NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24327, 18 June 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Dwelling-house Entered During the absence of the occupants on Saturday night, a dwelling-house in Kenmure road was entered, several small articles of clothing being stolen. Residence Damaged by Fire At 8.49 p.m. yesterday the City Fire Brigade turned out to a five-roomed wooden dwelling at 723 King street, where an outbreak, the cause of which has not yet been determined, resulted in damage to the mantelpiece and one wall of the kitchen. The house ( is owned by Mr J. Mitchell and occupied by Mr H. W. L. Mitchell. Dunedin Gas Rates “With the exception of two towns in coal-bearing districts, Dunedin has the lowest rate for domestic gas supplies of the 38 towns in New Zealand which are supplied with gas,” said Cr J. McCrae at the meeting of the Dunedin City Council last night. His statement was made, he said, for the purpose of refuting a charge, made in The correspondence columns of the Otago Daily Times, that the price of gas in this city was too high. Infectious Diseases There were only* two cases of infectious diseases in hospital at noon yesterday. One case of scarlet fever was admitted .to the Logan Park Hospital during the week, and one of erysipelas remains in the Public Hospital. Wharves Closed in Error All the Auckland wharves which were closed to the general public on Saturday afternoon with the intention of prohibiting their use as a war-time, emergency were reopened for free admittance yesterday. It is understood (says a Press Association telegram) that the closure was made in error as the Shipping Safety Emergency Regulations do not specifically state that this action can be taken. “ Broadly speaking, the position is that persons with legitimate business can use the wharves without a pass during the day and those with legitimate business requiring them to board ships may obtain a permit from the police,” explained Mr J. Cummings, the superintendent of police at Auckland. Rugby’s Red Cross Day It was reported to last evening's meeting of the Otago Rugby Union by the secretary (Mr E. S. Wilson) that a cheque for £174 8s 6d would be paid into the Red Cross Fund as the proceeds of the Red Cross programme of June 1. That represented the takings at all of the union’s matches, including that played at Taieri. A request would be made that, the Taieri proceeds would be credited to that district, and it would be pointed out also that there were association football and harrier racing to supplement the rugby programme at Carisbrook. Injustice Alleged A complaint that men of the City Corporation staff who volunteered for service with the Air Force were allegedly deprived of some of their pay because they were required to attend medical examinations during working hours was referred to the meeting of the Dunedin City Council last night by Cr R. Walls, who requested that an investigation into the allegation should be made, as, if it were true, it constituted a grave injustice to the men concerned. The chairman' of the Finance Committee (Cr W. B. Taverner) said that if such were the case the position would be rectified immediately, but at the same time he expressed the conviction that Cr wans had been misinformed, as no case .of such a nature had come before his notice.

Drainage Board Schedule • The following draft schedule of works proposed to be carried out by the expenditure of loan money during 1940-41 was approved by the Dunedin Drainage Board last night:—Anderson’s Bay road stormwater conduit (completion to Grosvenor street), £2750; Kaikorai Valley road 21m foul sewer (tunnel to city boundary), £8114; Barr street area (completion of 6-inch foul sewer). £860; Glen intake, £3250, Wilkie road stormwater conduit (provisional) extension across foreshore and outlet chamber, £15,000, Highcliff road-Aytoun street (6-inch foul sewer, completion). £1374; Musselburgh stormwater (Market street area, provisional), £2000; Macandrew road stormwater conduit 3ft 6in (South Dunedin S.W.), Anderson’s Bay road to Reid road, £7660; Shetland street 9in and lin stormwater, £1035; Malvern street and Harden street 6in foul sewer, £550; mud tanks, £400; unforeseen works. £3267; total, £46,260. It was stated that after allowing for the amount payable by the Otago Harbour Board (£7500) *and wages subsidy (£2840), the net expenditure would be £35.920.. Use of Leisure Time The opinion that insufficient attention had been given to the way in which leisure time, properly directed, might be of service in the war effort was expressed by Dr W. Belshaw, professor of economics at Auckland University College, in an address at a luncheon of the Auckland Creditmen’s Club. “ There are scores of people engaged in voluntary work,” Professor Belshaw said. “ but I have a suspicion that a great deal of it consists of frittering away time, and is not really very effective. Its main function is to give people the satisfaction that they are doing something.” Protecting Interests of Soldiers “This court should .and will do everything possible to protect soldiers’ interests, said Mr Raymond Ferner, S.M., in the Whsngarei Magistrate’s Court,, in granting an adjournment of four months to a .soldier’s solicitor against the action of a finance company that asked leave, under a hirepurchase agreement, to seize a motor car. The soldier, a member of the First Echelon, had kept up payments until he left New Zealand. An adjournment was sought to enable arrangements to be made for money from the pay left in New Zealand by the