Overseas Mails

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23859, 13 July 1939, Page 10

Overseas Mails

The Empire mails despatched from Dunedin on June 23 reached London last Sunday. City Police Court There were no cases set down for hearing at the City Police Court yesterday. Fire Brigade Call* At 9.37 a.m. yesterday the City Fire Brigade was called out to a chimney fire in Playfair street. At 10.41 p.m. the brigade was called to the premises of Messrs F. Meenan and Co., in Moray Place, where some sacks of oat husks had caught fire. There was no structural damage.

Signal Hill Memorial At a meeting of the Otago Institute of Architects it was decided that members should be invited to provide suggested designs for the Dunedin Centennial memorial at Signal Hill. The offer is being made gratuitously and the institute will select the best six designs and submit them to the Centennial executive for its final choice. Peninsula County Election A by-election was held yesterday to fill the vacancy caused on the Peninsula County Council by the resignation of Cr J. T. Irvine. Two nominations were received, those of Roland Gratton Habershon and Percy Wilford Moss, and the voting resulted as follows:—Habershon, 89; Moss, 64; informal, 1; total, 154. Mr Habershon has, therefore, been declared elected. Ministers' Stipends "Some of our stipends arc quite unjustified and give rise to a great deal of resentment,” said the Rev. J. D. Smith, when discussing at a meeting of the Auckland Presbytery proposals for the maintenance of the ministry. He expressed the view that when a congregation considered giving a salary of over £SOO it should say it was time to employ another worker instead of giving more to one man. The Policeman's Mistake Emerging from a shop in a hurry a Timaru policeman moved to his car, only to find he could not get the key into the lock. After a long struggle he gave up and sent to a garage for mechanics to remove the door. With the car partially dismantled he finally gained entrance, and was about to drive away when he received a rude shock. It was someone else’s car—his own was about 10 yards away.

Nutrition of Infants The examination of 2000 children under the care of the Plunket Society in Auckland is the objective of Dr W. E. Henley, who has been appointed research officer by the Medical Research Council and the Plunket Society to undertake an assessment of the nutritional status of infants. The Auckland Hospital Board was informed this week that Dr Henley would be stationed in Auckland and it was asked by the Department of Health to grant him every facility to carry out any X-ray examinations he might require. New Personnel for the Leith A new ship’s company for the Imperial escort vessel Leith, which is shortly to be recommissioned, is due at Wellington on July 26 by the Rangitata from London. Commander G. R. Waymouth will continue in command of the Leith. The new officers are Lieutenants W. E. Lowndes and A. D. W. Moore and Sub-lieutenants W. G. Crabbie and A. S. T. Tyers. The draft by the Rangitata comprises 89 other ranks and ratings.

Whale Seen off Wanganui Said to be a rare occurrence, a whale was sighted off the Wanganui harbour entrance toward the end of last week. The whale was first seen by members of the crew of the Federal Line steamer Westmoreland, which was loading in the roadstead. The whale spouted and dived in the vicinity of the vessel for more than three hours, and then headed north.

A Warm Welcome The traditional welcome to men of the Royal Air Force joining squadrons in Iraq for the first time was described to the Christchurch Business Men’s Club at a luncheon by Flight-lientenant M. F. Calder. Landing on the aerodrome after the comparatively cool flight over the desert, the new-comer stepped out of his machine on to the tarmac, where the temperature was usually well over 100 degrees. Gasping for breath—and a drink—the newcomer would enter the messroom to find many of the officers, muffled in great coats, huddled over a roaring fire and complaining querulously of the “ cold snap” Refugees at School

A class of grown men and women—all of them well educated and some of them highly educated by any standard—attended for instruction at the Christchurch Technical College on Monday evening. They had come for a lesson in English, the language of their exile. Twenty-five men and women —among them highly trained professional men, a former industrialist, a landless landowner—squeezed themselves into desks built for a New Zealand school child. Some of them know hardly a word of English, and some approach fluency; but none showed anything but eagerness and enthusiasm to begin a new life at the very beginning. The refugees are themselves paying for the classes. They were approached individually, and informed of the fee fixed, 15s; but they were told that anything they could afford would be accepted. Most of them were willing to pay any sum at all within their means for instruction which they value so highly.

South Dunedin Community Sing The “lucky seat” competition at the South Dunedin Community Sing yesterday was won by a woman who attended for the first time. Acknowledging the prize of 10s, she remarked that she had just had to send her son to hospital, and she hoped that the winning of the prize was an omen of good fortune. The principals at the sing, which was well attended, were again Mr R. McKenzie, Dr Noel North, and Mrs E. Cameron (pianist). Two solo items, “ The One Rose ” and “ Love Walked In,” were sung by Miss Olga Paul, who appeared in response to a general request. The collection for the day was £22. Next week will be a “Request Day,” and the following: week an “Orphanage Day” will be given, a special attraction being a turn •

entitled “ Snow W.hite and the Seven. Dwarfs.”

New Zealand Production Total production in New Zealand in 1937-38 (states the Auckland Star) amounted in value to £135,600,000, according to an analysis compiled from, departmental sources. This was £500,000 lower than in the previous year, but was £9,000,000 above the next highest figure in the past decade, namely, £126,600,000 in 1928-29. The values represented by various industries in making up the latest total were: Agriculture, £8,600,000; pastoral, £40,700,000; dairying, poultry, bees, £33,800,000; mining, £4,600,000; forestry, £4,100,000; factories, £30,000,000; building and miscellaneous, £13,800,000. An analysis for 1938-39 will not be available until next year.

Sports Church Parad® The possibility of eight bands, numbering about 240 men, and 300 members of the National Military Reserve attending a sports church parade on the Sunday morning after the Ranfurly Shield match between Otago and Southland was mentioned by the president (Mr N. R. Brown) at last meeting of the Management Committee of the Southland Rugby Football f Union. Mr Brown said that the “Invasion Committee ” supported the idea of a church parade as suggested by the Rev. C. J. Tocker, and he understood that it was proposed to hold the service in the Civic Theatre._ The union already had Mr Tocker’s invitation to attend. ,

Canned Blood Designed to provide an immediate accessible store of blood for transfusion, the establishment of a “ blood bank” at the Auckland Hospital has been rejected by the Hospital Board. The principle was that, where a relative was called for blood typing, in case the particular patient required a blood transfusion, instead of taking off a small quantity of blood for typing purposes, sufficient would be withdrawn to enable a transfusion to bs given. This blood would then be typed and stored in the “ blood bank ’• and, if not required for a specific case, it would be used for any patient requiring blood of that particular type. It was necessary to store the blood at a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tenders are invited by the Public Works Department for the supply of fire alarm systems. Barth Electric. Ltd., 36 George street, invite you to go along and see their fine selection of New Season's Radiators. ranging in prices from 12s 6d to £ll ss. See their window display of High-class Fires, Buy Radiators for winter warmth and comfort—Advt.