NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27096, 2 June 1949, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Saving of Power Power saving in the City Electricity Department’s supply area continued to be satisfactory, said the city electrical engineer, Mr G. T. Edgar, yesterday. The level of Lake Mahinerangi remained stationary at 89ft lljin, he added. There had been sufficient rain to provide an inflow equalling th<? outflow. Greater demands are being made on the two generating stations at Waipori which obtain their water power from Mahinerangi. Until the defective generator at Waitaki is in operation again, restrictions will remain in force on the use of electric radiators, their use being prohibited between 11 a.m. and noon and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday . inclusive. Child Wisdom

Cold stares and outraged silence might well have greeted an ingenuous remark made by a five-year“-old Christchurch girl during a visit to the North Island recently. With a fine disregard for all the lav/s of hospitality and such controversies as the battles of the Empire Games and an international airport at Harewood, she inquired, like a voice in the wilderness, “When are we going back to New Zealand? ”

National Service Referendum Asked for the definition of national service on which the referendum would be taken, the Prime Minister. Mr Fraser, said at Auckland that he had no statement to make at present. He would make one as soon as possible. Answering another question, Mr Fraser said national service would not mean control of manpower in industry. He had made that quite clear at the Labour Party conference last week. Air Services

Bad weather again disrupted southern air services yesterday. One Lodestar left Taieri at 8.20 a.m. for Auckland and another arrived at 4.45 p.m. from Auckland, but these were the only two planes to use the airport during the day. Flights to Invercargill were cancelled. The weather prevented the use of the Hilderthorpe aerodrome and most of the machines due to come south made Harewood the terminal, with passengers travelling the extra distance by taxi and bus.

“ Permit To Be 111 ”

The latest joke about the Government’s habit of inventing new forms and permits'is at the He&lth Department’s expense. An application for a “permit to be ill,” which is circulating in Auckland, asks: “ Have you been taking salts, pills, tablets, or liberties? Are you depressed, elated, or about to shoot yourself? If so a firqarms permit is necessary.” Applicants are informed that if they die between filling in the applicationform and getting the permit (“You probably will”) they must apply for a permit to die. (Permit No. R.1.P.) Valuable Ponies Dead

Mr Alex. Watt, sen., the owner of two valuable Shetland ponies whica were to have been exhibited at the Winter Show, discovered them in a dying condition in a paddock at NorthEast Valley early on Tuesday morning. They were being specially prepared for show purposes, and had been in a paddock with several other horses for some days. It is suspected that the ponies died from poisoning, and the contents of their stomachs have been sent to the Government analyst at Wellington. Mr Watt had offered the ponies for exhibition at the show and they were expected to be a popular attraction there. Mr R. D. Stewart, secretary of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society, informed the Daily Times yesterday that arrangements had been made to have the ponies replaced at the show. Thoughts for Left-Wingers “ These seven thoughts, first published in an American magazine, convey truths that have yet to be learned bv many of our Left Wing people,” said the president, Mr S. G. McClelland, in an address to the annual meeting of the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. “iThey are; (1) You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. (2) You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. (3) You cannot help small men by tearing down the big men. (4) You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. (5) You cannot lift the wagerearner by pulling down the wage-payer. (6) You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence. (7) You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” War Memorial

The possibility of a combined scheme for a war memorial for Dunedin was discussed yesterday at a meeting of representatives of the Sports Memorial Committee, the Second NZEF Association, and the Dunedin Public Library Association. No decision was reached. The Sports Memorial Committee and the Second NZEF Association had been of the opinion that, if the Library Association could offer sufficient space for a sports area in its proposed community building fronting Stuart street and Moray place on land owned by the City Council, then it might be possible to combine the suggested schemes. The meeting yesterday agreed to engage an architect to investigate the Library Association proposal to ascertain if adequate space for a sports area would be available.

Hitler’s Gift Oalc Growing in front of the rectory at the Tii'naru Boys’ High School is a sturdy oak, 15 or 20ft high, which was presented as a seedling to the New Zealand Olympic runner, J. E. Lovelock, by Adolf Hitler. Dr Lovelock received the oak. then only a few inches high, from the hands of Hitler after he had won the 1500 metres event at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin in the world record time of 3min 47.8 sec. It was feared that the tree would not survive the journey from the summer of the northern hemisphere ot the winter in New Zealand. Taken first to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and later to the public gardens in Timaru, it was carefully nursed back to full vigour, until towards the end of 1941 it was planted in front of the rectory at Lovelock’s old school. Effective Church Posters

Cartoon-type posters drawing attention to church services had attracted much attention from passers-by, and caused recent Sunday evening services to be crowded, said the Rev. Roland Hart, cf the Valley Road Baptist Church, Mount Eden, on Sunday. The cartoons werq. drawn by a commercial artist, and in each one a passage from the week’s sermon was illustrated. The poster for last Sunday’s sermon was on the theme “My past has caught up with me,” and depicted two young women pursuing an anxious-looking young man. Mr Hart said that the aim had been to attract those people who did not attend any church, and his church had been prepared to try an unorthodox approach to do this. Since the idea of the posters was adopted, it had been necessary to bring out extra seating each 'Sunday, he said.