NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25736, 6 January 1945, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

rpHE current tea and sugar coupons 1 Nos. 9to 12 will remain valid until January 21. The value of each is 2oz for tea and 12oz for sugar. A special allowance of sugar for jammaking, amounting to 31b per ration book, will be available until January 31 on production of coupon Y 7 from sheet 13 of the new ration books. Butter coupons Nos. 11 and 12 will be available from January 8 to January 21. The value of each butter coupon is Boz. Meat coupons Nos. 10 and 11 will be negotiable from January 8 to January 14. and Nos. 11 and 12 from January 15 to January 21. The value of the meat coupons is Is 9d in the case of adults and lid in the case of children under 10, the value of the H coupon being 6d and of the J coupon sd. Expectant and nursing mothers and those persons holding priority certificates are entitled to three eggs on surrender of coupon No. 11 for the week ending January 14. The current hosiery coupon is XlO3. Petrol Stations Entered Two service stations: in the north end were entered by intruders last night. A motor car which was parked in the vicinity of one of the stations was also removed but was recovered later in the vicinity of the Gardens. Gifts for Patients and Staff

The Otago Hospital Board reports that the patients, babies, and staff in Queen Mary Maternity Hospital received Christmas gifts from the trustees of the John Edmond estate. A similar distribution is made annually. Bookmakers’ Agents

“ Do the bookmakers hunt for these semi-invalids? ’’ asked Mr J. L. Stout, S.M. in the Magistrate’s Court at Wellington this week, when a man admitted a charge of carrying on the business of a bookmaker. For the accused, it was slated that he had taken up bookmaking when he was unable to do his ordinary work after being discharged from hospital. The magistrate added that bookmakers seemed to get a “ good many ’’ semi-invalids as agents. The accused was Robert Seymour, aged 46, a motor driver, whom the police found operating in a city hotel. He was fined £25 and costs A similar fine was imposed on John Evan Everett, aged 32. a salesman, who was also found operating as a bookmaker in the private bar of an hotel.

Labour Shortage on Wharve* A last-minute shortage of labour on the wharves at Auckland on Tuesday resulted in a loss of time and labour by three firms which opened warehouses and sent trucks to the waterfront to collect wheat from a ship that did not work. Suburban carriers who might have been involved in a useless trip to the city were advised in time. Arrangements for working the were made on the previous Friday, when it was expected that 10 gangs would be available on Tuesday morning. Another vessel in port, however, was made a preference ship, and the failure of any number of casual workers to appear, combined with the absence of a number of union men on holiday, left the wheat ship without labour. Later in the day an appeal for about'4oo men was made by the Waterfront Control Commission. It had been planned to work the wheat ship through the night, but no gangs were available.

Maori Land Holdings The area of land held by Maoris still in the North Island is estimated at 3,768,000 acres.- In the whole of the Dominion they still retain 4,008.000 acres. In recent years, under Government policy, Maori owners have been encouraged to farm their own holdings. At the end of 1943.928,202 acres had been gazetted for that purpose, of which 212,313 acres were occupied by 1904 Maori settlers, and 250,000 acres were being developed. The live stock carried comprised 40.500 cows, 25.200 other dairy stock, 30,500 cattle, 159,300 breeding ewes, and 121,500 dry sheep. In addition, 16 Native Trust stations and two Maori Land Board stations (comprising 50,818 and 17,671 acres respectively) are running 44,245 breeding ewes, 48,260 dry sheep, and 10,400 cattle. The Board of Native Affairs also exercises a measure of control over 23 stations of the East Coast Trust, aggregating 132.000 acres, and carrying 138,000 sheep and 16,300 cattle. Increased Tobacco Production

Although the cultivation of tobaccoleaf on a commercial basis was initiated only comparatively recently in New Zealand, the industry has made marked progress, and growers are becoming increasingly familiar with the methods and plant required for the production of cured leaf acceptable to manufacturers. Commercial growing is confined to those to whom licences are issued by the Tobacco Board set un to control the industry. Most of the tobacco produced is flue-cured, producing a yellow-leaf tobacco which is largely used for the manufacture of cigarettes, and the balance (which is air cured) is used mainly in the manufacture of smoking mixtures and pipe tobacco. During 1942-43 96 per cent, was flue-cured, and only 4 per cent, air cured. A total of 2443 acres was under production in 1942-43. The total leaf purchased from growers was 3,185,1831 b. New Zealanders are now smoking more of their own tobacco than ever before.

Fathers Absent on Service A peculiar psychological reaction is observed by school teachers among boys of 12 to 13 years whose fathers are absent on war service, says the Newsletter issued by the Australian section of the Empire Press Union. It takes the form of a pronounced tendency to tufp from customary friendships and amusements in homes and among playmates to seek the company and advice of men. The headmaster of a Melbourne State school said that never before in his many years of teaching had boys of 12 and 13 sought the company of teachers to the same extent as now. They would cease playing their favourite games at lunch time to search out and talk with teachers. He regarded this as a manifestation of some innate desire for fatherly company. It had no greater significance than that mothers, ordinarily capable in other domestic matters could not adequately fit themselves into the place of fathers. The fact that they came to teachers with problems concerning their boys was a pathetic admission of this.

A Frank Anderson, dentist, will visit Middlemarch, Friday, February 9.—Advt. The Railways Department advertises, in this issue particulars of the running of Sunday express trains between Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill.