NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26479, 5 June 1947, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Women Truck Drivers The. sight of a woman driving a car, once a decided novelty, has become commonplace of recent years, but women drivers of trucks or vans are still a comparative rarity in peacetime. Some interest was aroused among passers-by at the Stock Exchange yesterday afternoon by the sight of three vehicles of the type described in official quarters as "light trade motors,” each with a woman at the wheel, drawn up one behind the other awaiting the traffic officer’s signal. The possibility that the women had been employed by local firms in place of men didmot appear likely as two of the. three were smartly dressed in fur coats—hardly a working uniform.

City Water Storage The levels of the city water storage reservoirs continue to rise steadily. The gain for the 24 hours up to 9 a.m. yesterday was 910,000 gallons, and the total quantity in storage was 85,061,000 gallons.

Increasing Membership At the beginning of the last financial year the membership of Federated Farmers in Otago totalled 1904, and this had increased to 2265 by the end of the year, it was stated in the executive’s report presented to the conference of Federated Farmers yesterday. Since the end of March, 102 new members had been elected. In this connection, a tribute was' paid to the work of the organiser, Mr E. White. Loading and Unloading

“With our cantilever equipment at Nauru Island it was possible to load a 10,000-ton steamer with phosphate in one day, but I shudder to think how long it would take to discharge the same steamer in Auckland,” said Sir Albert Ellis. New Zealand representative on the British Phosphate Commission, in an address on Tuesday night. “ However, it would be nothing to be proud of.” , • Peninsula Schools Wat was described as a glaring inconsistency in the boundaries of wards in the educational districts was pointed out at a meeting of delegates to the Otago School Committees’ Association last night. It was stated the schools on the Peninsula were in the Central Otago district. As this was was opposed to a community of interest, a motion was passed asking the Otago Education Board to revise the daries of wards in the area under its jurisdiction Conservative View “Whatever we may feel about pre-sent-day costs, we must from the insurance angle give fair cover to our clients and we are prepared to do this,” said the chairman, Mr A. C. Leary, at the annual meeting yesterday of the Otago Farmers’ Union Mutual Fire Insurance Association. "Actually, in the great majority of cases, we find that our clients have very conservative views, and at times we have to urge them to increase the amount of their insurances in order to protect their interests.” Expensive Meal

Some indication of the inflated cost of living in the United States at the present time was given a few days ago by Captain J. Stewart, master of the Bank Line steamer Meadowbank, which is discharging American cargo in Auckland. While at New Orleans, Captain Stewart and a friend went to a restaurant which had been recommended for its good service and reasonable charges. They both ordered steak, potatoes and salad, with which they had received bread and butter and coffee. The charge was about 11s 7d each

Rebuilding of Hotel There was little chance of any rebuilding of the Carlton Hotel for about two years, said Mr A. G. Neill at the annual meeting of the Dunedin Licensing Committee yesterday. He was answering a question from the chairman, Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., when appearing in support of an application for the issue of a publican’s licence to Reginald Charles Taylor, which was adjourned until the next quarterly meeting of the committee. Mr Neill said that the present hotel licence was operating under the emergency regulations, and there was a possibility of these being withdrawn in jhe near future. Owing to the housing situation, there was not much chance of obtaining a building permit at present. The same position existed everywhere. Trends in Education “Certain trends in education to-day are. I feel, superficial,” said Mr J. B. Mawson. retiring rector of St. Andrew’s College. Christchurch, at a farewell gathering in his honour on Tuesday night. “For that reason 1 think the Education Department is wrong in its policy. The big difficulty that we find is that boys coming in at the third form stage have hot been taught to do a thorough job-of work, and lack the thoroughness necessary for turning out the best work. It takes at least half a term to get them into the habits that we require.” The fault might be in modern times, added Mr Mawson, but the educational system should provide something to counteract that influence. For this reason, he always laid emphasis on the teaching of languages and mathematics, which gave a training in accuracy that proved valuable to a boy in later life.