NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27157, 12 August 1949, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Early Book Through the generosity of Mr A. H. Reed, the Dunedin Public Library has acquired an original leaf of “ The Golden Legend,” printed by William Caxton. This gift was mentioned by the president, Professor W. P. Morrell, at a meeting of the Dunedin Public Library Association’s executive board. Two editions of “The Golden Legend ” were printed by Caxton, the first about 1484 and the second about 1487. No perfect copy of either is known to exist but the leaf given to the Public Library is identifiable as belonging to the second edition. It is at present on display in the Alfred and Isobel Reed collection at the library.

Charitable Gifts Under the will of Miss Annie Scales, who died on May 30, 1949, provision is made for the following charitable gifts:—£22s to St. John’s Anglican Church, Invercargill; £l5O to the New Zealand Institute for the Blind; £SO to the Dunedin Diocesan Trust Board; £IOO to the New Zealand Nurses’ Memorial Fund. The residue of the estate is also bequeathed to the New Zealand Nurses’ Memorial Fund. Timetable Alterations Amendments to the time table for passenger bus services from the Exchange to Caversham and Lookout Point, with a deviation to Calton Hill and Corstorphine. from Water street to Kew-Corstorphine. and an alteration to the Wakari Sunday time table were granted by the Metropolitan Licensing Authority (Mr E. J. Smith, chairman' yesterday afternoon. The application was made by the Transport Department of the City Corporation. Cost Of Coal Strike

A statistician on the Sydney Morning Herald declares that the Australian coal strike in six weeks has caused the loss of £29.000,000 in wages and £87,000,000 in goods not produced. Detailed figures of production losses are: Coal, 1,450,000 tons; steel, 145,000 tons; pig iron, 116,000 tons; houses, 2320: bricks, 41,000,000: tiles, 3,500,000; stoves, 4600; refrigerators, 5800. Industry has lost 116,000,00 man-hours and more than £1,000,000 has been paid out in unemployment relief.

New Collier* 1 Two additions to the Union Company’s West Coast collier fleet, thp 2500-ton twin-screw motor ships Kaitawa and Kaiapoi, will reach New Zealand from Britain this month. The ships are of the same class as the Konui and the Kaitangata, which arrived early this year. The Kaitawa should reach Auckland next week and the Kaiapoi is due at Lyttelton on August 25. Two ships to complete the class, the Kokiri and Kawatiri, have not yet been commissioned A Soldier And A Poet Rupert Brooke, the English poet who was killed in the First World War, once shared a hut in Dorsetshire with New Zealand’s present GovernorGeneral, Sir Bernard Freyberg, and it was while living in this hut that Brooke wrote his famous sonnets known as “ 1914.” This was related by the Governor-General on Wednesday afternoon when . speaking at Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln. where he unveiled a war memorial. City “ Underlined ”

So that he could “ underline ” the city of Dunedin in his memory, the president,of the Dunedin Burns Club, Mr W. J. Oliver, presented lan Rettife, of Aberdeen, the winner of the Otaki Scholarship, with a ruler of New Zealand wood at the Scottish concert organised by the club last night. Mr Rettie was also presented with a copy of a book commemorating Dunedin’s centennial year. The concert was in support of the appeal for uniforms for the Dunedin Highland Pipe Band, Stickers On Windscreens Windscreen obstruction caused by motorists displaying other than current registration stickers was discussed at a meeting of the council of the Automobile Association (Auckland) this week. The president, Mr F. G. Farrell, said he had noticed that in the south many motorists had rows of association stickers on their windscreens, forming a blind spot in one corner. It was pointed out that the regulations decreed that windscreens should be kept clear. The council decided to refer the matter to the North Island'Motor Union for discussion. New British Airliner

One of Britain’s post-war passenger aircraft, the Handley Page Marathon, will visit New Zealand in a month or two. It will be demonstrated to the New Zealand National Airways Corporation as a suitable aircraft for internal air routes. A four-engined machine, the Marathon is one or the first airliners of its class to comply with the safety standards fixed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. These standards do not come into force until 1952. The Marathon seats from 14 to 22 passengers, according to the routes to be flown. Its range is ample to fly from Britain to New Zealand Longevity Of A Cow *

One of New Zealand’s oldest cows, if not the oldest as she is thought to be, was calved on October 4. 1916. The Taranaki Daily News says that she had her first calf in 1918 and calved regularly for the following 10 years. Her owner, Mr S. B. Miller, then at Hikumutu. reduced his herd, and Barbara, then 12 years old, was put with the run cattle. Last year she had her twenty-ninth calf. She had naturally become noteworthy, and was the subject of an article in the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture. Mr Miller has retired to Taumarunui, and has taken the cow with him, to end her days peacefully in a paddock at Rongaroa. She will not be asked to produce any more calves. Nurses Not Nazis

The origin of a rumour which circulated in Pahiatua recently that there were many Nazis in the immigrants’ camp there has been found, according to the Dominion. An immigrant doctor from the camp mentioned the number of doctors in the camp when talking to a Pahiatua resident. The immigrant also told his host that there were more than 35 “ nartzes ” in, the camp. To his host’s exclamation. “That’s terrible," the doctor said he thought it was very good for the country. Told that no Nazis were wanted in New Zealand, the doctor was dazed for a moment, but then realised what was thought and replied: “ No. no. No Nazis. ‘ Nertzes ’ —women who care for the sick” The rumour began when someone retailed the incident, but missed the point of the story. War Pension*

The Social Security Department received 7078 applications for war pensions during the year ended March 31, 1949, according to the annual report of the department. “Of these. 1931 applications were in respect of disablement, including 170 from the 1914-18 war and 1761 from the 1939-45 war Claims by dependants, applica tions for economic pensions and war veterans’ allowances totalled 5147. The number of applications in respect of both wars lodged for the previous year was 7331, which included 2406 in respect of an applicant’s own disability,” the report states. “A further decline of new applications for war disablement pension was noted during the last year. This was to be expected with the elapse of time from the cessation of hostilities of the 1939-45 war.”