NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26780, 25 May 1948, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

School Term Begins

The road and rail services were heavily taxed at the week-end, when large numbers of children were travelling with their parents. The reason was that all the primary schools in Otago resumed for the second term yesterday, and numbers of children were returning to their homes after the holidays. The high schools in the city will begin their second term today. Owing to the late start of the first term because of the infantile paralysis outbreak, the second term in both the primary and secondary schools will this year be a busy one, for the pupils are endeavouring to regain the lost ground by intensive study. The second term will end this year on August 20. Air Services Resumed The air services, which were interrupted by fog over the week-end, were resumed yesterday after the airfield at the Taieri became clear of fog about 9.30 a.m. The Moth plane which was forced to land in a paddock at Brighton on Saturday took off without difficulty yesterday and flew to the Taieri for refuelling, afterwards leaving for its home field at Timaru. Appeal for Children Now that the United Nations Appeal for Children is well under way, letters containing donations to the fund art' being received at the town clerk’s office by every mail. A mail seen by the Daily Times yesterday morning contained some substantial cheques, as well as pound notes and postal notes for various amounts. The town clerk. Mr R. A. Johnston, is the treasurer in Dunedin for the appeal. Cargoes Through Pakistan

South African air cargoes passing through Pakistan, some of which were confiscated a short time, ago, are now expected to pass through free from interference. This was announced by Tasman Empire Airways on receipt of information from the British Overseas Airways Corporation, which operates the air freight service. Previously. only cargoes that were transhipped in Pakistan were seized, and all cargoes in future will be flown through in the one aircraft. Polar Weather News

An important, new source of data for New Zealand weather forecasting was opened last week, when the first observations were received from Macquarie Island, the new Australian base, which lies 600 miles south of the Dominion. This island, together with Heard Island, which is in the Southern Ocean between Australia and South Africa, has been occupied by Australian scientists to send out weather reports. Previously forecasters had to rely on irregular information from whalers. Taxation in Britain “Judged by the papers, the Government is in for a £200.000,000 loss on the coal mines, though we are paying higher prices for coal than we ever paid before,” states a Liverpool business man, in a letter to a friend in New Zealand. “But this prospect.” he continues, “ does not seem to worry the Government. It has a large Budget surplus, and is now taxing some people at the rate of 29s 6d for every pound. How long it thinks it can go on for I do not know. It is bluffing the nation by subsidising food to the extent of £400,000.000 a year. It is taking this from the people who have some money, but what is going to happen when it “ Racket” Stopped

The practice of demanding sometimes considerable sums of money before agreeing to surrender the keys of leased or rented shops and other premises had now been stopped, said Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M., in the Police Court at Auckland. Mr Luxford said an amendment to the Economic Stabilisation Emergency Regulations gazetted on April 29 made stringent provision for the prevention of this “ racket.” It was not before time. The amendment also required notice of applications for increasing rents to be served on an inspector of factories, who would have the right to appear and produce evidence about the case. Big Haul of Eels To ascertain the eel populations of various Southland rivers, an officer of the Marine Department has carried out an extensive trapping programme. With complete trapping, catches for long sections of river have ranged between 15 and 901 b to the acre of water with local concentrations as high as 4001 ban acre. Commercial trapping in rivers with more abundant cover gave results as much as 5001 b an acre over long stretches. The highest concentrations of eels have, however, been found in the small inland lagoons and have often exceeded 10001 b an acre. The average size of eel caught is unexpectedly small, being usually between 2 and 31b.

Youthful Enterprise The reports of sums gathered by children to swell the fund being raised to supply food and clothing for the children of Europe have indicated that a very real appreciation of the situation has been gained by many youngsters. The children of a Musselburgh family last week managed to raise over £9 by their own ‘resources for this purpose. On their own initiative they planned a concert to be held in their own home, but the idea grew as they discussed it with their friends, and the venue of the concert was changed through increasingly large rooms in neighbours’ homes and it finally took place in a nearby hall. Big Crop of Potatoes Possibly the biggest planted area of potatoes in New Zealand this season, a paddock of 140 acres is being harvested on the farm of Mr H. E. Cook at Rokeby in Mid-Canterbury. The crop consists of nine varieties—Aucklander Short Top, Katahdin, Epicure, Doon Early. Early Ilam, Glen Ilam, Dunbar Standard, Arran Banner and Dakota. They were sown in October and November, and a record was kept of the acreage planted in each variety. The early varieties were affected by the dry summer, but the yields are good. Mr G. K. McPherson, of the fields division of the Department of Agriculture at Ashburton, inspected the late varieties which had not yet been dug, and considers that they will yield better than the early varieties. Flourishing Abroad Many of the native plants of New Zealand would grow in America, particularly in California, stated Dr A. M. S. Pridham. professor of horticulture at Cornell University, who is at present visiting the Dominion on six months’ sabbatical leave. Some of them were of the size and shape and fragrance that would go very well with Californian houses, thousands of which were at present being built to house discharged servicemen. They were mostly wooden, of one storey—- “ very similar to the average suburban house in New Zealand, except that the houses over there seem to have more storage space," said Dr Pridham. “It might be necessary, however, to anglicise some of the more difficult Maori names, such as pohutukawa. before the plants were introduced over there.” he added.