soldier to be used to complete the payments. ! Bacon for Britain The Director-general of Agriculture, Mr A. H. Cockayne, announced to a gathering of pig breeders in Palmerston North that a cablegram had been sent to the Imperial Government stating that New Zealand would export an extra 10,000 tons of bacon this year if required, and that, if the additional pigs could not be grown, then this quantity Would be taken from the Dominion’s domestic supply. He had already informed the gathering that it was the intention to ship Home 23.000 tons of pig meats, of which 20.000 tons would be bacon. Speaking of the needed extra production, Mr Cockayne said he was not pessimistic. The decline had been stemmed, and pig breeders were! displaying a will to do better than injthe past. Assistance by Red Cross Money received for the Sick and Wounded Fund is available for its purpose immediately it is collected. Already a great deal of work has been done for the troops in camp by the North Canterbury, centre of the New Zealand Red Cross Society. This was emphasised in a statement by Lady Wigram, vice-president of the centre, and Dr J. Leslie Will, chairman of the appeal for Canterbury. Since the outbreak of the influenza epidemic there had been a big call for assistance by the Red Cross, Lady Wigram said, and work was being done at Burnham, Bottle Lake Hospital, the new subsidiary hospital at Waltham, and Hanmer Springs. Requirements which had been supplied included 500 pairs of pyjamas, quantities of shirts, bedjackets, socks and articles of underclothing, 200 towels, 180 pillows, 400 pillow-cases, facecloths, hot water bottle covers, etc. There are now 40 V.A.D.’s working at the hospitals, she added.

Matches from Singapore A further shipment of safety matches has arrived at Auckland from Singepore. The shortage of matches is still proving embarrassing to merchants and shopkeepers (states the New Zealand Herald), and, although this consignment will help in a smrll measure to meet the demand, it will not last long when distributed to an eager public. When import licences for matches, which were recently granted, are operated upon, it is expected that Singapore will be the chief source of supply. Probate in Solemn Form The Supreme Court was occupied yesterday morning in hearing an adjourned action concerning the will of the late Mr C. P. M. Butterworth. After hearing evidence as to the circumstances under" which a will and codicil made by the testator in 1932 and 1934 respectively were prepared and medical evidence as to the state of the testator’s health when the will and codicil were executed, judgment was entered with the consent of all parties declaring that the -will of 1932 and the codicil thereto of 1934 were invalid and granting probate in solemn form of law of a prior will made by the testator in 1930. At the hearing Mr A. C. Hanlon, K.C. (with him Mr N. W. Allan) appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr J. M. Paterson. Mr A. N. Haggitt and Mr A. C. Stephens for the defendants. Effect of Petrol Rationing A saving of more than 12,000,000 gallons of petrol has been made during the seven months that the petrol restrictions have been in operation in New Zealand. This was revealed yesterday (says our parliamentary reporter) by the Minister of Supply, Mr D. G. Sullivan. “ This means that at least four shipments \o the Dominion have been saved,” Mr Sullivan said, “ The saving in dollar exchange represents approximately 1,368,000 dollars.” Battle Dress Clothing manufacturers throughout the Dominion (states the Evening Post) have responded well to the Government’s request that a special effort should be made to produce the required quantities of -the new battle dress. A reporter inspected one of the largest factories in Wellington, where the majority of the 200 hands employed are working on khaki. Most of the workers are girls. The new uniform is strongly made of good quality materials. There is considerably more work in making it than in making the ordinary uniform or civilian clothes. Each battle dress, apart from the glengarry hat, contains 104 separate pieces of cloth, drill, and silesia. There are 29 buttonholes in each uniform and 39 buttons have to be sewn on. The making of the blouse or jacket ’•'art of the uniform involves no fewer than 34 separate operations, and to complete the trousers a further 16 operations are necessary. Each hand does only one of these 50 operations, and considerable organisation has been required to carry on the work at maximum efficiency. Aid for Soldiers’ Families A practical scheme to give assistance to the families of men on active service by helping them in tasks in which they are handicapped through the absence of husbands or sons has been introduced in Auckland. It will be controlled by an Assistance to Families of Men Serving Overseas sub-com-mittee of the Metropolitan Patriotic Committee, which is seeking the help of organisations and individuals. Originally proposed by Mrs H. E. Barrowdough, wife of Colonel Barrowclough. commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade, the scheme envisages assistance covering a wide field. It provides for help in the home and care of small children during the illness of mother or children, freeing mothers on occasions by looking after children during their absence, nursing services, undertaking errands, gardening, heavy lifting and similar tasks about the home, institution of a city creche on two days a week, provision of social activities, reunions of wives and mothers and the like, and holidays for children.