NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26748, 17 April 1948, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Gas Position Satisfactory The present position of the gas supply in Dunedin is satisfactory, according to information given to the Daily Times yesterday by Cr R. F. Barr, chairman of the City Council’s Gas Committee. Coal supplies are reaching the city gasworks fairly regularly, and the situation at the moment gives no cause for concern. City Water Storage A further gain of 250,000 gallons foi the 24 hours up to 8 a.m. yesterday was recorded in the city water storage reservoirs. The total amount in the reservoirs yesterday morning was 71,216,000 gallons. Nurses’ Salaries Hospital boards will be permitted to pay overtime allowances up to 10 per cent, of the basic salary, provided salary and overtime do not exceed £3BO a year. The figure of £265 was supplied to the Daily Times in error in the report published yesterday. “ Leap Frog ” Salaries “ Leap frog ” was the term applied to present-day salary increases by Dr W. B. Reekie, of Otautau, during a discussion by Southland Hospital Board members. “Itis a case of leap-frog,” he said. "The chap who is behind to-day will see that he is ahead tomorrow.” Shortage of Nurses Figures given by the secretary of the Southland Hospital Board to members this week showed that the nursing staffs at the Southland hospitals at Kew and Invercargill were shorthanded by 40. The total normal staff of sisters, staff nurses and pupil nurses is 180; actual staff at March 31 consisted of 18 sisters, 14 staff nurses and 108 pupil nurses, a total of 140. Auction Sale of Fish Two thousand fish, the main lines being flounder and filleted sole, were sold this week in the first fish auction to be held in Invercargill since 1942. Competition for the fish was keen from a good attendance, which included many housewives. Prices for flounders ranged from 9d to Is each, according to size, and 2lb sole brought Is 3d each. Coming Event The approach of May 1 and the opening of the duck-shooting season were not far from the minds of many of the men at the jubilee celebration of the Sutton School yesterday afternoon. One flight of five ducks was watched judiciously, and a group of perhaps two dozen which took off from a marshy patch about half a mile from the school attracted a considerable amount of wistful speculation Delegates Entertained A large number of the delegates to the annual conference of the Municipal AssociatiQn of New Zealand, accompanied by their wives, were taken on a tour of Whare Flat and the Taieri Plain yesterday morning. Thev were given morning tea at Whare Flat. In the afternoon they attended a garden party at the Botanic Gardens. Afternoon tea was provided, and the Dunedin Ladies’ Brass Band played selections. Shoddy Furniture “ Shoddy suites for soldiers ” seems to be the slogan of certain Auckland furniture manufacturers, according to complaints returned men have expressed to the president of the Auckland R.S.A., Mr A. P. Postlewaite. At an executive meeting Mr Postlewaite said the matter was so serious that it warranted an inquiry. In order to get some " ammunition ” the executive decided to ask the complainants to attend the next meeting and relate the facts. New Zealand Rimu “New Zealand rimu is one of the finest decorative woods I have seen,” said Mr Thomas D. Barry Doyle, an interior decorating designer from New York, in an interview at Christchurch. He had been so impressed with its qualities that he had decided to take some of it back to America for use in refectory tables and also for panelling in his own home. Rimu for decorative purposes would become very popular in America if it became more widely known. He intended on his return to exhibit it in art galleries in California.