1000 MEN NEEDED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25344, 27 October 1945, Page 6

1000 MEN NEEDED

THE FREEZING WORKS

EXTRA SEASONAL LABOUR Freezing works near Auckland will require about 700 extra men by Christmas an d a further 300 by the middle of January. The Auckland district manpower officer, .Mr C. G. S. Ellis, said yesterday that, if the season proceeded normally, no great difficulty was expected in filling the labour requirements. The needs this year were about the sanio as for last year, said Mr Ellis, but the men would not be wanted as early as formerly. Most of the workers were usually needed about the middle of November, but lambs were backward

this season. . , "About 500 men who served in the freezing works last year will be available this season, either voluntarily or by'direction," said Mr Ellis. " They are in jobs which are not as essential as the freezing industry. Some came out of the Army two or three years ago specifically for freezing work and, depending on circumstances, thev may be directed back for the season. With the number of returned servicemen who have not yet taken permanent employment since their demobilisation leave, it is expected that there will be enough men to make up any deficiencies existing after the directions have been made. It is hoped that a drive on industry for workers, which has been necessary [during the last few years, will not have Ito be undertaken this season to meet ! the requirements of the works. I 31 r Ellis said that present indications were that the freezing industry would not need as many women this season as it did previously. There was not as I much prepared meat being sent out of I New Zealand for troops as there was formerlv, and, in addition, more women who filled wartime positions were now becoming available for seasonal work. Jt was not expected that the difficulties of filling the female requirements would be as great as in the past.

GUNBOAT'S BATTLE GALLANT TALE NOW TOLD AWARD TO NEW ZEALANDER (N Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) .LONDON, Oct. 20 Rather than obey an order to surrender, 18 men in the Uritisli 300-ton gunboat Peterel, led by their 63-year-old commanding officer, chose to fight it out with a Japanese cruiser, a destroyer and a gunboat. They fought until the Peterel was swamped in fire and smoke and with every man on board wounded their little craft sank under them.

This gallant episode is described in the announcement in the London Gazette that the Distinguished Service Cross was awarded three years ago to Lieutenant-Commander Stephen Polkinghorn, R.N.R., of Mount Albert, New Zealand. It occurred in the harbour when the Japanese took over the Shanghai International Settlement on December 8. 1941. All the armament in working order possessed by the Peterel was two machine-guns. Lieutenant-Com-mander Polkinghorn was severely wounded. When news of his action reached the Admiralty he was awarded the D.S.C., but the award was not announced for fear of Japanese reprisals. Now he has been released from a prisoner-of-war camp and is returning'to New Zealand. Advice that Lieutenant-Commander Polkinghorn was safe in Australian hands was received at the end of last month by his wife, Mrs S. Polkinghorn, of 34 Knnismore Road, Mount Albert. He lost a finger and suffered shrapnel wounds during the action which has earned him the Distinguished Service Cross. He was sent to a prison camp after being picked np out of the Yangtse River. For 17 • years before the war, he was one of the Taku River pilots in North China, becoming one of the bestknown figures on the China coast. VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND PUBLISHER FROM BRITAIN (X.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) LONDON. Oct. 25 At the invitation of the Booksellers' Association of New Zealand, Mr Walter G. Harrap, director of the publishing firm of that name, will shortly visit the Dominion. A past president of the Publishers' Association and founder of the British Publishers' Guild, Mr Harrap will also visit Australia, and in both Dominions acquaint himself fully with the views and requirements of booksellers and publishers. Mr Harrap is travelling in a Swedish ship which is to leave Gothenburg, Sweden, this week-end. PATRIOTIC FINANCES NORTHLAND HOLDS , £48,608 (0.C.) WHANGAREI, Friday A total of £46,60S is held by the Northland Provincial Patriotic Council and of this sum the greater part, £3(3,354. is in the welfare account for the assistance of returned servicemen in tiie years to come. A statement of the finances submitted to a meeting of the council in Whangnrei by the treasurer, Mr L. 0. Hall, showed that for the year £34,461 had been received from the various zones, while amounts received from other sources brought the total to £47,380. Payments to the National Fund Board had amounted to £21,365, with a further £6907 being spent for patriotic purposes and £10.115 transferred to the welfare fund. Payments from the welfare fund had only reached £270 for the year. CONVERSION OF TRAMCAR FIRST CASE ON RECORD (P.A.) CIIRISTCHURCH, Friday The first instance in history of a. tramcar being converted in Christchurch occurred on Saturday night. After the last trams had left Cathedral Square for various suburbs ono that is kept overnight in an open shed in the corner of the Square ready to lill an emergency, was driven out and down High Street and Ferry Road on the way to Sumner. At midnight, when all trams due there have returned to the sheds, the electricity is cut off for testing of the overhead wires, and the cut-off brought the tram to a standstill near Barbadoes Street. There it stood until a constable notified the Tramway Board that it was a danger to traffic. No one saw the driver.