In the News

Southland Times, Issue 25328, 1 April 1944, Page 4

In the News

Unfamiliar Fruit A child of up to six years of age in Great Britain today would not recognize a banana or know what to do with it, for the simple reason that it has never seen one. This information was given by Mr W. Bankes Amery, leader of the United Kingdom Food Mission to Australia and New Zealand, during an address to a meeting ,at Invercargill yesterday. Mr Amery said that when consideration was being given to shipping space after the outbreak of war it was decided that they could no longer afford space for bananas and that the ships could be used more suitably for meat and dairy produce. That was more than four years ago. Bananas were one of the many items of food which were not now being received in Britain/ Children’s War Savings Two more primary schools have reached the 100 per cent, goal in the Little Southlanders’ national savings campaign, which began only a month ago. They are Glenaray and Wairio, making 10 schools with 100 per cent, of national savings. Merrivale school has 74 per cent., Mimihau 68 and Heddon Bush 48. The prize-winning essays in the competition .held as part of this campaign will be published in the Little Southlanders’ Chronicle on Monday, April 10. Audacious Thief The removal of furniture and other articles from a house in Kelbum, Wellington, to a waiting motor vehicle attracted no more than passing notice on a recent evening. It turned out, however, to be the work of an audacious thief and was carried out shortly after* tire members of the household had left for a meeting in town. The family left for the meeting at 7.25 p.m. and the thief, who apparently entered the house through a pantry window, made a thorough survey of the house, removing such items as a nest of tables and a small table, a valuable radio, bedspread, rugs, a fireside chair, radiators and even ration books. The family’s first intimation that anything was wrong was when they returned at 9.15 p.m. and found the lights of the house burning.—P.A. Open Season Wanted Numerous inquiries from sportsmen have been received by the Otago Acclimatization Society about the possibility of an open seasoh for game. The secretary (Mr L. Millar) said that the society had been in communication with the Department of Internal Affairs suggesting an open season for a period of two months for water fowl and three months for quail and chukor. No confirmation had yet been received that the proposal had been approved, but it was expected that a season beginning on May 6 would be permitted and that some allocation of ammunition would be made to licence holders. Social Security Pay-out The money handled throughout the Dominion by the paying-out officers directly attached to the Social Security Department aggregated £6,500,000 annually, said the Minister of Social Security, Mr Parry, in a statement in the Labour paper The Standard. The cashiers at the office of the registrar of social security in .Auckland, the Minister said, paid benefits and pensions totalling more than £1,000,000 each year. That involved over 142,000 transactions, and represented callers estimated to exceed 250,000. The Christchurch centre, where the cash paid out approximated £900,000, was second to Auckland in the volume of business handled. ' ■ Man-Power Raids An indication' that the raids which had' been made by the National Service Department to check industrial defaulters would be continued and that a strict policy would be carried out to ensure that people remained at work has been given by the Controller of Man-Power, Mr H. L. Bockett. “The initial experience obtained by the department as a result of the raids on theatres has shown that there are still a number of people who are absentees from essential work, or who are avoiding their obligations,” said Mr Bockett. “In view of the call for increased production in all fields of essential industry, it is just as important today that people should remain at their work as it was when this country was in danger of invasion.”