NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26078, 15 February 1946, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

The President’s Bed Americans are sometimes prone to express amusement at Britons’ profound veneration for Royalty, especially for figures famous in history There is, for instance, the well known quip that almost every rural inn in England possesses a bed which was slept in by Queen Elizabeth. That the Americans themselves are equally susceptible to the mana of the great is well exemplified in a recent issue of an American illustrated magazine which devotes an entire page to a photograph of a rumpled bed with clothes in disarray just as they were left by the occupant. The ' occupant had been, according to the caption under the photograph, President Truman. Shortage of Greenkeepers The acute shortage of qualified greenkeepers was brought to the notice of the last meeting of the Christchurch Bowling Centre. The shortage is so acute that the suggestion has been made that provision should be made for training additional greenkeepers at Massey Agricultural College. Philatelic Society The Philatelic Society of New Zealand (incorporated) has been granted permission by the King to use the prefix “Royal” in its title. Advice to this effect has been received by the society from the official secretary to the Governor-General. Established in 1888, the society has about 260 members in the Dominion. The patron is the Governor-General, and the president Sir Heaton Rhodes. Japanese Cigarettes A large number of the Dutch evacuees who arrived in Auckland this week are heavy smokers, and many of me men and women were smoking Japanese cigarettes, which they had obtained after the capitulation. Packed similarly to American cigarettes in packets of 20, the Japanese products were loosely rolled and were of fair quality. One of the evacuees said that the Japanese had used a large amount of Java’s tobacco crop. Startled by fashion Though women’s fashions often cause the male community to blink, that displayed by a young woman in Queen street, Auckland, on a recent morning made even members of her own sex gasp, turn, and stare. The outfit comprised particularly abbreviated white snorts, a completely bare midriff, and a top affair that was almost negligible. On the beach it would have looked daring; in Queen street it was almost staggering. A startled onlooker remarked: “ Gosh, she’s escaped from the nudist club! ” Coming Trade Talks “ Our whole future economy is wrapped up in the coming world conference on trade,” said Mr A. G. Wilson at a meeting of the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. The speaker suggested that perhaps, as it was a governmental conference, business men would not be acceptable as official representatives, but the chamber should press for representatives of commercial interests to be attached to the official party in an advisory capacity. It was decided to ask the Associated Chambers of Commerce to make representations along these lines to the Government. A Different Welcome “This function is all the more welcome to me because for four years I was in places where the welcomes were neither civic nor civil,” said Bishop Leonard Wilson, of Singapore, at the civic welcome extended to him and Mrs Wilson in the Council Chamber yesterday. Bishop Wilson was referring to the years he spent in Japanese prison camps where he suffered torture at the hands of his captors. “ This is the first time in my life that I have been honoured with a civic welcome,” he said, “ and for that reason I will always retain fond memories of Dunedin.”

Brighter Footwear Even brighter colour schemes for women’s shoes and intricate designs of perforations on men’s shoes will be the next development for footwear in New Zealand, according to Mr J. A. East, a well-known member of the New Zealand footwear industry, who has returned from a business tour of Great Britain and the United States (says the Christchurch Star-Sun). All kinds of revolutionary ideas were being introduced to the footwear industry overseas, said Mr East. The big manufacturing firms were making special efforts to produce footwear which was in direct contrast to the austerity types required by war conditions. All sorts of colour schemes were being evolved. There was no restriction on design in Britain as in New Zealand, although overseas ideas would be adopted here as soon as possible.

Sex Instruction in Schools Members of the Canterbury School Committees’ Association were not generally in favour of supporting a remit to the Dominion Federation, “ That the teaching of sex education is rather a subject for parental attention than that of combined school discussion from the teaching staff,” and that the ieueration bring to the notice of the Minister of Education, Mr H. G. K. Mason, the proposal “ That the Education Department prepare a suitable standard publication on this important subject, and supply free of charge to all parents of scholars of Standards 111, IV, V., and VI.” The publication would be read by only a small percentage of parents, said Mr W. T. Langley. The children had to be taught, and the Health Department had doctors and nurses qualified to give correct instruction on the subject. Mr J. D. Gray said that the matter should be handled by those who were properly qualified to deal with it.