In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24655, 29 January 1942, Page 4

In the News

“This Little Pig . . The taking of a pig to market in a perambulator is the latest outcome of the petrol restrictions. The employees of the Invercargill abattoirs are used to seeing animals carried in odd conveyances, but seldom, if ever, have any arrived in a rubber-wheeled perambulator. This was the case on Tuesday, however, when two Grassmere women arrived at the abattoirs pushing a pram out of which the head of a 1001 b porker was protruding from a sack. Because of the rigid petrol restrictions the women had evidently found difficulty in arranging transport and rather than forfeit payment for the pig they did the next best thing by using this novel means of transport. Driving with Respirators The appearance of uniformed men wearing respirators in Army trucks in the streets of Greymouth on Tuesday afternoon caused some interest and curiosity. Inquiries showed that members of the Army office staff, Greymouth, were undergoing driving tests while wearing respirators. Archery in Parks The renewal of interest in archery as a sport has led to brushes with park custodians who have had to order off youths who were practising with bow and arrow on city reserves, it was reported at a meeting of the Christchurch City Council. In some cases, it was stated, full-sized bows and metaltipped arrows were used. The by-laws prohibit the use of bows and arrows, catapults and shanghais within the limits of a park without the permission of the council.

Cost Him £lOOO This is the true story of a pair of binoculars and their sporting owner, says The Evening Star, Dunedin. The latter, a Dunedin citizen, responding to the appeal now being made, brought along a very fine pair of binoculars, offering them for sale. When asked what they had cost him, the man replied: “About £lOOO, I reckon.” The official, unable to accept this statement at its face, or focal, value, asked for further details. “Well, it’s this way,” explained the man, “I’ve had these glasses for many years now, and, as nearly as I can calculate, I’ve lost at least a thousand quid on the races I have watched through them.” Impressment of Ambulance “They cannot take the ambulance away,” said a member at a meeting of the Taranaki Hospital Board, when it was stated that notice of impressment of the board’s new ambulance had been received. The board decided to lodge an appeal. Soldiers’ Broadcasts In reply to a correspondent to The Press, who suggested that a charge of 25/- was made to soldiers who broadcast messages home, the Director of Broadcasting (Professor J. Shelley) replied: “No charge of any kind is made and no money received by the broadcasting authorities in respect to messages recorded by members of the New Zealand Forces overseas for broadcasting in New Zealand in the programme ‘With the Boys Overseas,’ nor is the selection of .those who are to record such messages made by the broadcasting authorities.” An Indian’s Scruples

An Indian appellant, Abdul Hay Sulaman, gave the inability of the army to provide food that would not clash with his Mohammedan beliefs as the main reason for his appeal to the Armed Forces Appeal Board in Wairoa. Declaring that he had never eaten food cooked by a European, except bread, Sulaman said he did his own cooking. After cross-examination, the chairman, Mr H. B. Lusk, said that the appellant had admitted that he had cooked food. There was no reason why he should not do some cooking for Europeans. The appeal was dismissed, with a recommendation that Sulaman be employed in the army as a cook. Horse Transport

Twelve horses have been purchased by the Christchurch City Council. It was reported by the Water Supply and Works Committee at the last meeting that, “like all other users, the council’s petrol allowance had been cut considerably, and some of the work will now have to be carried out with horse transport.” It was reported that the horses had been purchased at prices between £25 and £3O. “Unmitigated Fool”

When an air raid was in progress and enemy aircraft were over London, Frederick Sydney Imber, aged 37, stood in the middle of a road shining an unscreened torch upward, and on to the side of buildings. A hostile crowd gathered, and a policeman had difficulty in preventing Imber from being man-handled. At a London police court, when this story was told, Imber was fined 7/6 for showing a light from the torch. He pleaded guilty, and a policeman stated that when charged, Imber remarked: “I was trying to help the firemen.” The constable added that there was no suspicion of any ulterior motive. “It was,” the Magistrate, Mr F. O. Langley, observed, “the conduct of a most unmitigated fool.” Soldier’s Christmas Dinner “It was Christmas Day yesterday, so we had a special dinner,” writes Private C. E. Stace, a wounded soldier in the Middle East Forces, at present in hospital, to his mother, Mrs E. Stace, of Christchurch. He enclosed the menu which he says “was just as good as it sounds.” It read: Vegetable soup, roast leg of lamb with mint sauce, roast leg of pork with apple sauce, roast and boiled potatoes, cauliflower and green peas, plum pudding with brandy sauce, fruit salad, fruits, nuts and muscatels. “During the dinner we had waiters and an Egyptian orchestra,” he adds. “We each received two parcels from the Red Cross and a glass of sparkling ale.” Service Unprofitable “It is not good enough. The public simply will not have the bread unwrapped. After serving 500 customers I made only 6/4 w’hen the cost of wrapping material was taken into consideration,” said, one bread retailer at the Hamilton Bread Retailers’ meeting last week. “You were lucky,” said another, “I lost 10/6.” Unusual Carnation An unusual specimen of carnation has been found in Whangarei. One stem of the plant has heads of two different colours, some being dark pink and some light pink. The colours are quite distinct and not merely a variation of shades. This unusual development is perhaps the result of cross-pollination. The flower was healthy and all the heads fully developed. Shock to Americans

“The Americans were so bewildered that they just refused to believe the news,” said a Dutch visitor to Auckland, who was in San Francisco when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. “After two days they ‘came to’ and instituted a blackout,” he added. Crowds roamed the streets of San Francisco hurling stones through windows which were not blacked out. The excitement was so high, he said, that a woman motorist who did not dim her lights while crossing the Oakland bridge was shot. “I was asked to a country house for a few days,” said the visitor. “It was supposed to be a kind of party, but you never saw a more miserable, upset bunch of people, all flabbergasted by the news.”-