NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24833, 5 February 1942, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

VyHILE.a few months ago difficulty *' was experienced by the district vehicle controller (Mr W. J. Winefield) in securing sufficient cars and trucks for the use of the army, the position is very different to-day. Since the supplies of petrol to private motorists became unavailable, scores of car owners have endeavoured to dispose of their vehicles to the Army Department, with the result that to-day the controller has several hundred cars on his books ready to be handed over should the authorities require them. The valuations made have generally proved satisfactory, and the fair prices paid by. the Government have been partly responsible, it is considered, for the large number of motorists who have offered their vehicles to the army. In Past Tense

They were talking about the Maori soldiers. A man back from Crete and Greece was speaking of their wonderful fighting, and particularly of theninitiative. " Why," he said, " one of them on sentry go heard a rustling in some bushes some yards away. Immediately he called, 'Halt'; then up with his tommy-gun and tut-tut-tut went the instrument of death. Then the sentry remembered something he had forgotten, and called out, 'Who went there?'" A £2,000,000 Cover

All vulnerable assets of the Auckland Harbour Board had been insured under the War Damage Regulations, 1941, said Mr J. H. Frater, who presided at a meeting of the board on Tuesday. The board's assets were valued at over £6,000,000, but as land, which would not be seriously affected, constituted a large portion of the assets, the total amount of cover decided upon was £1,833,100. Insurance on leased buildings owned by the board would bring the total cover to over £2,000,000. Gift of V.C.'s Revolver

Claimed to have been carried by the famous Otago soldier, Sergsant Dick Travis, V.C., when he was killed in the last war, a Webley service revolver has been given to the Otago military headquarters by Mr J. L. Lethbridge, of Cromwell. In an accompanying letter. Mr Lethbridge says: " I kept this weapon as a souvenir, and I had loaned it to Sergeant Travis, V.C., and it was in his possession when he was killed. I was debited £3 for it in my army pay book, but I do not want anything for it." The revolver is in excellent condition, and has been gratefully accepted by the military authorities.

Ambulance Petrol Stolen As the result of the theft of about eight gallons of benzine from the Hawke's Bay Hospital Board's ambulance at Napier on Friday night, the ambulance ran out of petrol while carrying a patient to hospital on an emergency call shortly after midnight- on Saturday. The ambulance was called out on three occasions, and it is thought that the benzine was taken shortly before it was abou¥ to make the fourth and most urgent run. A garage proprietor was called out, petrol was procured, and in due course the patient was taken to hospital.

Bicycle Shortage An ancient " penny-farthing " bicycle carrying the notice "All we have left—not for sale," stands in an Auckland dealer's window as silent evidence of the existing shortage of bicycles in Auckland. The reduction of the petrol ration to a minimum threw a great strain on cycle stocks and accessories, and one long-standing firm, whose imports were cut to 37i per cent, of 1938 orders, has been out of supplies since Christmas. Such a position did not arise in the Boer War or the last war, stated a principal of the firm, who added that inquiries were still pouring in by letter, telephone, and personal representation.

Dangers of a City "People will not learn the dangers of a large city like this." said Mr Justice Callan, when commenting to the grand jury in the Auckland Supreme Court on a charge of robbery with violence. He said the case was of a type of which they had at least one every session, he thought. The complainant, who was 60 years of age, had very foolishly gone to a house he did not know anything about' with a woman he had met in an hotel bar. There he got into very undesirable company, and there was no doubt that he was assaulted, and he said that he was also robbed. Collection of Ergot

Collections of ergot have been most disappointing in the Gisborne district so far, and merchants report that very small quantities have been submitted to them for purchase. This experience has prompted some criticism of the Government method of handling the situation. It is estimated that a person would have to. work a whole week of 40 hours to earn Is. Mr G. W. Armstrong, who has been concerned with the purchase of some of the'samples, suggested that it would have been better for the Government to have made the effort either a purely patriotic one and made no payment at all for the ergot, or to have arranged for the collectors to be reimbursed adequately for their labours. Goods at Fixed Prices

An obligation upon retailers selling goods the prices of which have been fixed by a price order to have' a copy of such order prominently displayed in their shops becomes effective on February 12 in respect to existing orders. When future price orders are issued 14 days will be allowed for compliance with this rule. This is provided for in an amendment to the Control of Prices Emergency Regulations. As an alternative, a retailer may keep a record or file of such price orders available for inspection by customers. If a retailer adopts this method he must display a prominent notice to the effect that the relevant price orders will on request be made available for inspection by a customer who wishes to see them.

Municipal Organ Recital The city organist, Dr V. E. Galway, will give the first of his after-church recitals for this year in the Town Hall on Sunday night, when an interesting programme of organ music will be presented. Items which call for special mention are Concerto in D (Avison, 1710-1770), Bach's Fugue in G minor (The Little), Allegro from Sonata in F minor (Rheinberger), and the ever fresh and popular incidental music to "Henry VIII" (German). Other interesting compositions to be performed are "Air to Chloe" (Mozart), "At Evening" (Buck), Introduction to Act V " Manfred " (Reinecke), and Prelude C sharp minor (Rachmaninov). The assisting vocalists will be Miss Marion Gubb. who will sing "If My Songs Were Only Winged" (Hahn) and "Down in the Forest" (Ronald), and Miss Marion Duncan, who will sing "Ring, Bells, Ring" (Day). Loyal Obedience

"Repressive legislation by Order-in-Council may well be objected to in normal times as being contrary to the principles of democratic government. But the times are not normal," said the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers, in stressing the need for the loyal obedience of the public to all orders, at the opening of the Supreme Court sessions in Hamilton on Tuesday. "We are living in a dark and anxious period, during which conditions change with greaj; rapidity, from week to week, even from day to day," said his Honor. "In such conditions it is essential that the members of the executive Government should possess, and should not hesitate to exercise when in their wisdom and in the light of the information that comes to them it appears necessary, the most drastic powers. People may agree or disagree with the action of the authorities in respect to any particular emergency regulation, but it must be remembered that the executive Government has information constantly coming into its possession which is necessarily of a secret nature, and which obviously cannot be imparted to the public. In these circumstances there is only one proper or loyal thing to do —and that is to trust the authorities and obey the regulations implicitly."