GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 4 August 1941, Page 4

GENERAL ITEMS

Anniversary of War To-day. 4th August, is the twentyseventh aniversary of the entry of Britain into the first Great War, when German pacts, treaties, and guarantees carried just as much weight as they do to-day. 4th August, 1914, was a Sunday in New Zealand, and the first intimation many people had of the start of the world conflagration was the past-ing-up of notices outside newspaper offices and churches. Press Clipping Service The press clipping service provided for Cabinet Ministers and Government departments is referred to in the annual report presented to Parliament by the Minister for Internal Affairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry). The report stales that the advertising branch furnished Ministers and departments with an average .of about 2500 press clippings a week. Motueka Rainfall During July rain fell on thirteen ! days at Motueka. the total precipitation !as recorded by Mr G. S. I-luffam being [six inches. The max' lum full in any | one day was 1.30 inches on the 24th. The People's Amusements The statement is made in a recent ; film magazine to hand that in spite of [nearly 20 months of almost incessant bombing only 658 theatres out of a ! total of 4500 have been compelled to I cease operating in England. j Theft of Newspapers [ ‘T don’t want to penalise vour wife, j It’s just that that saves you from going lie gaol: if you’re not man enough to Jgo and buy yourself a paper, even j though you are a sick man. then you j are not worth consideration.” said Mr jC. E. Levvey, S.M.. in the Christchurch | Court, when Stuart Nickolas Richard- ! son was charged before him with stealj mg, on 7th. Bth, and 9th July, three ! copies of "The Press.” delivered to [ Edmund Keith Little. Richardson ! pleaded guilty (reports “The Press”). I Senior-Sergeant J. Bickerdike said that | early in the month the complainant j missed his morning newspaper, and on j the ninth the accused was seen makj ing off with :t from the lawn. The aci cased, when interviewed by Constable !T. C Swan, admitted the offence; he i was an invalid pensioner, and it was j h : s custom to walk with his wife on j her way to work. It was then that the offences occurred. The excuse was ! inability to work.” Senior-Sergeant J Bickerdike said. “I’d like to say that, ' though,” the Magistrate saicl. “I think | iUy disinclination rather than disabilityßichardson was lined £2 on the ] first charge, and convicted and dis- • charged ou the other two.

Ear lv Strawberries | Srawberries grown outside and rip- : nicd in July have been produced from | plants in a Southland garden. The i grower, Mr D P. Walker, of Waikiwi, ! put the plants in the shelter of a garjage. but used no glass to protect and ! encourage them. | Not So Hot i Language difficulties have led to many | amusing incidents. One is recounted in I a letter from a Dunedin soldier in Greece- “We developed the art of I speaking in signs almost to the point of perfection. Even if it resiiltof arm'waving, shoulder shrugging, and grimacing, helped out by weird noises, it was generally effective, although the result was not always what the actors had planned. For example, there was the soldier in a crowded restaurant whose imagination balked at the task of rendering the word ’sausage’ in sign language. Finally, he thought of ’hot dogs’ and proceeded to convey this idea to the attentive waiter by barking vigorously, and making sizzling noises to indicate frying. The waiter looked de-j cidedly puzzled, but. anxious to please, he hurried away to return with a tiny puppy.” Anzac Tree Memorials. The seaside borough of Eastbourne,: Wellington, believes that it has the honour of the first tree-planting as an Anzac Memorial. On Arbor Day, 1915, [two and a half months after the first landing of Anzacs at Gallipoli, a pohutukawa was planted on a roadside of East- i landers who shared in the famous feat. A gale wrenched the two main broughs [apart, but they have been strongly bound up, and the tree is nourishing. ! Last summer it had as good a crimson! [ spread as any of the others. As time goes on it will strengthen its position I by sending down aerial roots which will grow into sturdy buttresses. This ! banyan-tree habit of the pohutukawa [enables it to stand solidly on wind-swept 1 cliffs by the sea on parts of the North Island’s coast, particularly on the east | side of the upper half of the Island. j Cats and Rats Destroyed | Forty-eight cats and 344 rats were ' destroyed on Stewart Island during the | last financial year, according to the : annual report of the Department of i Internal Affairs, presented by ParlinI ment bv the Hon. W. E. Parry. Deer, thar, chamois, goats, pigs, cattle and | 173 wild sheep in Marlborough were i included in the total of 48.838 animals i destroyed by officers of the department. A total of 12,160 deerskins and 2725 goatskins were saved. The report adds that the value of deerskins is at present higher than at any time in the past, and special endeavours are being made to save every skin possible. The number of skins submitted by private persons for payment of bonus during this year amounted to 6053. The dep?.> tment disposed of 27.(341 skins for export overseas during the same Sacrifice of Forests A war nig to New Zealanders is issued in a special article, “The Cedars of Lebanon.” in “Forest and Bird.” which refers to the ruin which is the inevitable sequel to stupid sacrifice of forests. “Lebanon has been styled the land of lost forests.” the writer re-’ marks. “New Zealand may even now be similarly labelled. Four thousand years ago, or even before that, the Phoenicians built terraces to conserve the soil lost after the destruction of the forests. They carried their knowledge of the building of terraces all over the Mediterranean countries, and even down the east African coast to faraway Rhodesia. In the United States at the present clay farmers are adapting the Phoenicians’ technique of sod conservation in hilly country and arc contour-ploughing and planting them sloping lands for the same reason. In New Zealand terracing has not yet been resorted to. but, at the present rate of land deterioration, the terracing era may not be far distant. The fate of the Phoenicians and their cedars should stand as a grim warning.” Inflation’s Disruptive Effects It is amazing to the Sydney “Bulletin” how blithely Australians talk about inflation and how “inevitable” it is. “Inflation,” the journal observes, “is one of the ever-present dangers of war, especially total war, but it is neither uesiraole nor, on a substantial scale, inevitable. That inflation is more a political than an ‘inevitable’ matter is demonstrated by the fact that the dictatorships have largely avoided inflation—in Germany’s case, anyway. The waste of war is in itself inflationary, and it is only by compensatory taxation that war waste can be prevented from causing price inflation. Low interest rates [ are dependent on the stifling of inflation. After the war is over, and when restrictions on imports begin to loosen, ! we may find that some inflation of the I exchange rate will be necessary to [counter whatever rise in costs has actually taken place in this country. For instance, since war broke out the (Australian) basic wage has risen 8s a week. That represents the measure of inflation in the cost of living. Inflation internally without inflation externally throws a tremendous burden cn the export industries. And both kinds of inflation are disruptive.” Conservation of Tinplate A suggestion that manufacturers using tin containers for goods other than food should consider the position ! of future supplies of tinplate for containers. and take appropriate action, has been passed on to the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association by the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation. The suggestion came in the first place fi om the Wellington Salvage Committee of the National Council for Waste Materials. That committee in u letter to the federation said that now was the opportune time to attempt to make j various manufacturers of tinned goods, j ether than foodstuffs, aware of “the ! serious fact of what they are likely ! to be up against very shortly. Might I suggest,” saicl the letter, “that the | manufacturers’ association bring this strongly to their notice and suggest some means of making their containers returned at a premium.” It adds!ed that this might be done even ai- ' though the price of the product might Ibe increased, and a refund given on the next purchase if the empty container was returned. “If not actually I essential to-day. it will not be many I months before, if they are to keep in business, it will be very necessary,” [ added the letter.

