LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23970, 21 May 1941, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

School's War Effort An example of the way in which New Zealand schools are contributing to the Fighting Forces Fund is given by the Kohiniararna School, which has sent a remittance of £2:5. This amount was raised by pupils of the school at a concert given by them, and also a "bring-and-buy" fair King's Birthday Holiday The King's Birthday will be observed in New Zealand on June 2 this year, in accordance with the Sovereign's Birthday Act. By special arrangement His Majesty's birthday was observed on November 25 last year, but it is reported by the Labour Department that no such change has been adopted for 1941, the public holiday being fixed for the first Monday in June. Member Chosen by Lot A tie between candidates occurred in the election of a representative for the Walton riding of the Piako County Council on Saturday. The provisional count gave 105 votes each to Messrs. \j. K. Cooke and F. E. Harris. These figures were sustained by the official count and the returning officer. Mr. F. I- Clarke, as required by Statute, dtew lots, with the result that Mr. Harris won the seat. Unorthodox Opening The official opening of the Auckland provincial conference of the New Zealand Farmers' Union yesterday was conducted in an unorthodox manner, the speaker, Mr. A. A. Ross, a life member, not being; present. Confined to his bed through illness, Mr. Ross opened the conference by speaking over a telephone from his home in Mission Bay, the speech being broadcast to the delegates over a loud-speaker system. A number of friends sent return greetings to Mr. Ross in the same manner. Grapes Bring Over £22 Several bunches of grapes, weighing about 81b., were auctioned by a firm of fruit and produce auctioneers yesterday for patriotic purposes, and brought £22 Bs. The money will be donated to the fruit and produce section of the food and liquor group of the Fighters' Mothers' Fund. Twenty buyers each paid 10s for the grapes when they were auctioned, and one added 8s to his contribution, while Mr. \Y:ih .Jang bought the grapes at 4s per lb., bringing the total to £'l2. He then donated a further £lO Bs. Vegetables Still in Good Supply The continued mild weather has reunited in good supplies of vegetables coining forward at the city markets and yesterday cabbages were again offered in heavy quantities, the prices being very low. Cauliflowers were in good supply, while a fair supply of green peas also came forward, realising good rates. Beans sold at very high values. Carrots, which have been a glut on the market for some time, were in lighter supply and prices were firmer. The first few marmalade oranges of the season met an excellent deina nil. Low Sickness Rate The health of the 9500 troops engaged on the recent central field force manoeuvres was well above expectations,'taking into account the winter conditions experienced. In the ten days of the trek in the .Mijnawalu, Wairarapa. Mutt Valley and West, Const seafront area, I If] men were admitted to public hospitals in Wellington, Palmerston North and Masterton. They had all types of complaints, from cuts, bruises, colds and mumps to a broken leg. There were 50 men left in the hospitals at the week-end, indicating that the (itj who had been discharged had trivial complaints only, requiring at the most a few days in hospital. A factor which would have resulted in much sickness among less fit men was that a number of engineer units were wet through for 24 hours during flood rescue operations at Palmerston North.