General News

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 3 July 1943, Page 4

General News

June Rainfalls High rainfalls for June were recorded over most of New Zealand. New Plymouth had just over 12 inches, which is nearly a record, and Hamilton 11.18in„ which is a record. Whangarei, on the other hand, had 6.17in., which is below the average for June. Collision in Brook Street A City Council truck and a car collided on the bridge near the Council quarry in Brook street yesterday. The driver of the car was Mr N. V. Fuller, of Brook street, who was accompanied by his three children. All received cuts and bruises. Anthony Fuller, aged 12 years, was admitted to the Hospital suffering a lacerated face. When Autumn Comes The heavy fighting in the Mediterranean and elsewhere which Mr Churchill, in his Guildhall address predicted “before the leaves of autumn fall,” should take place prior to Octo ber, if the Prime Minister was referring to the English season. If. however, he was speaking of the Mediterranean season, the fall of autumn leaves will not occur there until November. Kauri Gum Industry Difficulty in finding shipping space has resulted in very little kauri gum being exported from New Zealand, according to the annual report on the kauri gum industry presented to Parlia merit. The report states that if shipping space were obtainable, the principal purri.f ser? would be Canadian business interests. There is a demand for first quality gum in New Zealand, however, and this has had the effect of increasing prices slightly Approximately 300 tons of gum were used in New Zealand last year for varnish manufacturing purposes. The total value of the 744 tons of gum exported during the year was £56,135. Unshrinkable Wool “To meet the need for reducing tire well-known tendency of skitted wool underwear to shrink during laundering, the majority of New Zealand manufacturers have for many years treated fabrics with a solution of chlorine in water. Tests carried out with a special shrinkage-testing machine in the laboratory of this Research Association during the past two years have shown, however, that wide variations have existed in the shrinkage properties of the finished farments,” states the annual report of the New Zealand Wool Manufacturers’ Re- ; search Association. “Fortunately,” the report continues, “research work initiated in England has recently shown how this ‘wet chlorine’ process can be modified to produce a more uniformly unshrinkable fabric, and so the task in this country lay in introducing these discoveries into the industry and testing the treated fabrics. This work has taken much of. the association's time, but the results have indicated that now a much more uniformly unshrinkable product is being made, while in some cases large savings in time and chemicals have been effected. There still remain, however, inherent defects in the above process which make the examination of new unshrinkable processes worth while.” Wakefield and District, watch your progress and listen in to 2YA 6.45 pin. Saturday. Loan for Liberty.-

Profits on Real Estate . Mooted legislation designed to limit . profits on dealings in real estate would 5 make it very difficult for people seeking homes to buy them, said Mr F. G. ■ Baskett, president of the Auckland i . Chamber of Commerce, at a meeting . of the council of the chamber. The meeting approved the action of. the executive in instituting representations that interested parties should first have - the opportunity of putting forward i their views. It was also decided to find out the provisions and working of Australian legislation. > Service Badge It was reported to the meeting of the executive of the Auckland Returned Services’ Association that, the badge issued by the Government to men who have returned from service in j the present war, was not sent to them unless they applied at Base Records. The executive decided to write to the : j Dominion executive of the association, , urging that such applications be dis- . pensed with, and that the badges be , issued to discharged servicemen as of ’ right. Airgraph Mail The contention that serious delays in the distribution of airgraph mail would not occur if the apparatus set up in 1 Wellington were transferred to Auck- ■ land was upheld by the council of the > Auckland Chamber of Commerce, , which has been in communication with ’ the Director-General of Post and Tele- ; graphs on the subject. The chamber ; staled its belief that the apparatus was ; not bulky, and that the skilled person- ; ncl needed to work it could easily be transferred. Deer in South Westland Deer are at present invading the grazing country in South Westland to an alarming extent, stated Mr W. D. Nolan, a well-known Okura settler, at Dunedin (reports the “Otago Daily Times”). Large numbers are to be seen on the river flats, where cattle previously grazed. The only satisfactory means of removing this menace, he continued, would be the development of the motor roads, on which work had , unfortunately been held up. because of the war. These now roadless tracts would then be made available to • sportsmen and the cullers, and the , deer would undoubtedly be kept in check. Not only did the deer menace South Westland’s main industry of cattle raising, but they were also del stroying the beautiful bush and ferns. which would be such a great scenic , asset when the motor roads were constructed. Mr Nolan pointed out that ’ good sea fishing grounds were avail- ■ able in South Westland, but he added that, through lack of road access to Jackson’s Bay, they were not being exploited. At present they were providing food for large numbers of seals, which were multiplying rapidly be- ; cause of Government protection and . the absence even of poachers from . overseas countries, who were once numerous. “Wherever there are blue ■ cod grounds.” he said, “you will find the > seals.” Mr Nolan added that five miles of uncompleted road and two uncompleted bridges had to be bi-ought to > the final stage of construction before : Okura was connected with the deep * sea harbour at Jackson’s Bay, where a ’ modern landing wharf had been built

Analysts Kept Busy The Dominion Laboratory in Wellington analysed last year no fewer than 9624 samples, an increase on previous year due to war conditions. Some of the samples submitted for analysis were police exhibits, while over 4000 were milk samples and nearly 1000 samples from projected and existing water supplies. The wide range of articles used for food and drink which were analysed included apple juice, apples, apricots, arrowroot, bacon, baking powder, beer, brandy, butter, canned meats, carbonated beverages, cider, coffee and chicory, coffee, cornflower, cheese, cream, essences, gin, ground almonds, custard powder, ground rice, honey, jame, ice cream, mai-garine, milk powder, mince meat, olive oil, orange juice, peas, rosehip syrup, sausages, sugar, tea, tomatoes, tripe, wheat germ, whisky, condensed milk, dripping, flour, and spice. A number of drug samples were examined for compliance with the standards of the British Phax-macopoeia. The Department of Health also submitted samples of enamelware, cigarette papers, and dental and shaving creams to ascertain if they contained harmful substances. A very large number of samples were submitted by various Government purchasing departments to ascertain if they complied with the specifications under which they were purchased or for special investigation of some defect or failure.