NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26229, 13 August 1946, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Return of Army Will* When persons enlisted in the army in New Zealand, or volunteered or were selected for overseas service, those who had not made a will were given the option of lodging one with their own solicitor free of charge, or of making one before an army officer. In the latter case, the will was attached to the personal flies of those concerned at Base Records, Wellington. An officer of the Army Department told a Daily Times reporter yesterday that the wills held by Base Records were now being returned to personnel after their discharge, or, in the case of officers, on posting to the reserve. The wills of persons placed on indefinite leave without pay, he said, were being retained by Base Records in the meantime.

Infectious Diseases

For the week ended yesterday, one case of diptheria, three of scarlet fever and six of tuberculosis were notified to the Health Department in Dunedin.

Service Drafts

Two drafts of service personnel<hnd dependents returning from overseas are expected to arrive in New Zealand this month. One party, travelling by the Rimutaka, is due at Auckland on Friday, and the other draft, which is on the Dominion Monarch, is expected to reach Wellington on August 28. Interim Army Enlistments

The rate of enlistment in the interim army in Otago has slackened considerably in the past fortnight, only about three new offers having been accepted at the Drill Hall. The total number enrolled in Area XI is 28, of whom one ,man, a returned sergeant with six years' experience overseas, has been detailed to the instructional staff at Burnham military camp.

Medical Boards Completed The medical boarding of the personnel who returned to the Otago, military area from Japan by the Chitral has now been completed, and most of the men are enjoying their leave in various parts of the country. The number of men requiring outpatient treatment at the Public Hospital was stated by a member of the Drill Hall staff yesterday to have been high, fully one-third of the draft of 170 requiring treatment. “ Worthy Ambassadors ”

“I would like to take this opportunity of congratulating the Otago Rugby Union on the behaviour of the Otago team during its stay at the hotel on the occasion of the Ranfurly Shield match,” read a letter from. Mr E. L. Davidson, manager of the Grand Hotel, Invercargill, which came before a meeting of the Management Committee of the Otago. Rugby Football U n i° n last night. It was a pleasure to have the team as guests of the hotel,'” the writer added, “ and they proved worthy ambassadors for Otago.”

State of Football Grounds “All the council's grounds are in a bad state owing to bad drainage,” said Mr D. C. Jolly at a meeting of the Management Committee of the Otago Rugby Football Union last night. Mr Jolly, who is chairman of the City Council Reserves Committee as well as a member of the union, said that the council could put only a certain number of grounds in order each year, but eventually it would do them all. The Caledonian Ground was one of the worst of all because of poor drainage, he added, and the Oval also needed draining. The question would have to be tackled, but it was a matter of finance. \ At a Standstill

“ Contrary to what one would expect considering the importance of sea fish as part of our food supply find the fact that we have a Marine Department, marine research is absolutely dead,” remarked Professor E. Percival, at a meeting of the Canterbury branch of the Royal Society. “ Except for some amateur work, little has been done even to chart the coastal currents. We have an Inspector of Fisheries, but he is concerned solely with the licensing and organisation of commercial fishing, and the only vessel he had was engaged wholly in connection with commercial rock-oyster culture in the north. Just before the war, a research vessel was commissioned, but it was taken over for naval purposes, and marine biology stands where it did 50 years ago."

Influence of the Church After referring to the amount of faithful work being carired on quietly under the aegis of Knox Church, the Very Rev. D. C. Herron, in his pastoral letter, states that it has frequently been pointed out that goodness is not news. “While the press in Dunedin is very considerate to the churches,” Mr Herron adds, “ comparatively little of their day by day activities has news value. The doings of the Police Court in the course of a year take more space than the news of all the churches in Dunedin combined. Because church work lends itself so little to publicity, the community can have no conception of the influence of a church like Knox upon the thinking and outlook of this city Yet every organisation of the church is like a tributary of a stream which pours its healing, cleansing waters week by week into the life of the community.” Interest in. Greenstone

There is renewed interest in the purchase of greenstone on the West Coast. Not since the period immediately preceding the outbreak of the First World War. when buyers from European countries were active and an Australian company spent mo ie than £30,000 in the development of the GrifTen Range deposit, has such interest been taken commercially in West Coast greenstone (nephrite) as *at present. Recently lumps of greenstone which have lain undisturbed for more than 30 years on river banks, among mining tailings and even in back yards have been sold at remunerative'prices. The bulk of the sales have been to New Zealand firms, but United States manufacturers have also shown interest, and in at least one case have opened negotiations for the purchase of large quantities of certain types of greenstone. Destruction of Deer An intensification of the operations of private deer shooters following an increase in the value of skins is recorded in the annual report of the Department of Internal Affairs. This commercial hunting, the report states, has helped to fill the gap in official party operations caused by lack of man-power. The increased activities of free-lance stalkers led to a very considerable increase in the quantity of ammunition used, and during the year the department sold 842,000 rounds. As the army is now prepared to dispose of ammunition in bulk to dealers, the department has decided to terminate its sales as soon as existing stocks are exhausted. During the year departmental parties destroyed 9983 animal pests in New Zealand, of which 8539 were deer. Over 3300 of the deer destroyed were killed in operations in the North Island, principally in the Kaimanawa Ranges. There were 824 goats and nearly 600 pigs also accounted for by the department.