NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25428, 8 January 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

IN Area XI one harvesting camp, in the Oamaru district, has been in operation since the middle of December, and camps at Middlemarch and Hawea will commence during the present month. The total number of men in the three camps will be about 60, all of whom are from the Otago area at present. A fourth camp, at Roxburgh, will be established later this month. In the main, however, the men who have bsen called up for 28 days’ training will not enter camp until the end of January, and the various camps throughout the Otago and Southland districts will remain in operation until the end of the harvesting season. The majority of calls for men at the present time are coming from the North Otago and lakes districts, where the harvests are well forward. When the camps are fully established about 20 per cent, of the personnel engaged will consist of men who are doing their month’s training, the remainder being mobilised personnel. At the conclusion of the harvesting season the monthly calling-up of men will continue, but they will then undergo normal unit training. Home from the Middle East

The Otago members of the draft of sick and wounded and repatriated prisoners of war which returned to New Zealand from the Middle East recently arrived at Dunedin by the through express yesterday, and were met at the Railway Station by friends and relatives, as well as by representatives of the army, patriotic bodies, returnde services, civic and other organisations. Four members of the draft proceeded to Invercargill. Resourceful Motorist

Resourcefulness was shown by Mr H. O. Wallis, an Auckland traveller, when his car caught fire at Puketaha. Mr Wallis had been stoking the gas producer of the vehicle and put a hot poker into the rear locker. Sacking caught fire, and as Mr Wallis had no means of extinguishing the* outbreak he promptly drove the car some miles to the Hamilton Fire Station, where the fire was extinguished before much damage had been done. Warning to Bathers Owing to the dangerous condition of the St. Kilda beach at the present time, a warning has been issued by the patrol that extreme care should be exercised by bathers, who should keep inside the flagged area. A thoughtless practice has been adopted by some bathers of tying their towels to the lifesaving reel, and as this might occasion delay in the event of a run-out being necessary, it is desirable that the practice should be discontinued.

Big Newspaper Deal Lord Iliffe, according to a report from London recently, paid £2,250,000 for the newspapers Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail, and Birmingham Weekly Post. Lord Iliffe is part proprietor of the London Daily Telegraph, and has an interest in numerous magazines and periodicals through Allied Newspapers, Ltd. The Birmingham papers were the property of Sir Charles Hyde, Bart., who died early last year. Beach Games for Children

Large numbers of children, ranging in age up to 12 years, have taken advantage of the organised recreational activities which have been conducted at the children’s playground at St. Kilda by the Physical Welfare branch of the Department of Internal Affairs, Each fine afternoon from 2 o’clock to 4 o’clock Mrs Wilson, of the Physical Welfare branch, has arranged ball games, skipping, and other recreational activities. The scheme will be continued throughout the school holidays. Portrait of “ Mum ” The painter of the portrait of “Mum,” which is to be given by an anonymous donor to the Auckland Returned Services’ Association and will be hung in the association’s new clubrooms, is to-be selected by a committee appointed by the donor. An endeavour will be made by the committee to ascertain from art authorities whether there is a suitable artist in the Dominion, and, if necessary, inquiries will be made abroad. It will be left to the artist to depict his own conception of the typical “ Mum ” of the men of. the forces. Feed Prospects in Southland The dry weather has given farmers in Eastern Southland cause for concern about winter feed. There are still many acres of late-sown turnip seed that show no sign of germination, and the lack of vigorous growth among the earlier sown crops has allowed the fly to obtain a strong hold. Areas of cultivated ground are a patchwork of green and brown, showing where seed has been sown and has germinated and where it has failed to receive the benefit of a good shower. The fine weather, however, has allowed farmers to proceed with shearing and other operations. The opening of the freezing works has drawn off a large number of men from the sheds, and farmers are now compelled to continue the work without assistance.

Accident on Mount Egmont Two New Plymouth girls had a frightening experience when they slipped on ice on Mount Egmont recently and crashed into some rocks. The girls, Misses Winifred and Ruth Bent, were descending from the summit of Mount Egmont with a member of the Taranaki Alpine Club. When at 7000 feet they were glissading. After going for about 200 feet their ice axes failed to hold them and they struck some rocks. One of the girls, Winifred, who was not as badly hurt as her sister, returned to Tahurangi Hut for assistance. Several members of the Taranaki Alpine Club who had climbed to the summit earlier in the day climbed up and brought the other girl down- on a stretcher to the hut. Both were taken to hospital for observation.

War Damage Insurance The annual premiums for war damage insurance will be reduced from 5s per cent, to Is per cent, as from March 1 next. A Dunedin insurance manager said yesterday that a number of persons seemed'to be under the impression that if they cancelled - their old policies on March 1 and took out new ones they could take advantage of the lower rate. The position, however, is that on and after March 1 any return of war damage premium on a cancelled policy will not be calculated on the present rate, but on the new one. The refund on an annual policy taken out, say, on February 1 and cancelled on March 1, will be eleven-twelfths of a shilling per cent., and not eleventwelfths of ss. It is also reported in insurance circles in Dunedin that regulations are to be made under the War Damage Act to prevent the issue of fire policies for a shorter period than 12 months, except on property (such as crops), which in normal insurance practice has been insured for a lesser period than 12 months. Imported Foodstuffs

Housewives have already begun to realise (states the New Zealand Herald) that the comparative liberality of grocers a few weeks before Christmas in meeting requests for tinned and dried fruits and spices was the result of a special seasonal release by authority of the Ministry of Supply. A large proportion of such commodities, it is understood, came from stocks that had been accumulated at strategic centres to meet any civil emergency. All stocks then made available have, it is stated, now been exhausted, and any releases made in the future must be on a small scale. Baked beans, spaghetti, asparagus, and tinned soup are also in very short supply and are expected to remain so, but golden syrup, mustard, and matches are more easily bought than for several months past. Supplies of rice, sago, tapioca and similar grains are still restricted, and the resumption of full shipments must await a change for the better in the international situation, just as the supply of tinned goods is dependent upon the priority demands of the armed forces and the quantities of tinplate released to canners for civilian stocks.