NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26045, 8 January 1946, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Nationalism and War “ One of the elements that produced the great conflict we have been deploring,” said General Carpenter, of the Salvation Army, speaking at a civic reception in the Auckland Town Hall, “ has been the spirit of narrow nationalism. When I hear, ‘Australia for the Australians,’ ‘New Zealand for the New Zealanders,’ and 1 Canada for the Canadians,’ I feel a sense of fear and dread, for I believe that the only way by which the world can rightly function is to recognise the interdependence of all peoples of the earth, to recognise that we are the children of a common Father, to recognise the brotherhood of man. Nothing short of a federation of the world under the government of God will give us relief from the things that we deplore in these dreadful happenings of the past days.” Lucky Investor One investor held the majority of the tickets on Palava, the big dividend payer at the Greymouth Trotting Club’s meeting. He collected more than £IOOO for a total investment of £22 10s. The dividend approached threequarters of a century on the win machine and more than a score for a place. Nineteen Feet of Rain The total rainfall last year at Wataroa, South Westland, was 224.43 in, compared with 196.79 min 1944. Last year’s fall is the heaviest since records were commenced in 1935. Last month rain fell on 19 days, the total fall being 17,59 in compared with 14.70 in on 24 days in’ December, 1944. The maximum fail was 7.01 in on December 4, against 1.97 in on December 15 in 1944. Wool for Continent

Most of the 80,000 bales of wool bought in the Dominion last year by French buyers will be lifted by the British steamer Sam Spring, which is due in Auckland early this month. The Sam Spring will also load at Napier and Lyttelton before finally sailing for Marseilles. Several other vessels have loaded wool for Continental buyers in recent months. The Fort St. Croix sailed shortly before Christmas with wool for Antwerp, while the Norton is at present loading at Port Chalmers, also for Antwerp. Coke Output Ceases The coke ovens at Granity are to be closed indefinitely as a result of the Westport Coal Company’s decision to cease the manufacture of coke. They have been in operation for 30 years. There is a big demand for this type of coke, which is used extensively in foundries for smelting purposes and also by tobacco growers in Nelson. The company says that it is uneconomical to produce coke at the present price and that the Price Tribunal will not sanction an increase. It is understood that the men employed at the coke ovens are being found other employment at the mine.

A Bread-conscious Audience Rendered acutely sensitive by events just before the week-end to any reference to an article of diet which has suddenly loomed large in their consciousness, an audience in an Auckland theatre on Saturday night reacted to a sequence in a film in a manner that would surely have bewildered its producers. The wife entered the room carrying a tray of loaves. With an appreciative sniff, the husband remarked, “Ah, there’s nothing like the smell of freshly-baked bread,” a mildly-expressed sentiment that spontaneously drew from the audience ' a storm of applause and emphatic shouts of concurrence. The outburst was followed by much laughter. Building Activity

There was a marked increase in building activity in Invercargill in 1945. The number of permits for new dwellings issued during the year was 128, only three fewer than the number issued in 1939, which was one of the busiest years ever experienced in the building industry in the city. Because of the war there was a steady decline in building, the lowest point being reached in 1942, when only 21 permits for new dwellings were issued. In 1943 the number was only 24, but it rose sharply to 63 in 1944. The' total value of all building work for which permits were issued last year was £313,899, compared with £169,432 in 1944, an increase of £144,467, and, compared with 1939, an increase of £103.484. This increase over the figure for 1939 is no doubt largely accounted for by the increase in the cost of building. Legal Aid Act

Advice that regulations under the Legal Aid Act, 1939, are being prepared and are expected to be brought down at an early date has been received in Christchurch from Mr B. L. Dallard, Under-secretary of Justice. “ Is it a fact that the Legal Aid Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives a number of years ago, but was shelved for the duration of the war', is now available to persons of small incomes? ” a newspaper correspondent asked. “If such is the case, the writer would be grateful to know which Government department in Christchurch will be, or is now, available to anyone seeking constructive legal advice after the Christmas holidays.” Mr Dallard said that the Act. which was passed in 1939, authorised the making of regulations to provide legal aid for poor persons. Staffing difficulties in the offices of law practitioners, because of enlistments in the forces, had caused the implementation of the scheme to be deferred.

Two Bulls Loose in Street Two Jersey bulls—one big, one small —cleared the main street of Petone of early shoppers early on Friday morning when they broke away from their drover on the Hutt road and went lumbering into the town. They walked along the .pavement of Jackson street, stolidly indifferent to the commotion which followed their arrival. People hastily went into shops or sought any other place of safety, or just put a reasonable distance between themselves and the animals. The bulls meant no harm and did no damage, but their appearance was against them. After gazing into a few shops and appearing particularly interested in a butchery, they were diverted into a side street by three men from a council rubbish lorry, who caused the bulls to retreat by beating garbage tins vigorously. Keeping up the noise, the men gradually drove them down a side street. The latest report indicated that the big bull was getting into most of the trouble. He was seen after he had tried to get over a garden gate and was stuck halfway. A woman was on one side hitting his head with a handbag and the drover was qn the other pulling his tail.