In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24628, 27 December 1941, Page 4

In the News

A Garage Problem Private motorists and the traffic department of the Wellington City Council face a problem which is going to be difficult to solve. There are 7500 private garages in Wellington, but car registrations within the boundaries of the city total 14,000. With trucks and other motor-vehicles added, the total is 19,000. It is well known that many owners use the streets as an open-air garage, and they must be thinking hard what to do with their vehicles now there is no more petrol available to run them. No Cuckoos by Request The scene was an Auckland backyard. The perspiring householder was digging a slit trench with the dogged persistence of one who will do or die. A neighbour wandered over and watched him labour. An irritating silence developed, broken finally by the neighbour. “Building yourself a little nest, ch?” he remarked amiably. The householder glanced up in disgust. “Yes,” he agreed pointedly, “and there aren’t going to be any cuckoos in it, cither”— and bent to his labours once again. Museum’s War Precautions An outcome of recent world events has been a hasty checking and packing of the most valuable specimens in the War Memorial Museum, and the placing of these in air raid shelters. Reporting to the Auckland Institute Council, the director, Mr G. Archey, said that practically all the selected Maori specimens had been removed to salety, and that the staff at present was engaged in packing valuable library books, Chinese and other antiquities and biological type specimens. Second Hand Timber The growing tendency for people to use second-hand timber in the erection of buildings was adversely commented upon at a meeting of the Hutt County Council. Some of the timber, it was stated, was infested with borer or dry rot, and people often incurred expense in having it carted to their sections, only to have it condemned by the building inspector. Councillors said it was time a firm stand was made, and the building inspector was instructed to take proceedings against those who used for building purposes timber which did not comply with the by-laws. Camouflage for Helmets To make them less conspicuous the brass helmets of firemen attached to all stations in Auckland have been painted grey as a war-time precaution. To distinguish the superintendent and deputy, their helmets have yellow combs. The deputy-superintendent of the Auckland Metropolitan Fire Brigade. Mr G. A. Mackenzie, said that it was intended to treat the fire engines in the same manner. Value of Used Stamps Used postage stamps of commonly used denominations have a value generally unsuspected. As a result of a collection over a period of three months by approximately 200 boys of the Otago Boys’ High School, a master of the school was able to hand to Mr J. Sutherland Ross, president of the Navy League, on Wednesday, a cheque for £l5/6/6. Two previous collections have been made, and the proceeds given to the Army and the Air Force.

Framed An Auckland citizen who rang the oil fuel controller to ask for supplies of petrol concluded a fruitless appeal :by asking, in a fit of pique, what he should do with his licence. “Frame it; you won’t get another,” was the reply. Two days later there was deep but concealed joy in the oil fuel licence office when the controller’ was observed to receive a large paper parcel, obviously a Christmas present. Upon carefully unwrapping it, he found a large frame around the fuel licence issued to the citizen he had advised to get his licence framed. After he had said some kind words and had got his breath back, the controller laughed and laughed.

Uneasy Conscience The manager of the Dunedin branch iof a well-known insurance company received a surprise this week when a letter reached him from a firm of solicitors stating that a female client of the firm had a friend who wanted to clear up a matter of conscience. The friend had therefore requested her to send a sum of £45 to the company. When or how the amount came to be owing cannot be ascertained. Sharks at Auckland With his line baited for kingfish, an Auckland resident who was fishing off Orakei wharf last week hooked a shark. Eventually, with the assistance of companions and some heavier gear that was brought up while the shark was kept in. play on the light line, the fish was landed. It measured 9ft 6in. Those who took part reported that they saw a considerable number of sharks about

the spot, some of considerable size. They thought the sharks had cruised into the harbour after kingfish. Death of Dcvant David Devant, once partner in the famous “firm of magicians” Maskelyne and Devant, has died a helpless cripple in a Putney hospital, aged 73. Paralysis forced him to retire in 1920, and he had been in hospital for years. Famous British magicians used, to go there to show him their latest' illusions, and the whole Magic Circle gave him a performance every year. This man, who had been the greatest magician of them all, could not move—only his eyes, voice and brain were active. But he still worked out tricks and told his male nurse how to make the apparatus and perform them. The helpless magician had a great sense of humour. Among the stories he used to tell was one of a madman who held him up and compelled him to produce money “out of the air.” First Train to Westport Considerable interest was taken in the arrival at Westport on Christmas Eve of a horse train with 52 horses and 100 attendants from Christchurch via the Buller George railway. This was the fust train to make the complete trip, and the horses were sent to race at the Westport Trotting Club’s meeting. The Mayor, Mr J. M. Robertson, and a large number of residents welcomed the visitors. Delivering the Message

“I would like to tell the story of Derek Belfall,” said Sir Harry Batterbee, High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand, at the Nelson College breaking-up ceremony. “He was a Boy Scout in Bristol. During a severe air raid he was sent with a note to a particularly dangerous area. On the way he stopped to put out a fire single-handed with a stirrup-pump. Next he stopped to rescue a baby from a burning house. Then he hurried forward with his message. Soon afterward he was mortally wounded by a bomb splinter, but he carried on and delivered his message. Dying, he was carried to the hospital, and he died with these words on his lips: ‘Messenger Belfall reporting. I have delivered the message.’ To deliver the message entrusted to us, to play the game, to do our duty, can any of us do more?” concluded Sir Harry. “If we try our best to do that, we shall have made a success of life; we shall live or die happy.”