved = compartment at Victoria. 5 The courier left tlm compartment for = five minutes while saying good-bye to z a British colleague. When the case was z opened at the French Admiralty it E was found that the vital code was missz ing and that the case was full of waste E paper. Z Then it was discovered that the real ~ case had been taken and another —an z exact duplicate—substituted. The seals E on it were an exact copy of the real ~ seals.

Pending the inauguration of medical, hospital, and maternity benefits and opticians, two classes recommended for inclusion by the National Health and Superannuation Committee, do not expect any approach by the Government in respect of the health scheme. Representatives of both the j New Zealand Institute of Opticians and | the New Zealand Dental Association gave evidence to the committee last

year. In the report, dental and optical benefits were included in the list of supplementary benefits proposed to be introduced, not at the inception but when the organisation a. finances were available. Optical benefits were listed the last of seven classes, though there was no specific indication that they were last in order of emergency. The position of the dentists under the oroposals has been discusse.l by the asosciation, but it is considered that no statement of the official view is called for till such time as negotiations begin. Similarly there is no occasion yet to institute, a canvass of branches to ascertain the views of members as a whole.