I NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26233, 17 August 1946, Page 6

I NEWS OF THE DAY

j Current Ration Coupons

| Current tea and sugar coupons, Nos. j 41 to 44. will remain valid until September 1. The value of each is 2oz j for tea and 12oz for sugar. A special | six-monthly issue of tea coupons is i now being distributed to applicants ; who have reached the age of 70 years. | The form contains four tea coupons, i each for half a pound, of which two | are valid in each of the quarterly | periods, August-October. and Novemi ber-January. Butter coupons Nos. 41 ; to 43 will be negotiable until September 1. The value of each is Boz, the four-weekly ration being ljlb. Expec--1 tant mothers, nursing mothers, and | persons who have reached the age of | 70 years are entitled to an extra halfI pound of butter for the four-weekly i period ending on September 1 on proI duction of coupon No. 41. Coupons j may be used only when the corre- ! sponding numbers in the ration book j are available. Meat coupon No. 42 j expires on August 25, and 0N4..c j becomes available on Monday, will rej main valid until September 1. The I total value of these coupons is Is 9d I in the case of adults and Is in the case of children, the H and J coupons each having a value of 6d. Hosiery coupon X2Ol will expire on August 31. and X 202 will remain valid until further notice.

Increased Parcels’ Returns A considerable increase in the business of the parcels branch of the Chief Post Office has been shown during the past 12 months. During a period of one week in August, 1945. the number of parcels posted was 6619, for a week in May, 1946, it was 7421, and for a week during the present month it was 8377. The figures for parcels delivered at the Chief Post Office were 3962 for a week in August, 1945, 5510 for one week in May, and 6840 for a similar period in August.

World’s Largest Liner The largest liner in the world, the 85.000-ton Queen Elizabeth, will leave Southampton for New York on her maiden voyage as a peace-time passenger ship on October 16. states advice received by the Cunard-White Star Line's agents. After years as a drab-grey transoort, the Queen Elizabeth is now painted foP the first time in the company’s colours. Reconversion work, started when the ship reached Southampton March 6 at the end of her last voyage as a war transport. is now nearing completion. Police Persuasion

On the assumption that the average Britain responds far better to a gentle hint than to a threat, persuasion instead of prosecution is being tried in Britain in an endeavour to reduce the number of road accidents. Motor cycle police, known as “courtesy cops,” are employed to watch the traffic. Some travel with the traffic and shepherd offending drivers to the kerb, where the dangers of thoughtless action are pointed out. Only when there is a glaring case of dangerous driving or a refusal to accept advice is the driver prosecuted. Other police sit astride motor cycles at intersections. The sight of them causes pedestrians and motorists to take more care.

Cultivation of Linseed • Incseased production of linseed soil to make up for the loss of supplies from India is aimed at by the Department of Agriculture, which believes that 10,000 acres could be sown to provide New Zealand’s requirements. Linseed is easier to grow than linen flax, the seed of which does not yield oil of such a high quality, though it was used during the war years. Linseed as a separate crop was grown in 19161917, on 1431 acres. Sowings increased to 12,119 acres in 1923-1924, and then fluctuated between 12,200 acres in 1930-1931, and 354 acres in 1942-1943. the decrease coinciding with increased production of linen 'flax. Since then production has again increased. Farmers Must Help Britain

New Zealand farmers should make every effort possible to help the people of Great Britain during the lean years which Britain was bound to face, said Mr G. H. Grigg, of Hororata, when he spoke to members of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association this week about his recent tour of England and Scotland. Mr Grigg was one of the New Zealand representatives at a farmers’ conference in London. British people had many problems, and it would be years before they were solved, Mr Grigg said. Britain was making every endeavour to build up her export trade, with the result that those living there were going short of numerous commodities. It was the duty of farmers in this country to do their utmost to increase production.

The Rabbits’ Centenary It was 100 years since rabbits were introduced into New Zealand from Australia; and they had become acclimatised very well, said Mr G. Miller, chief inspector of stock in Otago and Southland, speaking at the conference of the South Island Rabbit Boards' Association this week. In 1866 the Canterbury Society had offered silver grey rabbits to persons who would destroy wild cats and hawks, but by 1899 the same society made an attack on the liberators of rabbits. New Zealand was not the only country troubled by the rabbit pest, said Mr Miller, stating that in Southern Ireland 15,000.000 rabbits had been destroyed from 1941 to 1944.. “We seem to realise the necessity of killing the pest more than any other country, and in the Dominion rabbit boards control 20,000.000 acres or about half the total productive area,” he said.

Bread Weights The unfairness both to the public and the baker of the present bread weights regulations was mentioned by Mr E. W. Hullett, chief chemist of the Wheat Research Institute at the meeting of the institute’s committee in Christchurch this week. Mr Hullett. who had been asked for a statement, said that under the present system the check was of the loaf weight, not the solids content, and it was understandable that this should have led to the comment that while the milkman was fined for adding too much water to the milk the baker was fined for not adding enough to the bread. A nor’-wester or a small mistake might cause a whole bake to be below weight under this system. The Labour Department did not think a system based on the dry weight of ingredients could be administered. What had been proposed was that if a baker was prosecuted he should have the right to ask for an analysis of the loaf to check if the solids content was normal. The committee asked Mr Hullett to prepare a report to submit to the department.