LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23838, 13 December 1940, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

An Empire Record The fact that 32 girls while at the school have been awarded Grand Prior badges of the St. John Ambulance Association, constituting an Empire record, is mentioned in tho annual report of tho headmaster of the Pukekohe Technical High School, Mr. W. F. J. Munro. Eight of these badges were awarded this year. Small Town's Record Utiku, a small settlement near Tallin pe, has sent ten men to Egypt, and two to England. with the armed forces. In addition there are nine in a Pacific garrison, while others are in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Royal Navy. This is a splendid record for such a small country centre. The population of Utiku is 300. Green Peas Plentiful j There aro indications that green peas j will be both plentiful and cheap for I several weeks ahead. Prices at the City ' Markets yesterday fell appreciably, I stated an auctioneer. This vegetable has 'matured rapidly under the recent fine I weather, and ample supplies aro said to be assured to accompany the succulent spring lamb to the Christmas dinner table. Sweet-eating Community "New Zealanders are a great sweeteating community," said a representative of a large confectionery manufacturing company in evidence before the Auckland Area Manpower Committee yesterday. Witness said that the demand continued throughout the year, although it fluctuated according to the weather. In hot weather tho public preferred ice creams, but in cold they demanded sweets. Unusual Gift to Funds A novel but acceptable method of contributing to a deserving fund was that , followed by a Chinese Maritime Customs officer in Shanghai, which has resulted in the sum of £l. 9s being banded over to the Red Cross Society in Auckland. The officer sent a remittance to cover subscriptions to the New Zealand Herald and Weekly News, and added a note saying, "any balance to be kindly donated to tho Red Cross Funds." j Friday the Thirteenth To-day is Friday the thirteenth, a ! dato which the superstitious regard with particular disfavour, in view of tho "unlucky" associations both with the day find with the number 13. The coincidence of the two ill-omens occurred last in September, and next year it will happen only once, in June. Both superstitions arise from a religious source, Friday being considered unlucky because it was the day of the Crucifixion and 13 because that number partook of the Last Supper. Conscientious Objectors' Circular Offering to give advice concerning appeals, a circular has been sent to many men in Auckland called up in the overseas ballot by an organisation | known as the Conscientious Objectors' I Advisory Committee. The circular asks ; those interested to write to a post office box address at Te Aro, Wellington, saying that inquirers may write freely, although all mail is censored. "If you do ! not receive a prompt reply," it coni eludes, "you will know that your letter I has been retained or delayed by the ( censor." Mistake About Age i An instance of a type of uncertainty i which is probably much more prevalent j than is realised came before the Dunj edin Manpower Committee. The reason • for an application on behalf of a reser- ! Vist called in the territorial ballot was that he was only 18 years of age. "We all thought he was 19," said hi- father, who made the application. "It was not until he visited an aunt j that he discovered he was a year j younger than he thought he was." A ! certificate was produced, and the apj plication was granted on the grounds j of incorrect inclusion in the ballot list. Manpower Committee Sittings Only four more public sittings will bo held by the Auckland Area Manpower Committee before Christmas. To-day and next Thursday the committee will hold sittings in the city, while on Monday and Tuesday it will |be at \\ aiuku and Pukekohe respec- ! tivelv. The committee's staff will move ; to permanent quarters in Civic House to-day. Provision for sittings of the I committee is contained in the new I rooms, but the committee will not meet j there until the first session of the New | Year, on .January 10. In the meantime i the Children's Court will continue to j be used. j Collection of Waste j The collection of waste paper has I been postponed by the Auckland Waste j Reclamation Committee until after the j holidays. Systematic collection from communal and private sources cannot be undertaken until plans for transport and storage have been completed. At a meeting of the committee yesterday, it was reported that the total quantity of non-ferrous metals collected in Auckland was nearly 14 tons, valued at over £6OO. This included five tons of brass, two and a-lialf tons of aluminium, two tons of copper, three tons of lead, and smaller quantities of zinc, lead foil and pewter. Importance of Character "The thing that matters most is tho development of your character," said Mr. J. V. Maeky, chairman, at tho prize-giving ceremony of the Epsom Girls' Grammar School yesterday. "That is tho highest object of school life." Character was not a question of brilliant performance; it was the result of setting one's face in the right direction and fighting to acquire it. It could be developed by contact with one's best friends and those one most admired—j seeing in them those qualities secretly desired unselfishness, thoughfulness for others, courage to follow tho dictates of conscience, obedience to discipline and readiness to do the hard duties that naturally no one wanted to do. Direction Table Although the design of the direction 1 table which it is proposed to erect as part of tho Achilles Point memorial has beon completed, it is doubtful whether tho tablo, which is to be of porcelain, can bo obtained until after the war. In the meantime its place at tho point will bo taken by a bronze plate commemorating the Battle of tho River Plato. The design of tho table shows a disc about 4ft. in diameter with the points of tho compass marked on the outer edge. In a large circle in tho centre is a chart of Auckland Harbour and tho Hauraki Gulf, surrounded by the names of places near and far in New Zealand. Each of the names is placed on its correct compass point and the distance from Auckland given. In an outer circle are the names of i important overseas points, notable j among them being Montevideo and the , River Plate. i