In the News

Southland Times, Issue 25564, 6 January 1945, Page 4

In the News

Civic Reception ' After his arrival in Invercargill next Tuesday, Admiral of the Fleet Baron Keyes of Zeebrugge will be given a civic reception in Smith’s Tearooms. All citizens, members of the armed forces and returned servicemen are invited. Drinking Glasses Taken

Drinking glasses were in big demand at the Wyndham races on New Year’s Day. It was a warm day and many dozens of glasses were requisitioned to assist in the quenching of the racegoers’ thirst. But it was a bad day for the proprietor of the refreshment booths. When he came to check up on his “plant” at the end of the day he was short of 108 glasses—nine dozen useful drinking vessels. Express Service Reduced The extended express service maintained during the holiday period will cease after today. This means that the service will return to the restricted timetable introduced last January to reduce coal consumption. However, from now on the service will be augmented by the running of expresses on Sunday nights. An express will leave Invercargill each Sunday night at 6.30 and an express from Dunedin will arrive at 9.57 p.m. Shortage of Beer Draught beer was in very short supply in Wellington over the holiday period. Some hotels were entirely without it, and had to draw on bottled stocks to satisfy customers over the bar. This, in turn, depleted the service available from some of the hotel bottle stores. The shortage was felt acutely. Shipping difficulties are reported to be responsible for the situation in which some hotels found themselves. There was no shortage in Invercargill. Sea Elephant Ashore Boulder Bay, the bay on the Lyttelton side of Taylor’s Mistake, had a visitor from the sub-Antarctic during the Christmas holidays. A bull sea elephant, which had strayed far away from its breeding place on Macquarrie Island or Campbell Island, came ashore on the rocks early on the afternoon of Christmas Day. It was in poor condition, and after half an hour went out to sea again, having been inspected by numbers of holiday-makers, and photographed. Shortage of Kumeras - A general lack in the Christmas menus in Rotorua this year was the native kumera, which in recent years has been in short supply in most other parts of the country also. When arrangements were being made for a tangi for visitors to the town the maximum weight of kumeras the organizers could secure was 301 b, and as this quantity was too insignificant to handle, the vegetable, possibly for the first time on record, was omitted from the traditional feast. Maori Candidate In officially announcing his candidature for the Western Maori seat at the coming by-election, Mr Maharaia Winiata Piahana, 8.A., a teacher at Rotokawa Native School, Rotorua, stated that his entry into the contest was sponsored by his tribe, the Ngatiranginui, of Tauranga. Mr Piahana, who is 32, will stand as an Independent. Mr Piahana was the first Maori to complete his theological course in Trinity College and is a registered minister of the Methodist Church. Man Found Unconscious George Osborne O’Keefe, aged about 30, of Don street, was found lying unconscious on the main road to Riverton near the Iron Bridge about 10 o’clock on Thursday night. A bicycle which he had been riding was found beside' him. When he regained consciousness he said he did not know what had happened to him. He had been cycling from Invercargill to Thombury. He was taken to the Riverton Hospital, where he was treated for slight head injuries and concussion. His condition is satisfactory. Prolific Plum Tree A plum tree in the Mount Eden district, Auckland, has just produced a very heavy yield of fruit. The tree, a seedling, has grown to a very large size and receives no attention, as it is past the stage of pruning and spraying. This year two fruiterers gathered nine 401 b cases of plums, and in addition numerous relatives and friends were generously treated to supplies from the heavy yield. It is estimated the plums gathered would be between 4001 b and 4501 b. Neighbours state that a similar crop has been produced for the last 15 years without fail. N.Z. State Forests The gross area of State exotic forests in the Dominion at the end of 1943 comprised 654,896 acres, of which the actual area established was 444,741 acres, exclusive of firebreaks, waste lands, and reserves. Of that area 1540 acres were newly planted in 1942-43, 1408 acres were open country, and 132 acres unburnt cut-over indigenous forest. The inter-planting of cut-over forest with suitable exotics while the uncut forest is regenerating and. coming to maturity is a practice that is being followed increasingly in New Zealand. Fewer Bankruptcies There were 67 petitions in bankruptcy in New Zealand in 1942, the latest year recorded in the Official Year Book, as against 143 in 1941. The figures have shown a definite decrease since the 236 petitions received in 1938. Balances in banks to the credit of estates aggregated £16,192 in 1942, which was £4764 less than at the end of the previous year. Of the bankrupts in 1942 14 were employers of labour, 26 were working on their own account, but not employing labour, and 42 were working for wages. Thirty-nine per cent, of the estates in 1942 showed liabilities under £lOOO.. No New Radio Stations An indication that because technical equipment was required for war purposes no new broadcasting stations could be established in New Zealand till after the war was given by the Director of Broadcasting (Professor James Shelley), speaking at Wanganui. Professor Shelley said the National Broadcasting Service had funds available, but since the start of the war manufacturers of radio equipment had been devoting their attention almost exclusively to producing transmitters for the navy, army, and air force. At one stage radio equipment was so much in demand that aircraft built in factories in the United States of America could not be placed in service because transmitters and other radio parts were not available. Cross-Infection “It is regrettable that cross-infection does happen in a general hospital,” said the chairman of the Wellington Hospital Board (Mr H. F. Toogood) at a meeting of the board, when referring .to criticism of conditions at the Wellington Fever Hospital at Trentham. “It is almost impossble to avoid, owing to the differences in periods of incubation,” said Mr Toogood. “Scarlet fever and diphtheria have an incubation period of about seven days. Measles in some forms incubates in 14 days; in other forms in 21 days. Chickenpox is the longest of all from 21 to 28 days. With these varying periods of incubation it can easily be seen how difficult it is to avoid admitting scarlet fever patients who unsuspectingly have also come into contact with chickenpox, which is not fully developed at the time of admission.”