NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25672, 21 October 1944, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

rpHE current tea and sugar coupons JL Nos ’ 49. 50. 51, and 52, will be valid until October 29. The value of each is 2oz for tea and 12oz for sugar. Butter coupons Nos. 51 and 52, each for Boz will expire on October 29. Meat coupon No. 51 will be negotiable until October 29, and No. 52 will be available from October 24 until November 5. Children under five years, expectant and nursing mothers, and those persons holding priority certificates granted because of sickness are entitled to three eggs on the surrender of coupon No. 52 for the week ending October 29. The current hosiery coupon is XlO3. “ Conscience Money ” The Finance Committee of the City Council reports that it has received the sum of £3O from an anonymous source as “ conscience money.” Anniversary of Trafalgar Day To-day is the anniversary of Trafalgar Day. and the Otago branch of the Navy League has arranged for the laying of a wreath at the Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial. Advice has been received that the 8.8. C. will broadcast a Navy League Trafalgar Day ceremony in the Pacific programme between 8.30 and 8.45 p.m. to-morrow

Bequest to Crippled Children Society

The Dunedin branch of the Crippled Children Society has received from the trustees of the estate of Mr Malcolm Ferguson, of Tapanui, the sum of £SOO as part of a distribution of the residue of the estate to certain charitable organisations. This sum will be devoted to the general purposes of the society. Motor Camps in Queenstown The town clerk of Queenstown has written to us to correct a wrong impression. which, he says, appears to have been current in Dunedin, that there is no available camp sites in the Queenstown borough motor camp for Christmas and New Year holidays. There is. the town clerk assures us, plenty of room for all who wish to camp there. Price of Whitebait

A suggestion that retail price control of whitebait should be instituted is to be made to the Government by the North Island Acclimatisation Societies’ Council. A resolution to this effect (states a Press Association message) was adopted at the council’s annual meeting in Wellington yesterday. Moving the resolution, Dr F. N. Harley (Hawke’s Bay) said that whitebait were rapidly disappearing. They were being sold at up to 8s per lb. Price control might assist in conservation. Mahinerangi Dam Authority has been granted to the city electrical engineer to lower the level of Lake Mahinerangi to permit l of the lake being emptied between the old dam and the present structure. When the work is finished, the Electricity Committee of the City Council reports, it may be necessary to purchase extra power from the Government during the summer in order that the lake level may be raised sufficiently to meet next winter’s load. Service* of Police-women

“Are we satisfied that the best use is being made of the police-women in New Zealand? " asked Miss Elsie Andrews (New Plymouth) at the conference of the National Council of Women yesterday. There were 33 policewomen in the Dominion, she said, and no more were being trained at the present time. She questioned if the women were doing as much preventive work as was desired. “We must satisfy ourselves that these officers are being used to the best advantage,” she said. Magnetic Road Trailer

The Works Committee of the City Council has beeh advised by the Works Department that the Main Highways Board’s magnetic road trailer will be available in the near future for use on the city streets. Authority has been fronted to the city engineer (Mr S. G. coular) to arrange for the use of the truck for approximately three days, at an estimated cost of £23. This truck was used by the council in April, 1943, when the total weight of scrap collected with 5901 b.

Rongotai Airport The condition of the airfield at Rongotai did not permit of the landing of the Auckland-Christchurch and Christchurch-Auckland passenger aircraft yesterday, and both services made their Wellington stop at the emergency landing field at Papaparaumu. Recent heavy rain (states a Press Association message) had made the surface at Rongotai unsuitable for heavier planes, but the lighter machines for the Cook Strait service and the Dunedin-Wellington service were still able to use the field. Interesting Museum Display Many strange things which have been used for writing purposes are shown in an interesting display which has been arranged for the school classes at the Otago Museum. The display, which will be on view for the next few weeks, included wooden message sticks used by the aborigines, Chinese characters painted on silk, and clay tablets from Babylonia. A fragment of pottery sent recently from the Middle East has a wine recipe written on it. The University Library has contributed illustrations from books and a roll of microfilm. The latter forms a striking contrast in size to the large books. Each page is photographed in a manner similar to that for airgraph mail, and is read after it has been enlarged by means of a small projector. Honey Marketing

A suggestion, that the proportion of their output Which beekeepers were obliged to offer the Internal Marketing Division should be reduced from 70 to 50 per cent, to ensure the co-operation of producers was made by Mr W. A. Bodkin (Oppn., Central Otago) during consideration of the estimates of the division in the House of Representatives yesterday. The Minister of Marketing, Mr B. Roberts, said the Government could not break faith with the prisoners of war. About 800 parcels containing honey were sent away regularly, and while an effort would be made to reduce the. amount taken by the department, that depended on war conditions. The cost of the administration of fhoney marketing was 0.2 d or less than one-farthing per lb.

Girls in Industries Over 19,000 girls have been directed from non-essential to esse'htial industries, and they are going to provide a rehabilitation problem,” said a Wellington delegate to the Dominion Conference of the -National Council of Women yesterday. These girls, she said, had contributed wonderfully to the war effort. She moved, on behalf of the Wellington branch, a remit urging that a senior woman officer, with experience in the Labour Department, be appointed as Co-Director of Rehabilitation, with power to set up women’s sections for rehabilitation in the main centres, and with instructions to work in collaboration with the vocational guidance officers as far as possible in dealing with the younger women. Mrs W. K. Cameron (Dunedin), who seconded the remit, said that while women in the forces were provided for under the Rehabilitation Act, there was no provisiqn for the girls who were directed to industries. The remit was carried.