GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 28 October 1941, Page 4

GENERAL ITEMS

Not an Alarm .Siren I The quiet of last night was broken in | the early hours by what some took to Ibe an alarm siren. Fortunately the “alarm” turned out to be the prolonged i hooting of a motor horn in a city build- | ing. There happened to be a passerby who was able to “break and enter” and I who had sufficient electrical knuwj ledge to put a stop to the noise. I Appeals Against Service ! The Christchurch executive of the I Returned] soldiers’ Association is to be I asked to bring forward at the next Doi minion conference a remit that “armed ! force's appeal boards be abolished and no man have the right of private apj peal.” The request has been sent fori ward by the Belfast sub-branch of the association, which unanimously agreed tc the remit at a smoke concert attended by 80 of its members and representatives of other branches. Opossum Revenue. “I believe that the whole of the opossum revenue should go toward acclimatisation work,” said the Minister of Internal Affairs, the lion. W. E. Parry, in an address to the North Island Acclimatisation Societies’ Counted in Wellington. In view of this remark, a remit “that the Minister of Internal Affairs be asked to give urgent and favourable consideration to the question of granting the acclimatisation 'societies a larger share of the opossum , revenue,” was held over.

Labour Day Holiday I Nelson was favoured with fine wen - 1 lher for the Labour Day holiday yesterday. Although there were few or'jganised public functions many people took the opportunity for spending the j day out of doors, and quite a number iof picnic parlies visited the beaches i and other holiday resorts in the dis•jlriet. Though the weather is still too ■ I cold for most people to commence bathi ing, a number of swimmers were seen Tahunanui and Kaiteriteri. Most of [Nelson'.; pleasure launches and yachts j ' were away for the week-end. Drink and Honesty “How many handles convert an hon- j ' 1 est man into a thief? ’ asked his Honour j 1 1 Mr Justice Blair in the Supreme Court .I at Christchurch, when counsel was j ! j pleading in mitigation of sentence that I a prisoner had committed an offence 1 lender the influence of liquor (reports: ' "The Press”). It turned out that im- : | mediately after the theft the prisoner ; I had driven to Timaru. “How does a ! man absorb enough liquor to destroy ‘ his notions of right and wrong, but not I enough to prevent him from driving a ' i car 100 miles?” his Honour asked. Something of a Record j A feat that could only be the result • jof perfect farming methods was j j achieved by Mr C. P. Coulter, of Sed -1 i don (states the “Express”). Mr Goul-' II ter sent 1400 fat lambs to the Picton ,! Freezing Works, and every one of them was classified as prime. There | was not a second quality marking in J -1 the lot. This must be something of a, ; record, even for the Dominion, and I I would be a profitable objective to ob- \ J tain, seeing that second grading means j I a reduction of roughly a halfpenny a | ! pound. . Stale German Radio News. 'j Support for the widely-held belief j I that lists of British prisoners read from I time to time over the German short-1 i wave wireless for the benefit of British j listeners are mere “bait” to encourage people to listen to the propaganda that j ,is so generously mixed with the news, j I has been given by a check taken on j j recent broadcasts (stales the “New' l Zealand Herald”). A list of names of! New Zealand prisoners broadcast from I . Germany on Friday night was part of; an official list published as long ago as i 13rd July, and another list, transmitted, from Germany a little* earlier this! | month, also appeared on 3rd July, except one name, which was published! j on 9th July. Better Outlook With the construction at Auckland of i i several commodious cool stores and a ; substantial shipping clearance of pri- i ! mary produce for overseas in recent; I months, much of the anxiety felt earlier j i in the year as to the storage position \ | has been dispelled and farmers and j ' exporting firms are entering upon the ! new season with a feeling of greater I (confidence (says the “Herald”). While! ; the position would continue to cause | I concern as the fortunes of war ebbed.‘ | and flowed and the uncertainty of ship- | j ping persisted, the immediate prospects , were considered satisfactory, stated j i trade representatives on Saturday. “The j whole position is decidedly better today than was hoped for and estimated) lat the beginning of the year," stated] [ a representative of a large meat export- ! ing firm. He believed most of the j stored produce would be cleared be- j fore the commencement of the new \ killing season next month. The shipping i position had improved beyond expecta- j lions and a heavy weight of meat had j been shipped in recent months. One of the most gratifying aspects was that es- i sential foodstuffs had safely reached j Britain. Missing From Crete Campaign Although she has not yet had any ! I official notification that her husband, ! ! Private Fred Rogers, is a prisoner of ; i war, Mrs Rogers, of Tahunanui, has j ! received a cable from Private Rogers’s mother in London stating that he is a prisoner at Stalag Camp, Germany. : Mrs Rogers has had no other news of ; : her husband since the campaign in i j Crete, and in a letter to “The Mail” j ! writes: “1 thought you might publish j j this information as it might bring some j j comfort and hope to other people who j j are still awaiting news of their loved j ones who were left in Crete.” ! Shearing- Retarded ! Broken weather throughout the Wan- 1 ; ganui and Rangitikei districts has held j i up early shearing operations (states the | ' “Standard”). Normally the shearing i i of rams, wethers, and hoggets is well j advanced by this time, and because of ! the shortage of shearers an earlier j start was planned in many shecls, so j that shearing gangs would be able to I work in rosters with as little delay as possible. The bulk of the shearing is j usually in hand in November. Some hundreds of bales of the new season's [ clips have arrived at stores in Wanganui, mostly from stud rams and dry ! sheep, but generally the quantity is, j less than usual, as a result of the wea- [ i ther and the labour shortage. New Zealanders in Crete A letter from Gunner Ivan Hanna, ! which was read by Mrs H. P. Paterson ! to a meeting of the Artillery and Divi- ; sional Cavalry group of the Women’s ! War Auxiliary of the Dunedin Re-j turned Soldiers’ Association last week, ! gives an example of the initiative and i coolness of New Zealand soldiers (re- ! ports the “Otago Daily Times”). Gun-I j ner Hanna, in his letter, which was I written to his mother, states that Gun- j ner Norrie Mitchell, an Otago Boys’ ! High School old boy, escaped from a prison camp in Crete, and was hidden by Cretans residing near the camp, i Dressed in peasant clothes, he coolly ! worked in the fields, helping thej peasants with their crop. Later, he ! travelled to the coast, left the island ; in a rowing boat, and was picked up i by the navy. Gunner Hanna states that his friend said that about, 1009 soldiers were still hiding in the hills! in Crete. They were probably listed ! | ns “missing,” and their friends should | j nol worry about them. Gunner j i Mitchell was one of a party of about j 500 who escape, and was the only! New Zealander among them. The I others were Australians. Gunner Han- , na is a member of the Kiwi Concert. Party. New Device for Aircraft A device which may have far-reach-ing results on the performance of aircraft of the future has been produced | in England. It is known as a constant | j speed contra-rotating airscrew, and i consists of two three-bladcd airscrews j : on the same engine rotating in oppoj site directions. It is claimed that the : i'se of such an airscrew will eliminate i swing and generally assist take-off; that ' j it will allow of a reduction in the cha j meter of airscrews; wi”. increase trails- ■ I mission efficiency; and that it will add | considerably to the performance of fast i j aircraft when operating at high alii- ! ( tudes. The use of twin airscrews on i j the same engine, rotating in opposite ! directions, counteracts the effect of the | slip-stream and thus increases safety ; in take-off. This innovation .should be i particularly useful for fast shin-borne j | fighters, which must take off from land p land lan ' on the deck of a carrier. Il i j will also enable the engine nacelles | !on amphibian machines to be nearer [ I the water. The fitting of the twin airscrew adds only 471 b in the weight, the i weight of the norm. 1 airscrew being j about 4501 b, compared with 4971 b for j the contra-rotating equipment. Either j metal or wooden blades of any type , I may be used.

