In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24138, 29 May 1940, Page 8

In the News

Through The Tunnel A business -trip to Milford Sound through the Homer tunnel was made by two Invercargill men at the week-end. On emerging from the western end of the tunnel, which they traversed without having to wade through water, they were surprised to see a bulldozer at work pushing large quantities of rock and spoil into a gully. It had reached the tunnel mouth after forcing its way through difficult country. The 10-mile walk to Milford was found to be fairly easy going, but the uphill return tramp proved to be hard work. Snow fell throughout and it took the men about four hours to cover the 10 miles from Milford to the tunnel. There was six inches of snow on the ground at the Homer end when they reached it late on Sunday. The effect of such an arduous tramp was a stiffness of the muscles that could be still felt yesterday. Grants By City Council The usual annual grant of £65 was made by the Invercargill City Council last night to the Southland Progress League. The annual grant of £25 was also made to the South Islands Travel Association together with an additional £lO towards the cost of publishing the Invercargill guide book. The council decided to request the association not to undertake any further issues of the guide book without first consulting it. The council also granted the usual annual donation of £5 to the Invercargill Tramway Club. Merchant Marine Losses Illuminating figures showing the losses of ships of the mercantile marine during the last war (1914-18) were given by Captain A. S. Dalgliesh in an interesting talk on the Merchant Navy at the luncheon of the Invercargill Rotary Club yesterday. He said that 2479 British merchant ships and their cargoes, representing a loss of 8,000,000 tons, were sunk by enemy action. In addition 1885 ships were attacked by raiders. “They fought their way through,” said Ciptain Dalgliesh. “They fought to the bitter end and they got through, some f them with their ships on fire, but they did not get the credit to which they were entitled.” Navy Princess Holds Lead Great activity in the selling of art union tickets and in the raising of money in other ways to support the princesses of the Queen Carnival, is taking place. The position of the princesses has altered slightly, but they are still very close together. The lead is now held by the Navy, followed by the Air Force and the Army. Flags on H. and J. Smith’s building indicate the position to date. ' ' Necessity For Fitness “There is no finer sport than ski-ing to keep you fit and it is our duty to carry on as usual,” said Mr A. H. Hamilton, the newly-elected president of the Southland Ski Club at the annual meeting of the club last night. Mr Hamilton - said that nothing could be gained by sitting at home, and in view of the present crisis, good health was even more necessary than it ever was before. He hoped the club would carry on with all its energy, and so enable members to keep physically fit.

Express Delayed The express from Christchurch was an hour and nine minutes late in reaching Invercargill last night. The delay was caused by the late arrival of the steamer express at Lyttelton. Holiday Hours At Post Office

The Chief Postmaster advises that mails for despatch on Monday, June 3, the King’s Birthday holiday, will close 6.15 a.m. at the Post Office. The postal branch, the Money Order and the Savings Bank and the clerical branch will all be closed. No delivery will be made by the postmen and the telegraph office will be open from 9 a.m. to noon and from 7 p.m. to midnight; the telephone exchange will be open continuously.

Labour Conferences At Week-end Two Labour conferences will be held at Wellington during the week-end. On Saturday delegates from all parts of New Zealand will attend a special meeting of the Federation of Labour to consider the Government’s war policy, and on Monday there will be an emergency conference of the Labour Party called to endorse that policy. An understanding was reached 'at the last conference that, in the event of conscription becoming a live issue, another conference should be called, as delegates were assured that compulsion for military service would not be introduced so long as Labour was in power. Free Baths About 75 free baths have been given to men in uniform at the Invercargill Municipal Baths since September 1939, reported the superintendent of the baths (Mr H. S. Baker) to the City Council last night. The men were those who were on coastal defence duty, he said. Extended Hours At Post Office To meet the convenience of motorists, extended hours for the relicensing of mo tor-vehicles will be observed at the Chief Post Office, Invercargill, as follows:—Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Because of the holiday weekend motorists are advised to obtain their new plates and renew their oil-fuel licences without delay as a heavy rush of applications during the remainder of the week is expected. Patriotic Raffle The articles which have been on display in the shop of Broad Small Ltd., for raffling in aid of the patriotic funds, are now on display at the shop of W. H. Boyes, Ltd. Those who wish to purchase tickets can do so from any of the women’s committees in the city or from the shop of W. H. Boyes Ltd. The raffle, which closes on May 31, is to be drawn on June 5.

Attitude To Conscription The attitude of returned soldier members of the National Military Reserve toward conscription for all purposes in the present war was strongly illustrated at a tactical exercise carried out at Waiuku this week, when an announcement was made that the Government’s plan to mobilize the man power of the nation meant conscription. This was greeted with a loud and spontaneous cheer. The fact that returned soldiers’ daughters from Waiuku were acting as despatch riders in the “battle” and that small-boy sons were performing the duties of runners was not lost upon the 400 men from Auckland who took part.

Admiral Harwood’s Genius The statement that the encounter with the Graf Snee was entirely due to the genius of Admiral Harwood was made by Commander D. M. L. Neame at a korero of the Auckland Savage Club last week. He said that Admiral Harwood had guessed the workings of the mind of the captain of the Graf Spee and that he would make for the roads of the River Plate. The three British cruisers were each at a different South American port when Admiral Harwood ordered a rendezvous. They met the evening before the battle and practised the tactics they were to pursue. Admiral Harwood was then confident the Graf Spee would be encountered next day.