NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25215, 3 May 1943, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

qpHE general bearing of the schoolboy in these days is considerably better than that of 40 years ago, said Dr M. Bevan-Brown, son of a former headmaster of the Christchurch High School, when he was speaking at the annual meeting of the High School Old Boys’ Association. The present years, he said, were likely to be regarded as “ heydey ” years in the school history, both from an academic and sporting viewpoint. It was reported during the meeting that negotiations for the purchase of some additional land for the school were almost completed. The sections, which were next to the school grounds, were approximately half an acre in area and would be known as the Lancaster Reserve. They would be a gift from the old boys to the school. Young Bandit* • “ Masked men ” during the last fortnight have been frightening women at night in Dunollie and Upper Runanga, near Greymouth. They have now been unmasked and found to be a gang of children aged about 11, who were playing “ bandits.” O

No Bankruptcies Striking evidence of the favourable trading conditions that prevail to-day is provided by the fact that not a single bankruptcy has been recorded in Christchurch since last November. The Official Assignee (Mr G. W. Brown) reports that he has not known such a state of affairs before. During the first four months of last year three bankruptcies were recorded. “ Very Childish ” From a German prison camp on November .15 last a sergeant, whose home is in Wellington, wrote as follows: —“ Mail is very rare in these days because of misunderstandings between the German and the British authorities. Many prisoners are now tied up every day for the same reason, and everything is becoming very childish, but we have to put up with it as we can do nothing about it.”

State Mine Dispute Settled The president of the State Miners’ Union (Mr H. Johnson) reports that the dispute which resulted in the Strongman mine being idle last week has been amicably settled. Three of the men who left work early on the Thursday afternoon were exonerated, one having produced a medical certificate and the other two. having received permission from the acting deputy to leave early. The fourth man in the case had given proof that he had had to visit the army office in Greymouth, added Mr Johnson, and all four had been reinstated. It is reported, however, that the explanation of the fourth man was not considered satisfactory, and that he has been reinstated with the loss of a day’s pay.

Panic Buying Feverish buying was resorted to by housewives in some parts of Dunedin on Friday as a result of rumours that dairy produce would be rationed as from Saturday last. So insistent had the rumours become that many people were not only convinced that rationing would be imposed, but claimed to know the precise amount of butter which would be allowed per head each week. Towards the end of the week grocers were surprised to find customers buying quantities of butter far in excess of the normal requirements. Even when assured by shopkeepers that the rumours were unfounded, householders continued throughout Friday to buy up extra pounds of butter, some even going to the extent of purchasing a tin or a box.

Official Denial Sought A suggestion that statements made by Mr E. L. Thwaites, president of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. Association, that all pockets were closed to returned men and that there was no official charity of the patriotic fund should be refuted is to be made to the National Patriotic Fund Board, Wellington. This was decided at a meeting of the Southland Provincial Patriotic Council on Friday. Mr P. L. Hodge said that the statements were scandalous. He had refuted them, and his remarks had been published in the local newspapers. However, there had been no official denial by the National Patriotic Fund Board. He considered that this denial should be made and that it should be sent through the Press Association to all the leading newspapers in the Dominion. Voluntary Work

No matter how much the State provided for the elementary necessaries of life in the new order of the future —and there would be a new order—there would be more scope than ever for voluntary self-sacrifice and effort, said the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser), speaking at the annual meeting of the Boys’ Institute in Wellington last week. Mr Fraser said it would be a bad thing for any country if the work of individuals or institutions was governed by the work of the State. The State inevitably had to carry on during war a great deal of organisational work which sometimes was onerous and harsh. Nobody liked that sort of hardship, and nobody liked to do that sort of thing unless they had to. In his opinion it would be a retrograde step if the voluntary element of self-sacrifice in social work were in any way minimised. a Watersider*’ Earnings A quarterly return dealing with waterside workers employed by the Wellington Harbour Board shows that the average weekly earnings of A class men on the board’s register of casual waterside employees were £ll 16s 5d a week over the 12 weeks ended March 30, compared with £l2 3s lOd for the 13 weeks ended January 5, £ll 7s 8d for the 14 weeks ended October 6, 1942, and £ll 19s lOd for the 13 weeks ended June 30, 1942. The highest average weekly payments in those periods were £l7 3s 4d, £ls 7s lid, £l4 10s Id, and £l6 2s 7d respectively, these figures being for weeks in which the three-monthly bonus was added to the men’s earnThe lowest weekly averages in the same periods were £7 5s Bd, £6 15s Id, £8 10s Id, and £7 19s 3d. The average over the 12 months’ period was £ll 16s sd. Porirua Mental Hospital Complete demolition of the main building, which was badly damaged by the severe earthquakes of last year, is now in progress at the Porirua Mental Hospital, where the first construction schedule is under way for a hospital of the villa system in line with the most modern type of institution. The building programme provides for 11 new villas, each with accommodation for 50 patients, and, in addition, there will be an 80-bed hospital ward. Work on the first three of these villas has already been started, and the job is classified as urgent under building priorities. The evacuation of patients from Porirua when the main building was declared unsafe for further use threw a heavy strain on other institutions, and new quarters had to be found for 650 patients, of whom 200 were moved into the Chateau Tongariro last September.