Local and General News

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21702, 10 July 1940, Page 6

Local and General News

Yesterday's Enlistments A further 10 enlistments were received at the Defence Office in Timaru yesterday, bringing the total for South Canterbury to 1123. A sitting of the Medical Board will be held to-morrow, when it is expected that about 50 men will be examined. Coal Gas Car Following' a report by the engineer (Mr R. D. Veitch), the South Canterbury Power Board yesterday decided, as a test, to fit a coal gas producer to one of its cars. The engineer contended that the running cost would be cheaper, that a big saving of petrol would result, but that the efficiency of the car would be reduced by about 30 to 40 per cent. No Criterion? “The trouble is they don't all go to church," said the chairman (Mr W. G. Tweedy) at the meeting of local body representatives when the Rev. A. L. Sllcock was explaining some of the difficulties encountered by the Ministers’ Association in reviewing applications for the taking of evacuated children. “The trouble is that some who do go to church won’t be recommended,” said Mr G. Dash, amid laughter. Work in Borough An improvement which should be appreciated by residents in the vicinity is the widening of Trafalgar Street, work on which has been commenced by the Borough Council staff. The street will be widened by seven feet for a distance of 11 chains between Evans Street and Campbell Street. The preparation of the road surface in Craighead Avenue for sealing has also been commenced. Married Women Teachers “The board each day receives offers from married women who have been teachers and who are prepared to act as relieving teachers during the war," said Mr G. N. Boulton, secretary of the Wanganui Education Board. Mr Boulton said the offers would shortly be of great assistance as the number of young teachers available for relieving or permanent work was fast diminishing. A Doubtful Choice “Some of those who offer to take children expect to be able to make a choice,” observed Miss J. Colyer (Child Welfare Officer) at a meeting yesterday when plans for accommodating the children were discussed. “If there is going to be any sorting out of the prettiest child, there is going to be a lot of trouble," said the chairman (Mr W. G. Tweedy). "They’ll get the child with the worse nature," countered Miss Colyer. Unusual Way to Say “Unmarried” It seems to be the aim of some who have filled in the forms that are being used to compile the National Service Register to puzzle the officers of the National Service Department. One man sent them io the dictionary by answering the question as to his conjugal state by writing “Nubile male." "Nubile" means “marriageable,” so that the answer meant that he was unmarried. He was not really correct, however, for "nubile" should be said of women only. Ready-made Frigidaire A Wanganui resident who is one of the workmen at the Waiouru military camp made use. unwittingly, of a ready-made frigidaire for the custody of his artificial teeth during the night. A wood fire had been burning on the hearth of the hut in which he was accommodated, and prior to retiring to bed he placed his false teetli in a dish of water on the mantel above the fireplace. In the morning there was a bed of .embers under the wood ashes, but the water in the dish was frozen solid and had to be thawed before the occupant of the hut could secure his teeth in order to masticate his breakfast. Airmen in Canada Cabled advice has been received by the Y.W.C.A. of New Zealand that the National Council of the Y.W.C.A. in Canada is arranging hospitality in private homes for overseas airmen during their periods of leave. A message received from Mrs Harvey Agnew, president of the Y.W.C.A. in Canada, reads as follows: "National Council Canada responsible for overseas airmen on leave. Glad co-operate with relatives New Zealand members in Canada." By arrangement with the Federal Government of Canada the Y.W.C.A. has established and equipped 50 “Hostess Houses” in the neighbourhood of military training centres to meet the need of those coining to visit soldier relatives and friends, and of arranging hospitality Jor men on leave. Those in New Zealand who wish to communicate with the Y.W.C.A. in Canada in regard to their menfolk in Canada may address requests or inquiries to National Council Y.W.C.A., 143 College Street, Toronto. Nazis Annex Shakespeare "The ghost of William Shakespeare must be well used to aggression by now. The poet," says the “Manchester Guardian," "has not only been dismissed as the fraudulent mask of other and lordly composers but annexed by all the breeds, sects and creeds of mankind. The Germans put him in their pocket with as much assurance as if he were a small nation. To excuse this the annual meeting of the German Shakespearian.? at Weimar has just explained that Tudor England was an authoritarian State after Hitler’s own heart and that Shakespeare was its noble, Nordic voice. War was a normal instrument of policy in Shakespeare's day and we need not look to him for the sentiments of the Peace Pledge Union. But it appears to have been overlooked at Weimar that Portia's opinion of her German suitor hardly fits in with an idea of a noble Nordic soul and that the most eloquent praise of mercy and the most eloquent rage against authority abused are to be found in the works of Shakespeare.”