In the News

Southland Times, Issue 25666, 8 May 1945, Page 4

In the News

Infectious Diseases Nine cases of scarlet fever, one case of pulmonary tuberculosis and one case of pneumonic influenza were reported , to the District Medical Officer or Health during the we£k ended at noon yesterday. There was one death from pneumonic influenza. Boy Missing from Home William Spencer, aged 13 years, a son of Mr A. E. Spencer, Panton street, has been missing from his home since Sunday afternoon. He left home at about 2 p.m. on Sunday to go to Sunday School and he did not return. Later it was revealed that he had visited his brother, who is a patient at the hospital, and that he left the hospital at 3.30 p.m. Purchase of Shares The Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, has assured the Gisborne-East Coast War Loan Committee that the Government has no intention of using th® 1945 Victory War Loan to pay for the privately-owned shares of the bank of New Zealand. The procedure for buying the private shares will probably be similar to that adopted in taking over the Reserve Bank and State Advances Corporation.—(P.A.) Petrol for Rugby The New Zealand Rugby Football Union has received applications for nearly 15,000 gallons of petrol to enable the game of football, principally in country districts, to be played. In a letter to the Southland Rugby Union the secretary of the New Zealand Union (Mr A. E. Neilson) said that Rugby football’s quota throughout New Zealand would probably be 3000 gallons, and that a considerable reduction in unions’ requirements would be necessary.

Petrol Allowance The Minister of Supply, Mr Sullivan, announced last night that the War Cabinet had decided that the petrol coupon for June, No. 12, will be redeemable at one and a-half times its face value, as from the official declaration of the end of hostilities in Europe until the end of that month. “This allowance, together with the half coupon already made available for May, will give private motorists the equivalent of a total of two full coupons for the months of May and June,” added Mr Sullivan. (P.A.) P.O. Saving Books

Depositors with the post office savings bank are being issued with a new form of book when old' books become filled or new accounts are opened. The new book has a column for the balance to be entered each time a deposit or withdrawal is made. These current balances are also being entered in the old books although they have no columns for the purpose. Under this new method the entries in the books will agree with those on the ledger cards on which current balances are recorded, or if there are discrepancies then the source of the error will be easily traced.

Food for Travellers Figures showing the large quantities of foodstuffs consumed by the travelling public in the course of a year at only one station in the New Zealand Railways system were given by the manager of the Palmerston North refreshment rooms, Mr W. J. Meadows. During 1944-45, 76,101 pies were sold, for which 6 tons 7cwt of minced meat were required. In the same period Setons of butter, 4| tons of ham, 1J tons of corned beef, 5500 gallons of inilk and 9200 four-pound loaves of bread were consumed. Behind these figures lies the story of a difficult job well done by the staff of girls who serve the refreshments.

Ancient Will Found The discovery of an ancient bottle containing a yellowed parchment in the sands at Kairakau, near Otane, has been made by a Maori woman. The parchment bears the date 1862 and purports to be the last will and testament of one Roger Kennedy. It contains the provision that the finder of * the bottle shall be the sole beneficiary of Kennedy’s estate. The latitude of 19 degrees and longitude of 22 degrees, given on the document, indicate Siat the bottle was cast into the sea in the South Atlantic. The sand and tides have worn the bottle thin. The parchment is to be lodged with a Hastings solicitor for further investigation. z Warning not Heeded The Automobile Association (Southland) maintains a road report board at Cooper’s Corner, Lorneville, for the purpose of warning motorists if the Riverton highway, the road at the Lochiel bridge, the road at the Settler’s bridge or the Winton highway are impassable because of flood waters. It was found that motorists did not always take notice of the warning given on the board that a certain road was closed so now, whenever any of the roads are impassable because of flood waters, a red flag is placed on the board as an additional warning. But even this does not prove sufficient in all cases. On Sunday evening a patrol officer of the association found a motorist in difficulties because of the flood waters at the Iron bridge. The motorist said that he had seen the red flag on the warning board, but had not attached any particular significance to the fact. Help had to be summoned from town to have his car towed out of the flood waters.