LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 65, Issue 5502, 24 July 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

National Savings stamps are now bn sale at a number of local business houses and enquiries regarding their purchase will be welcomed at the Post Office.

Wanganui Education Board, at a recent meeting, decided to inform the Minister of Education that it considers the time opportune for representatives of the chief religious bodies in the Dominion to meet to frame a special form of service agreeable to all demoninations, to be used daily in all primary and secondary schools.

Agreement with a resolution forwarded by the Northland School Committee expressing grave concern at the lack of supervision of school children after hours while their parents were away working, was heard at a meeting of the Wellington Education Board. It was decided on the motion of the chairman, Mr W. V. Dyer, to inform the committee that the board also was disturbed, but it understood that a movement was being instituted to bring about an improvement and it would be glad to co-operate.

A description of the establishment of the first patriotic fund in England, on July 20,1803, has been found by a South Island West Coast resident in the issue of the Universal Magazine for October, 1806. The subscribers to Lloyd’s Coffee House held a meeting, at which they voted £20,000 from their fund and contributed individually, and as soon as the public became aware of this subscription lists were opened in all parts of the country. The objects of the fund included: “’assuaging the anguish of their wounds . . . alleviating the distresses of the widow and orphan .... and granting rewards or honourable distinction for successful exertions of valour or merit.”

As a result of an inquiry as to the rate of pay and allowances of members of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary (Navy, Army and Air), the New Zealand Returned Services’ Association obtained information which was considered at a recent meeting of the Dominion executive committee. It was shown that “unskilled” members of the three branches of the auxiliary received the minimum wage of 31s 6d a week, plus uniform (excluding underwear), free of all taxation and with reduced transport charges. Where accommodation is provided by any of the three services a deduction from pay is made at the rate of Is Id a day. Where accommodation is not provided a subsistence allowance of 2s 6d is payable or lOd a meal.

“ I’m a working manager—-not one of these hard-hitter, frock-coat variety,” said a hotel manager, appealing against Home Guard service, at a sitting of the Armed Forces Appeal Board in Christchurch. “I work 17 hours a day every day. I get up at 6 o’clock in the morning, and I don’t ever go to bed until 11 o’clock at night.” When he was asked if this included Sundays, and if his wife could not take over his work on Sundays, he said: “My wife looks after the household and 1 attend to the provendering.” “ Did you say profiteering ? ” asked Dr A- L- Haslam (the Crown representative). “No; there’s not much of that to attend to. 1 said provendering looking after the provisions.”

Rationing regulations will be enforced even if the Government has to devise some scheme for stricter supervision, said the Rationing Controller, Mr J. E. Thomas, addressing drapers and allied traders in Gisborne recently. The majority of the retailers were to be congratulated, said Mr Thomas, on the manner in which they had done their best to comply with the regulations, but to the few who had failed in their observance he said that abuses would be severely dealt with. The maximum penalty at present was a fine of £lOO or three months’ imprisonment for a breach of the regulations, but the Government was prepared to make this penalty more severe if the traders failed to observe the regulations.