GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 27 June 1940, Page 6

GENERAL ITEMS

Import Licenses The Nelson Chamber of Commerce has received a reminder that all applications for licenses to import goods duriug' the fourth licensing period must be lodged with the Collector of Customs not later than 30th June. Business houses who have not completed their applications should note this. Fitcairn Island Postal Agency The Post and Telegraph Department announces that the New Zealand Postal Agency at Pitcairn Island will be closed on the 14th October next. On and after the 16th October the Pitcairn Island post office will be controlled by the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, who advises that an issue of Pitcairn Island postage stamps will be made available from the date the post office passes to his control. Applicants for the new stamps should address their ccmmunications to the Postmaster-Gen-eral at Suva, Fiji. A “Putsch” Defined “What is a ‘putsch’?” asked Mr Justice Blair in the Supreme Court, Auckland, recently, when reading from a magazine article which he held to be contempt of Court. Mr V. R. Meredith replied that he supposed it was what was called in the vernacular a “clean up.” a general persecution by violence or other methods to get rid of opponents. “It is a term used in Germany for attacking the Jews,” said Mr Julius Hogben. National Patriotic Fund In response to his Excellency the Governor-General’s appeal for funds, the additional donations received bring the total to date to £141,305 16s 3d. Hitler’s Secret Weapon The view that Hitler’s secret weapon of which so much was heard, was not some mechanical force was expressed by Bishop Simkin in his address at the annual Auckland Dioceson missionary festival at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Tuesday night. It was coming to be realised, he said, that it was a super aeroplane or a new machine of destruction. It was the influence of the devil himself. Motor Registration Plates Reconsideration of the present system of issuing fresh number plates annually for motor-vehicles is being suggested to the Government by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, as an outcome of its investigations into methods of reducing its waste in wartime. It is regarded in other quarters as probable that a change will be made by the authorities who have already given considerations to the question and to the difficulties in obtaining mild steel for plates. Storing Foodstuffs An exceptional demand for s<?me classes of foodstuffs is attributed by grocers to panic buying by persons who fear difficulties arising through the war. The need for such buying is ridiculed by merchants, who point out that huge supplies of food would always be available in New Zealand. Persons who store flour should realise that there are never less than six months’ stocks held in Auckland and a year’s supply in the Dominion. Import restrictions have probably dictated over-buying of tinned foods such as salmon, and some institutions are believed to be the chief purchasers. Amended Breakfasts “There is one way in which we can help to increase the supply of bacon for Britain and that is by doing without bacon for breakfast and relying instead on the mutton chop,” stated Mr W. Poison, M.P., chairman of the Primary Producers’ Federation, in addressing a large meeting of farmers in Palmerston North. Apart from less consumption in this country, he added, it was most important to augment the production of bacon pigs. Last Year’s Models Motor-cars and wireless sets are not likely to become ante-dated as rapidly in the future as they have in the past., remarked the “Sydney Herald.” Under a new standing order that the Federal Ministry proposes to issue, no private concern will be allowed to embark on a new tooling-up process without authority. This move, which is designed to divert to defence activity the major portion of tool-making activity, will react most severely on industries which in the past have made changes at least once a year to meet the dictates of fashion. When he announced the Minister’s proposed standing order, the Prime Minister, Mr Men?ies, said: “In some industries, such as motor bodies, and wireless, many changes are made each year which are substantially changes of fashion only, but they occupy a good deal of tool-making manpower, which would be better employed in munition production. Hint to Dairymen In stressing the need for developing cheese production, when speaking to farmers at Palmerston North, Mr W. J. Poison, M.P., said that the dairy company director who thought only of the profit and loss of his company and not of the national interest was not taking up the right attitude towards the serious problems confronting the Empire. “I have not yet met such a director,” he said. “Indeed, most dairy leaders are anxious to do their utmost to assist the war effort.” First on the West Coast Suction gas-producers for use on motor vehicles have come into demand recently, aided by the petrol restrictions, and the first car on the West Coast to be fitted with such a producer is that of Mr N. McVicar, of Mawher'aiti (states the “Star”). Specially prepared coal, produced in the Waikato Province, is used to generate the gas. and it is claimed that the use of the gas means a saving in fuel cost of between 70 and 80 per cent. The equipment, which can be fitted to a car, lorry, or a tractor, comprises two units, the producer and the filter, which are contained in two cylinders, one fitted on either side of the engine. From the producer the gas is drawn through a filter and to the engine through a valve which allows mixing of the right amount of air with the gas, and the regulation of the supply of mixed gas and air to control speed. An extra accelerator is iitted so that the vehicle can be run on either gas or petrol.