Municipal Baths Opened The Nelson Municipal Baths reopened ] yesterday for the 1941 42 swimming J .season. The water temperature v. a. ; <>2 degrees which was a little lower than usual at this time of the year hut ' the 30 patrons who opened the season considered the water “fairly good.” Mill. Davy, who has been caretaker at the baths for several years again occupies that position and expect . to have : a busy season especially in view of ;ho I; ! fact tba* the New Zealand Ladies' In- t termediale and Junior Championshm.- j j will be held in Nelson in January. The |, members of the local swimming clubs G : will soon be commencing training with . a view to selection in the Nelson teams I' in the championships. Ilamo-Proof Garments • | Crews of British tankers proceeding 1 j within the danger areas are to he sup- i‘ ! plied as soon as possible with a special i‘ j garment for protection against burning I ' oil. The plan has been adopted by the ; Ministry of War Transport after con- ' j saltation with the representatives of ' tanker companies. A garment made of 1 light flame-proofed fabric is to com-u ' bine in one piece a hood with mica eye - {J piece, a cape, and gauntlet. It is m- j | tended to bo available immediately for | [ the protection of face and hands while boat; are being launched. Lifeboats ‘ I are to be equipped with a manual I : bilge pump, adapted for spraying | water, and an asbestos blanket fitted | ■with asbestostic ropes for protecting ij j the occupants until the spray from the L j manual pump can be brought into play. | The hull of each lifeboat, the mast, | ( ! (jars, canvas hood, and sail cover are , |to be fire-proofed. Bulk orders for . j supplies of the protective garments, j ' pumps, and asbestos blankets have . | been placed by the Ministry, which will ( j bear the cost.