NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24835, 7 February 1942, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

"FOLLOWING a suggestion from the A Director of National Service that ministers of the various churches should be directly associated with the Emergency Precautions Services, the Mayor (Mr A. H. Allen) called a meeting this week of Dunedin clergy, and a unit attached to the Emergency Precautions Service was formed. The purpose of this step is so that ministers will have free right-of-way through their districts during an emergency in order to carry out their spiritual work in definitely allotted areas. Members of the unit will wear the E.P.S. armband bearing a blus circular patch.

City Has 60,000 Bicycles During a course of instruction to auxiliary police on traffic control in Christchurch, it was stated that the estimated number of bicycles in Christchurch was 60,000. In ratio to its population, Christchurch had more bicycles than' any other city in the world, with Copenhagen second. Aid Post's Requirements

An appeal has been made by the committee of the George Street Aid Post for clean white rags, sheets, blankets, pillows, beds, hot water bags, buckets, and basins. The committee has arranged to collect articles on the receipt of advice from donors, who should communicate with the caretaker of the George Street Hall or ring telephone 18-146. ■'■■. Supreme Court Session Jurors who yere advised to attend sittings of the Supreme Court next week will not now be required, as the calendar of cases to be heard before a judge and jury has been completed. The business of the court on Monday will consist of the sentencing by Mr Justice Kennedy of a prisoner, and on Tuesday divorce proceedings will be taken. The present Supreme Court session has been one of the lightest on record in Dunedin, in spite of the inclusion of a murder trial. Auckland City Valuations An increase of £50,731, or 1.66 per cent., in the total rating assessment of Auckland City was reported to the City Council by the city valuer, Mr N. W. Kenny. His report stated that the total rateable value for 1942-43, subject to the decisions of the Assessment Court, was £3,090,261, compared with £3,039.530 for 1941-42. In another report Mr Kenny stated that since December 12 a further 70 State houses had been completed and tenanted. The additional rateable value was £3362.

Married Men in Age Groups It is not possible to state in which division of age groups married men will be called up for service with the armed forces. Commenting on the point yesterday (says our parliamentary reporter), the Minister of National Service, Mr R. Semple, said that the span of years covered by any one group would be governed by the military requirements at the time. The ordinary demands would mean fairly uniform groups, but circumstances might make it necessary to take in a wider field. Man Lost in Bush Home Guardsmen and experienced bushmen and pig-hunters (reports a Rotorua correspondent) engaged in. a three-day search for Mr O. E. Lynds, of Te Whaiti, in heavy bush between Galatea and Te Whaiti before he was found in an exhausted condition after spending four days and three nights in the bush. On the last day of the search the party had grown to 80. Mr Lynds, who was engaged in snigging posts five miles from the road, set off to discover the next pile of posts. He found them, but when endeavouring to retrace his tracks he lost his way.

Military Footwear All the available footwear factories in the Dominion have been or are being brought into production on', military foqtwear. ' This statement was made by Mr E. T.Arnott, chief footwear inspector of the' Department of Industries and Commerce, when interviewed in Christchurch after a meeting with the footwear trade group of the Canterbury Manufacturers' Association. Mr Arnott said the 28 factories in Auckand, the five inDunedin, and five of the six in Wellington were now engaged on military as well as ordinary production. In Christchurch, seven of the eight factories would also be so employed. Some, of course, had been on the work for some time.

King's Uniform In Court An unusual figure in the Supreme Gourt yesterday during the hearing of a claim for damages was that of counsel, who was dressed in military uniform, and not in the traditional gown and wig. The counsel was Major E. J. Anderson, who was excused from military duties for the occasion to defend a client, against whom a claim had been made arising out of a fatal motor accident, which occurred last May. Major Anderson, who has been a prominent court solicitor in recent years, was recently appointed commanding officer of the 7th Light Armoured Vehicle Regiment, formerly the Otago Mounted Rifles. He had over three years' active service in the last war.

Binocular Appeal Binoculars totalling 7000 pairs had been received at the army ordnance depot in Wellington up to Wednesday night in response to the national appeal. Those already received are mostly from the North Island, as far north as Kaitaia. The bulk of the South Island contribution has still to arrive in Wellington. It is >• estimated that 50 per cent, of the binoculars received are useful for the armed for'ces. Every pair is acknowledged by letter. One pair of binoculars, 200 years old, have proved equal in strength of vision and clarity to any others received. Those who wish to sell their binoculars are, on an average, placing upon them a value of £lO to £ls, some £25. If the expert at the ordnance depot does not consider a pair worth the price asked, they are returned.

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 to-morrow 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 (Rheinbsrger), and the ever fresh and popular incidental music to "Henry VlII" (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).

E.P.S. Impostor The first reported case of an impostor in connection with the Emergency Precautions Services organisation at Greymouth occurred on Wednesday evening, and steps are being taken immediately to see that a repetition of the.incident does not occur. Using an E.P.S. armband as a mark of authority, an unauthorised person visited a suburban hall, where an entertainment was taking place, and claimed that he had been sent by a zone warden to request that the black-out arrangements at the hall be drastically revised. He was treated with courtesy, but later it was ascertained that the man was .not a lighting warden, and that his visit was merels a hoax. The matter was reported to the authorities, and to guard against similar pranks it is proposed to issue all lighting wardens with identity cards.