NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24945, 18 June 1942, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

r p\VO tons and a-half of gelignite were J- used yesterday in the largest single blasting operation ever undertaken in Southland. This huge quantity of explosives (telegraphs our Invercargill correspondent) displaced about 40,000 cubic yards of limestone on the quarry face of Brown's Lime Works, and the loosened rock will probably be sufficient to supply the works with rawmaterial for more than six months. Efforts are bsing made to increase substantially the output of the works. In the past' from 25.000 to 30.000 tons of lime a year have" been produced, and it is hoped that this total will be almost doubled.

Donations by Banks A Press Association message from Wellington reports that the Reserve Bank has given £IOOO to the All Purposes Patriotic Appeal. The money 'is to be allocated by the National Patriotic Fund Board to the provincial patriotic councils in proportion to their quotas. The board has acknowledged contributions from the trading banks totalling £2IOO.

Not Enough Halfpence The strange prices, involving odd pence and often halfnence, which the Price Tribunal has fixed for various things in common use, including confectionery, are causing a great deal of trouble to shopkeepers, who find change a real problem. Not only is more time taken in delving into cash register drawers, but pennies and halfpennies are always apt to run short.

Rats Damage Car Another menace to " laid up." cars has presented itself to a motorist in Christchurch. With the shortage of petrol, he has been forced to leave his car in the garage for several weeks, and he received a shock when he visited it to find that rats had gained entrance. They had evidently climbed through a small hole underneath the dashboard and had made a comfortable home under a front seat. Every kind of rubbish imaginable had been taken into ths car, and the rats had eaten away much of the felt from under the back seat.

The Money-spenders "The women spend 80 per cent, of the money in this country, so surely they ought to be able to get the. big business houses on their side." said Mrs R. D. Neale, speaking at a meeting of the Christchurch Housewives' Union about the carriage of prams on transs. "If the women cannot get into town to spend their money because they cannot get their prams on the trams the big shops are going to suffer, bo we ought to enlist the help of some of them to get the Tramway Board to make it easier for the women with young children to get in and out of town for shopping."

Drivers of Army Vehicles Drivers of army vehicles were criticised at a meeting of the executive of the Automobile Association (South Canterbury). Mr J. Palliser complained of the recklessness of some drivers. The chairman (Mr R. Wilson) said that in the event of an accident, no one could proceed against the army, which would accept no responsibility. Action would have to be taken against the individual driver, and if he had no money, no compensation could be obtained. Mr T. Urquhart suggested that if a complaint was made to the army authorities a satisfactory improvement could be expected. It was agreed to write to the army on the matter.

Sunday Pictures Arrangements were completed yesterday, and were confirmed by the Film Industry Board in Wellington (says a Press Association telegram), for the opening of two Auckland picture theatres next Sunday night to members of the armed forces and friends. Mr M. J. Moodabe, the representative of the motion picture interests on the Mayor's Sunday Entertainment Committee, said the arrangement at present applied to next Sunday only. The theatres would open at 8.15 p.m. in order not to clash with the church services. The programmes shown would be the same as those on the preceding night, and the same charges would be made. Each serviceman attending might be accompanied by one friend. Italian Reservist

An unusual case came before the Gisborne Man-power Committee in the form of an appeal against territorial mobilisation by Bartolo Zame. flsh merchant, an Italian by birth, but a naturalised British subject. "The reservist is not appealing for exemption." said counsel for Zame, " but for an adjournment until the middle of August. His wife, an Italian woman, can speak practically no English, and relies on her husband. The.reservist, however, does not wish to evade his duties'to the country of his adoption." The reservist said that he was naturalised as a British subject in 1931. Later he returned to Italy for a holiday and married an Italian woman. The appeal was dismissed, provided the reservist was not called up before August 15. Accident Not Reported

" Does one have to report one's own smack? " Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M., asked Mr Q. V. Quigley, counsel for a motorist who pleaded guilty to a charge in the Magistrate's Court at Christchurch of failing to report to the police an accident in which he was the only person involved. Mr Quigley replied that although the regulations dealing with the matter were rather obscure, apparently it was obligatory for a motorist to i-eport. It was stated by the prosecution that the defendant had, while driving in the early hours of the morning, dozed off to sleep and crashed into a power pole, injuring himself and damaging his motor car. He had not thought it necessary to report the mishap. A fine of 10s. with costs, was imposed.

Conservatism in Banking "Bankers are often criticised for their conservatism," said Mr W. F. Clouston, manager of the Invercargill branch of the National Bank of New Zealand, in a talk to members of the Invercargill Rotary Club. "While this conservatism may at times not be to the liking of the customer," he added, "I think that; on the whole, it is a good thing for the banks and their customers' also that bankers should, if they err, do so in the direction of conservatism. Many a client has been saved from losses because his bank manager was cautious." Mr Clouston remarked that in his experience " the man on the other side of the table" usually had enough optimism for two. It was only right, therefore, that his optimism should be tempered a little by the bank manager's caution. # Only One Invercargill

A letter addressed " Invercargill. Scotland." was delivered to a resident of Invercargill, New Zealand, the other day. She had enclosed a card with some socks she had knitted for soldiers (states the Southland Times), and the letter was one of thanks from a soldier in England. Needless to say he was not a New Zealander, and no doubt, too, he was not a Scot, because there is no place called Invercargill in Scotland. The prefix " Inver," however, would probably suggest even to a Sassenach that the name was of Scottish origin, and that probably accounts for* the address on the letter. The postal authorities at Home would hove little difficulty in deciding the correct destination of the letter. Invercargill does not share its name with any other town or city in the world. Behaviour In the Street

The opinion that the behaviour of women and girls in the streets of New Zealand towns had shown no serious deterioration as a result of the war was expressed by Commissioner J. Evan Smith, of the Salvation Army. He was referring to a recent Melbourne cablegram which stated that the Lord Mayor of that city had suggested a curfew for women to curb behaviour which was described by the police as " disgraceful." "I do not think the position in New Zealand is very much more serious now than it has ever been," said Commissioner Smith. "So far as I know, the behaviour of certain of our women and girls has constituted a grave problem for many years—a problem caused, I believe, by the relaxation of the discipline of home life. Young girls have been given rather too much freedom to come and go and do what they like, with the result that some of them have become infatuated with the wrong type of man."