I,candor's Personnel to Broadcast. The Minister of Defence (the Hon. E. Jones) has replied to a letter from Mr C. B. Ilarman, of Nelson, stating that hr 1 was glad to be able to announce that a (broadcast of personal messages from i members of the ship’s company of ! H.M.S. Lcander had already been ■ arranged. The records are in New Zealand and will be broadcast from [National stations at 9 a.m. on Sunday, the 10th August. Dairy Factory Workers’ Award To take effect from to-day, the New Zealand dairy factories award has 1 been issued by the Court of Arbitration. Hours vary from 38 to 52 a week, according to the nature of the factory, and wages range from £4 10s a week for general hands to A! 5 14s for first assistant in the larger factories. Marlborough Weather and C rops The rainfall in Marlborough during the past month lias been well maintained, showing a substantial increase on the previous July, and as a result of a brief spell of mild weather several weeks ago pastures have already shown signs of growth (states the “Express”). Autumn-sown crops havemade good headway, and this applies particularly to wheat, approximately two-thirds of which has been sown al ready. During the next few weeks barley and peas, for which cultivation is now proceeding, will be put in the ground, and with anything like normal growing conditions the increased acreages planted should provide a bumper harvest. Stock, thanks to a splendid supply of fodder, has come through the winter in good fettle, and a highly satisfactory lambing is predicted. Market Gardeners’ Crops The estimated annual value of crops grown by market gardeners, according to recent figures, was £4,000,000, said Mrs Knox Gilmer, in opening the annual conference of the Dominion Coun- [ cil of Commercial Growers in Welling--1 ton. The area of land under cultivaI lion hud increased by 14 per cent, in I 1939-40, compared with 1935-36, to 9018 1 acres. These figures were for holdings of one acre or more outside boroughs, but there was also much commercial garden production on smaller areas inside and outside boroughs. The ap- [ proximate number of holdings was 5000. Fifty-seven Years of Football When the Christ’s College first fifteen meets the Otago Bovs' High School team on the college ground at Christchurch this afternoon the match will mark the fifty-seventh aniversary of the first game between the two ; schools. Altogether 06 games have been [played since 1883, and the fixture is th-.' second oldest in secondary school foot ball. Only Nelson College and Wei lington College have been playing longer. Kauri Gum Industry Conditions in the kauri gum industry over the last 12 months have been [affected by the ability of merchants to export the produce overseas, states the report presented to Parliament on behalf of t •• Minister for Lands (the Hon. F. Langstone). Actually the figures show a very considerable drop [on previous years, and this is stated by the buyers to be entirely due to lack of [shipping space. At present the actual working of gum has not fluctuated to the same extent,with the result that ! large stocks are held by the buyers in Auckland. Again, it is possible to report that the actual production of gum is more than sufficient and could be increased in the demand were present. During the year 1364 tons of gum were exported, of a total value of £74,581.