HELP ON FARMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25056, 21 November 1944, Page 6

HELP ON FARMS

DBAET OF SOLDIERS MEN STARTING NEXT WEEK Within the next week another 574 Expeditionary Force personnel will be in camps in several parts of the Northern Military District to assist with harvesting and other tasks on farms. They wiil be supplied by Papakura Military Camp from 2nd N.Z.E.F. personnel and ex-Third Division men who are available for reinforcement drafts. There are' already 312 Expeditionary Force men engaged on farms in the district. The advance parties will leave for Ngaruawahia on Friday, and after spending .the night there will proceed to their various camps. The main body of men for the harvesting and other farm work will go to Ngaruawahia by train next Monday, and from there they will be sent to their respective camps. The men to start work next week will go to the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, King Country and surrounding districts. Several new camps have been formed, in addition to those already in use. The new camps are as follows: Tauranga racecourse, Katikati show grounds, Waihi drill hall, Rotorua motor camp, a farm at Te Puke, Whakatane-Matata military camp, Otorohanga sports ground, and Ngaruawahia military camp. The existing camps are at Tamahere, Te Awamutu, Snake Gully (between Hamilton and Te Awamutu), Morrinsville and Te Aroha. It is expected that further camps will be opened during next month. Twelve men have already been sent to Whangarei, and it is not expected that that district's total requirements in the peak of the season will exceed 50 or"60. It is expected that arrangements will be made for Christmas leave for the men if circumstances permit. LEAVE TO APPEAL PETROL COUPON CASE DECISION GIVEN BY JUDGE Leave has been granted by Mr Justice Fair to apply to the Court of Appeal for a new trial of Charles White (Mr Sullivan), who was found guilty on October 27 of conspiring to utter forged petrol coupons at Whangarei. The Crown Prosecutor, Mr V. R. Meredith, represented the Crown. His Honor said he felt considerable doubt as to whether there was a reasonably arguable ground for contending that the verdict was against the weight of evidence. The weight of evidence was not, prima facie, a question of law, and he was not asked to withdraw the case from the jury. But the question whether in considering this application the Court should take the failure of the accused to give evidence into account did not seem such a question arising subsequently or incidental to the trial. The application to His Honor to reserve certain questions of law did not include this ground and was dismissed; but he was prepared to treat this motion as including such an application and to reserve this question. It was desirable that the decision of the Court of Appeal should be given as early as reasonably possible, and the leave was conditional on the appeal being prosecuted at the current sittings. Sentence would he postponed until the question reserved was decided, and accused would be admitted to bail in the sum of £SOO. ANOTHER CASE APPLICATION REFUSED A motion for leave to appeal was brought, before Mr Justice Callan yesterday by Mr Sullivan on behalf of Leslie Snow, aged 26, who had been convicted of the theft of £645 from a Chinese gardener. Mr Cleal appeared for the Crown to oppose the motion. Mr Sullivan submitted that there was no evidence to connect the accused with the crime. Without calling on Mr Cleal His Honor refused leave to appeal, expressing the opinion that the circumstantial evidence could fairly be accepted as excluding any other possibility than that the accused was the man. "I cannot conceive of the Appeal Court saying that reasonable men could not have found the accused guilty on evidence which has convinced me that he is guilty," said His Honor. He said he would sentence the prisoner on Thursday. WATERSIDER'S THEFT TERM OF IMPRISONMENT A charge of stealing three shirts, five tins of cigarettes and a pair of canvas shoes, of a total value of £3 10s, the property of the Northern Steamship Co., was admitted by Silbie John Gordon* Duff, aged 31, labourer (Mr Teape), before Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M., yesterday. Senior-Sergeant Sparks said accused, a waterside worker, was engaged on a ship which Vas loading last Friday. Some of the cases of goods were damaged. The police later saw accused in a hotel, and they searched the two bags he had, finding the articles referred to in the charge. _ Ho admitted taking them from the ship's hold. Accused was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment with hard labour. NINETY YEARS OLD A well-known resident of Auckland, Mr Theodore Bernard Jacobsen, will celebrate his 90th birthday today. He was formerly a prominent architect and is a . familiar figure in Albert Park, where, for the past 18 years, lie has made daily visits to feed the pigeons. Born and educated in Nelson, Mr Jacobsen later practised as an architect in Christchurch and Auckland, where he arrived 60 years ago. When he reached the age of 50 he had won 23 architectural competitions against Australian and New Zealand entrants. He was an outstanding athlete and gained many walking and rowing championships. He won his last walking race in Auckland at the age of 72. He married for the second time on his 84th birthday. Mr Jacobsen still enjoys good health.