In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24260, 18 October 1940, Page 6

In the News

The Right Spirit

“This morning I received a letter from an old age pensioner in Riverton, who said that since men were wanted for the Home Guard he was prepared to join ‘if the Government can avail itself of my services in any way,’ ’’said LieutenantColonel A. S. Bruce Smith at a meeting held in Invercargill yesterday to discuss the establishment of the Home Guard in the Invercargill area. “That is the spirit we want,” he added. “A job will be found for this man somewhere. There is so much to be done.”

Bicycles Claimed The article published in The Southland Times yesterday about the large number of unclaimed bicycles in the hands of the Invercargill police produced a quick response yesterday. In the morning several owners who had had their machines stolen made in--quiries and four recovered their property. In each case they explained that they had not realized that the police would be able to help them find their bicycles.

Bequest To Hospital A bequest of £2O to the Southland Hospital Board to be spent for the benefit of the children who are patients in the Southland Hospital was provided for in the will of the late Miss Jessie Ewart, who was the first matron in the board’s main hospital. Miss Ewart was matron for 24 years up to her retirement in 1924. Advice of the bequest was received by the board at its meeting yesterday. Bad Debts The Southland Hospital Board decided yesterday to write off £2780 from its accounts. The amounts ranged from a few shillings to £145 and were mainly fees of patients who could not be traced or who were unable to pay. The totals for the hospitals in the board’s district were as follows: Southland. £463; Gore, £208; Riverton, £738; Lake County, £130; Waipiata Sanatorium, £671. The sum of £239 was written off the amount due from other boards’ institutions. From X-ray fees £277 was also written off. Airmen’s Prowess The prowess of airmen from the British Dominions is well recognized and feared by German aviators. This view was expressed by the captain of a ship from overseas which visited Bluff recently. In conversation with some Southland residents he said that the Germans apparently got to know colonial squadrons. Knowing that he was in combat with a colonial, a German airman often behaved like a rabbit with a stoat or a weasel after it, said the captain. He knew this because he had seen much aerial warfare and had seen the evacuation from Dunkirk, where British planes gained mastery of the skies.

Hospital Water Supply A report on the merits of suggested improvements to the Riverton Hospital water supply submitted by a special committee was presented to the Southland Hospital Board at its meeting yesterday. The committee recommended that a concrete well be constructed close to the Otautau road adjacent to the water supply. Water from a spring could be pumped into the well, which would have a capacity of 1200 to 1500 gallons. The distance of the spring from the hospital was a little over 50 chains. After discussion on the proposal it was. decided to defer action until further investigation had been made by the committee.

Gift Parcels If soldiers who are on leave in Invercargill from military camps in the North Island will call at the Patriotic Committee depot in The Southland Times building, Esk street, between 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock this afternoon, they will receive special gift parcels. These parcels contain a pair of socks, a pair of mittens and some cigarettes or tobacco. They have been made up by the Invercargill Metropolitan Women’s Patriotic Committee. The socks were knitted by the members of the Southland Travel Club. Proceeds Of Flower Show

A cheque for £5l/6/4 was received by the treasurer of the Southland Provincial Patriotic Fund (Mr W. F. Sturman) yesterday from the Invercargill Horticultural Society. This amount was the proceeds of the recent spring show and is to be devoted to providing soldiers’ parcels. Cost Of Milk Production

As a result of a request by the Otago Milk Producers’ Society the Minister of Agriculture has sent a commission to Dunedin to investigate the cost of milk production on the farm. This step is being taken with a view to stabilizing the price to the producer. The members of the commission have begun their visits to farms in the vicinity of Dunedin.

City Status Sought The Lower Hutt Borough Council is making formal application to the Governor-General to have the borough proclaimed a city. Under - the Municipal Corporations Act a population of 20,000 entitles a borough to city status. Last April the official estimate of the population was 20,100. It has also been suggested that the borough should be renamed on becoming a city and the council has set up a committee to select a suitable name.

Circular To Girl Workers Girl workers in a Dunedin clothing factory have received during the past week or so an anonymous circular urging them, to refuse to accept their present conditions and to organize an attempt to secure higher wages. So far as is known, the circular has been distributed in only one factory, which like most of the others, is engaged to a certain extent on military orders, but since the statements made in it are obviously false it is understood that little notice has been taken of it. Any suggestion of an organized attempt at sabotage of the war effort is discounted. Candidates For Ministry

“I am convinced there is no lack of suitable candidates for ordination, men with real vocations for the ministry of the Church, and I am equally convinced that the lack of men today is attributable in no small measure to the failure of the Church to look for and foster vocations in boys of former generations,” said Bishop Simkin, in discussing the work of the Cathedral Chapter during his charge to the Auckland Anglican Synod. “It should be the function of the chapter to devise the means whereby vocations may be fostered and tested, and whereby those in whom vocations are manifested may be trained to respond to them,” he added.

“Adoption” Of War Craft A suggestion that residents in various parts of the Dominion be permitted to “adopt” a particular trawler or minesweeper for the purpose of supplying the crew with comforts has not been found practicable, states a report issued by the New Zealand Navy League. Residents had desired this to be arranged so that comforts could be forwarded through the league, which has undertaken that responsibility. The report states that naval policy prevents .the idea being adopted.