NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25734, 4 January 1945, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

T IGHTNESS, strength, and simplicity of upkeep are the main features of steel hatch covers, manufactured in Liverpool, England. These covers (writes the technical journal Motor Ship) are far lighter than the old wooden types; but their strength is 35 per cent, greater. They provide absolute security for cargoes of all types, since they fit perfectly, and have no expansion comparable with that of wood in wet or warm weather. Their great strength enables them to stand up to the roughest sea passages without damage—no upkeep repairs are needed over a great number of years. They are simple to install, and the whole hatch area can be completely locked by one padlock. Tarpaulins cannot be damaged, since steel lifting handles fall into fluted recesses stamped in the cover. Airmen Return

Twenty-nine members of the R.N.Z.A.F. who recently returned to the Dominion from Canada and the United Kingdom arrived in Dunedin last evening by the 5 o’clock express from the north. After being officially welcomed, they were conveyed to their homes. A further 30 returned airmen whose homes are in the south travelled by the earlier express.

Art Treasure* Looted Another and extremely serious case of German looting of art treasures and vandalism, this time from Florence, has been divulged by the Monuments Subcommission of the Allied Control Commission. A partial list has been made of known treasures that had been placed in the villas around Florence for safe keeping, and are now missing. The Germans told the Italians they were taking them “to save them from thfe American barbarians.”

Sheep Drowned An unusual incident in which a sheep was drowned was witnessed recently at Clifton Station, Hawke’s Bay. Mustering was being carried out on the station when a sheep broke away from the mob and made for the sea. It stood in shallow water, but when a shepherd sent a dog to round it up it made straight out to sea. On being unable to turn it, the dog gave up the task, and shortly afterward the sheep, which had a heavy fleece, was washed back on shore, dead. Pennies for Tea

In camps In New Zealand since the outbreak of war, states a bulletin issued by the National Patriotic Board, the Y.W.C.A. has received £565,611 in pennies for cups of tea provided for servicemen and women. On this the profit amounted to £37,233, mainly due to donors. It was impossible to charge the work of voluntary helpers any less than Id for a cup of tea, but the profit made had been paid into patriotic funds for the benefit of the men. Car Ransacked An Auckland motorist who missed his touring last Christmas through lack of petrol, determined to travel this season, and religiously saved his allowance month by month through the year. Whenever he could procure a bottle, lie also laid in a lull supply of spirits, and a few days ago bought his holiday beer and the last of his camping requisites. He packed his car in readiness for an early start on his holiday, but some unscrupulous person had evidently noted his preparations. When he went to start out he found that his garage had been broken into, and his car thoroughly ransacked.

Heavy Rail Traffic Although the exceptionally heavy bookings on passenger trains just before and during the Christmas holiday period eased off at the end of last week, all express trains to and from Dunedin yesterday were filled almost to capacity. It is' expected that the expresses will be full again to-day and until the end of the week as more people return to their homes. Since many factories and businesses will resume on Monday, passenger traffic during the week-end is expected to tax the available trains to their limits. Bookings are particularly heavy on Monday, when the normal restricted schedule will be brought back into operation. The expresses on Tuesday, January 9, and on Friday, January 13, are heavily booked. Railway officials expect that, as is usual in January, all trains will carry heavy loads after the end of the school holidays. Scenic Drive A North Island visitor who is in Dunedin for the first time expressed pleasure and surprise yesterday at the views to be obtained from the roads over the Otago Peninsula. The upper road to Portobello and the panorama from the Highcliff road, he said, were equal to anything of a similar nature in New Zealand. While full of praise for the scenery, the visitor was disappointed at what he described as the lack of means for guiding strangers to the most attractive spots. Portobello, he said, had two unique attractions—the marine aquarium and Larnach’s Castle—but, as a stranger, he had experienced difficulty in finding his way to them because of the lack of signposting. The visitor thought that Dunedip should give more publicity to the peninsula motor drive and should clearlv indicate for the benefit of motorists such features as the castle and the aquarium. Navy’s Efficiency Illustrated

An instance of the thoroughness with which the Royal Navy approaches its tremendous and an illustration of the manner in which it has overcome the disadvantages of having its units dispersed throughout the world, is provided by a photographic service which the Admiralty maintains for, among other things, the repair or refit of ships which have to be docked in distant corners of the world. For every ship in the navy there is a set of drawings showing every part of her and everything which goes to the construction of that part. These drawings have to be available when a ship is refitting, so that the work which has to be done can be judged minutely and patterned exactly on the ship’s own peculiar requirements. To enable dockyards to have the;se drawings when thy are needed, the Admiralty uses a photographic service much the same as the airgraph service to which civilians are accustomed, the drawings being sent in miniature and enlarged at the dockyard to the size required by the men who have to prepare and supervise the work that has to be done. The naval dockyard at Devonport uses this service for the refits it carries out.