General News

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 7 April 1945, Page 4

General News

The location of the receiving depot for subscriptions and donations to patriotic funds has been changed. It is now the Patriotic Shop, Newman’s Build l ings, Hardy street.* Shortage of J.P.’s That the national executive of the Farmers’ Union had taken up the problem of the shortage of J.P.’s in certain districts was reported at the monthly meeting of the Nelson provincial executive. It was stated that the Dominion office was discussing the matter of suitable appointments with the secretary of the Justice Department with every prospect of satisfactory results being achieved. Registration of Engineers The Engineers* Registration regulations, 1945, which' consolidate and amend regulations pn the subject previously in force, have now come into operation through the issue of an order-in-eouncil. Haast Road Project ‘•You will not get tourists to realise that the South Island has the most magnificent scenic assets until you can give them a convenient round trip with new attractions all the time, avoiding the necessity for retracing their steps,” said Mr G. J. Errington, president of the Otago Expansion league, in an address to the Canterbury Progress League, urging that the completion of the Haast road project be placed high on the list of public works to be undei - taken after the War. Mr Errington said that it had been his privilege to travel overseas five times. In all he had visited 48 countries, and he believed New Zealand had tourist attractions comparable with any these 48 possessed. The Hnast road was the vital key to the opening up of the South Island’s tourist attractions. The league agreed to renew its request that the project should be given early attention after the war. Controls by the Slate The continuation of Stale controls after the War and the development of Socialism as an alternative to capitalism were advocated by Mr A. S. Richards, member of Parliament for Roskill, in a public address at the Waltham School, says ’‘The Press.” The question was whether they were to have a socialised system of society when the war ended or the uncontrolled system known as laissez faire, sgid Mr Richards. They could have the controlled, planned system if they willed it and worked for it along the lines of progressive thought. Potato Crop Losses Canterbury potato crop losses as a result of flood and blight will amount to from 25 to 40 per cent, (varying from district to district) of the yield in prospect had favourable weather been experienced from Christmas onwards, Mr R. P. Connell, superintendent of the Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture, reported to the North Canterbury Council of Primary Production, Individual experiences might not tally with this estimate, he :;aid, but field officers had personally examined many crops in all districts to obtain at firsthand a cross-section of the position. The reduction In yield was caused jointly by late blight (including, in addition to the destruction of tubers, damage to the tops) and by rotting induced by excessively wet soil conditions. In the aggregate the indirect loss from the checking in growth would probably be more serious than the blight on the tubers Despite the substantial reduction which had given rise to unwarranted alarmist statements, Canterbury’s crop alone would not be much below the average for the whole of the Dominion from 1939 to 1942 of about 16,000 acres; Orchardists are notified by advertisement in this issue concerning the latest packing requirements for J.P.B.

Large Slialk Caught In Sounds One of the largest sharks seen in the Sounds for some lime was hooked by Mrs Claude Hamilton last Saturday. Mrs Hamilton was a member of a fishing party from the Lavterique Bay guest house of Mr and Mrs R. Osborne. The shark was played for an hour and a half and put up a strong fight before it was finally landed with the aid of a derrick on a larger launch which was fishing in the vicinity. During the struggle a gaff was lost and members of the party were covered with spray as the shark lashed about near the launch. Experienced fishermen estimated the weight of the shark as about 6501b5. Veterans’ Graves. Difficulty in locating the graves and remains of the 14 war veterans believed to have been buried about 80 years ago in the military cemetery at the mouth of the Manawapou River, near Manutahi, has led to th e abandonment of the effort for the time being, states the “Taranaki Herald.” A search of the area was commenced a few days ago, but only six sets of remains have been located. The graves found have been marked and the remains protected till the Hawera County Council is ready to proceed with their re-interment in the Ohawe military cemetery. The reason for the removal of the remains from Manutahi is the fear that sea erosion may encroach further into the area with the danger of th e remains being washed away. “What Cool Storage?”

Asked by Mr T. E. Maunsell, S.M., if he had any work to which he could go a youth charged in the Magistrate’s Court to-day with being found at 3.20 o’clock this morning on the property of George Robert Jensen, 32 Riverside, Nelson, without lawful excuse, replied: "Only the cool storage.” “What cool storage? I'm considering cool storage myself,” commented Mr Maunsell with a smile. Sergt. J. R. Corston said that the accused had been sleeping out and his excuse for entering the property was that he thought it might be a boarding house. In view of the fact that the accused said he intended to go to Wellington on Monday night to find work he was remanded until Monday., Strange Motherhood. A cat belonging to a resident of Palmerston recently gave birth to five kittens. After about a week the owner drowned the kittens, and later on the same day he noticed the cat coming in from a neighbouring paddock with a young rabbit in its mouth. He took no notice, but the following morning he found the cat in her usual bed feeding four young rabbits about a week old. She was very resentful of any interest shown by strangers in her new family. On the following day, however, she apparently hid the rabbits somewhere, and so far they have not oeen located. It would be interesting to know how the cat obtained possession of the young rabbits, particularly whether she had to kill the parent rabbit. Farmers and Union Fees. The Manawatu Primary Production Council recently asked the Minister of Agriculture whether farmers who assisted one another with shearing in the present drive for increased production wer e expected to pay union fees as some secretaries seemed to expect. The Minister, the Hon. B. Roberts, has replied as follows: “I have to advise that where farmers assist one another as neighbours and no money passes, the union does not take any action regarding fees (e.g., where a few days’ assistance in the shearing shed is repaid by assistance at harvesting). Technically these men should join a union, but, generally speaking, the unions exercise common sense and ignore these friendly breaches. Where, however, a farmer assists his neighbours to the extent of shearing two or three thousand sheep, or assists in several sheds, then he is expected to pay union fees.” Mail Censorship Information that the censorship restrictions have been relaxed to a considerable extent during the last six months was received by the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce from the Controller of Censorship, who said that further action in that direction would be taken from time to time when opportune. The chamber had asked for a relaxation of censorship on the ground that it had been found unnecessary now in Australia and in the United States. The controller stated that the practice followed in New Zealand was in keeping with that of other British censorships, but for security reasons the extent of the relaxation could not be made public, nor could the examination of certain .classes of mall be discontinued at present. However, the chamber could rest assured that the censorship would not be continued one minute longer than security reasons demanded.