GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 16 May 1941, Page 4

GENERAL ITEMS

St. Andrew’s Orphanage The trustees of St. Andrew’s Orphanage acknowledge with grateful thanks donations from the following:-—Mr Andrews, Mr Ruffell, Mr T. B. Louisson, A. Gilbert, Wakefield Women’s Institute, E. and A. B. Dobson, Mrs Price, Wood and Sons, Jas. Baird, Mrs Rose, Mrs Jones, Mrs G. Haycock, Sea Scouts, State Theatre, Miss Richmond, Mrs Dryden, Orange Lodge (ladies), Miss Bond, Harvest Thanksgiving Produce from the Church of Christ, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Tahunanui Presbyterian Church, and St. Stephen’s (Tahuna), St. Barnabus (Stoke), Richmond, St. John’s (Cheviot), St. Paul’s, Brightwater, All Saints’ (Nelson), and Christ Church Anglican Churches. Strawberry Growing Strawberry planting is in full swing in the localities in the vicinity of Auckland devoted to commercial production (states the “N.Z. Herald”). Each day thousands of young plants are distributed to the growers, one film despatching 130,000 in one day last week. It is expected that about 1,500,000 to 1,750,000 plants will be grown this year, the crop covering between 70 and 80 acres. This is about half the plantings of eight to ten years ago. It is expected that planting will not be completed until some time next month. At present conditions for lifting from nurseries are good, but more rain is required for the soil. The variety most widely cultivated around Auckland is the Captain Cook, which has a fairly high resistance to disease. A Department of Agriculture official in Auckland stated that from 90 to 95 per cent, of plants grown this season will be of this type. Helenslea Surprise and Marguerite will be the other principal berries. “No Real Fear” “We have had a very hard winter — snow, hail, strong winds and a heavy rainfall—but the black-out, I think, affects the nerves as much as anything,” states a letter received in Dunedin from a Manchester resident. “In spite of the bombs, the people go about their work very cheerfully. There is nc real fear. Our newspapers are being cut down, so that we read only scraps of President Roosevelt’s speech (we read more from the papers you sent). They’re coming in all right.”

Delivering the Goods Further proof, if proof be needed, that Britain is still “delivering the goods” and that the spirit of her people is as robust as ever, their morale unshaken, was given in a case received by a firm of Wellington importers recently. It was a big case, and in it were British-made clocks. But that was not all. Printed in blue pencil on the brown paper wrapping were these words: “Good old New Zealand. We shall win this war. Up Great Britain! Good old London. Kind regards—The Packer.” “We were all pleased and thrilled to read the packer’s note,” stated a principal of the firm. To Dance on Berlin’s Ruins “The army of the Empire has been unfortunate in many ways in the present war,” said Major A. E. Gibbons at the annual reunion of the Waikato Returned Soldiers’ Associations, “but give them the equipment and, with the aid of the Air Force and Navy, they will win their way forward and live to dance on the ruins of Berlin.” He made a comparison of the fighting stock of to-day and that of the previous war. “The spirit of the old Division lives on,” he said. “The moderns raid the canteens with equal sang froid, they overstay their leave in the same way. Look how they fought back an Greece. From the all-too-scrappy accounts that have reached New Zealand, it is abundantly evident that they are of the right material. They were not content to leave the risks to others. Colonel Dittmer and his gallant Maoris at Thermopylae will ever be remembered as worthy of the highest traditions of the race. Their deeds will live through history with those of Leonidas and his 300.” Find a Policeman

Look how they fought back an Greece. From the all-too-scrappy accounts that have reached New Zealand, it is abundantly evident that they are of the right material. They were not content to leave the risks to others. Colonel Dittmer and his gallant Maoris at Thermopylae will ever be remembered as worthy of the highest traditions of the race. Their deeds will live through history with those of Leonidas and his 300.” Find a Policeman The difficulties which sometimes confronted motorists when they tried to obtain petrol in country towns on Sunday were referred to by Mr J. L. Passmore at a meeting of the Automobile Association (Otago) (reports the “Daily Times”). Mr Passmore pointed out that under the regulations service stations could remain closed on Sundays, unless exemption was applied for, but that in an emergency petrol could be obtained if authority were first given by a local constable, who could order a proprietor to open his service station to supply a motorist. The difficulty was, Mr Passmore added, that it was not always possible to find the local policeman, and he suggested that the postmaster should also be permitted to give authority for the opening of a service station. After some discussion it was decided to forward the suggestion to the South Island Motor Union for consideration.