LOCAL AND GENERAL

Timaru Herald, Volume CLI, Issue 22202, 20 February 1942, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Heavy Burden Some idea of the heavy burden imposed on the Timaru Manpower Committee may be had from the fact that since January 6 the committee has dealt with more than 600 appeals, and it still has a further 500 appeals to handle. Full-time Job “I can see the time when we will have to close the schools and businesses and get down to the war on a full-time basis,” said Mr D. B. Mcßae at a meeting of the Napier Secondary Education Board, when the shortage ot teachers was being discussed. Dr. H. H. Berry: Education is still going on in England and the occupied countries. Commissions in Navy Advice has recently been received to the effect that seven ols boys of Timaru Boys’ High School have gained commissions in the Royal Navy. All are on active service. They are: E. Neilson, J. F. Tait, A. T. Anderson, T. Mouat, G. Parker, N. Whatman and H. Hughes. A number of other old boys of the school are also serving in the navy. Rangitikei Potato Crop Indications are that the potato yield in the Rangitikei district this season will be lighter than usual. This is accounted for by the wet summer which prevented cultivation. The fields instructor for the Department of Agriculture in Wanganui, Mr A. R. Dingwall, who has returned from a visit to Rangitikei, said that potato digging was in progress, and that in some areas blight was showing, though the tubers did not seem to be affected. Pig Holds up a Tram A pig held up a tram city-bound from Richmond at the intersection of Hobson and Wellesley Streets, Auckland. When it escaped from a lorry, the vehicle was stopped in such a position that it overhung the tram rails. The little pig, having made up its mind not to go to market, proved even more elusive than most of its kind, and about eight men eventually joined in the pursuit. Finally the pig was outflanked and cornered in the doorway of a hotel, where it was promptly captured and returned to the lorry. High Weekly Earnings A statement that long hours were being worked in the sausage casing industry in Gisborne was made at a sitting of the Gisborne Manpower Committee when a witness stated that men had been working recently at an average of 112 hours a day and up to 76 hours a week. He said he knew that was so because of the wages ne paid out, up to £ll a week. Another witness said that as much as £l4 had been earned by one man in a recent week. The industry was an important one, it was stated, for the output as exported to America, this helping the dollar exchange. Medical English A suggestion that medical witnesses should confine their expressions to every-day English and abandon professional terms was made by Mr Justice Callan in the Supreme Court in Auckland when a surgeon was giving evidence. He had stated that “an excision was made in the arm, which was then sutured.” His Honour said he appreciated the meaning, but would prefer if witnesses would employ simpler terms, even although they did not perhaps convey the precise shade of meaning that the professional words implied. The witness agreed that the words “sewn up” might be used for the jury’s guidance in place of “sutured.” Flats for Elderly People Plans are in the course of preparation, and it is anticipated that tenders will shortly be called by the Government for the erection of a block of about 25 flats in Leith Street, Dunedin, for elderly persons. The land was purchased by the Government towards the end of last year, and the Minister of Public Works (Mr H. T. Armstrong) stated yesterday that the land had already been cleared for building. The flats are to be erected primarily for elderly persons, who, desiring to live in Government houses, cannot go into homes too far removed from the centre of the city where age makes the use of trams or buses a difficulty.

Collission at Intersection A short sitting of the Timaru Magistrate’s Court was held yesterday. Mr H. Morgan, S.M., presided. Gordon Anderson Martin (Mr R. Stout) did not appear to answer a charge of failing to give way to traffic approaching from his right when nearing an intersection. Senior-Sergeant S. King said that defendant was a taxi-driver, and he collided with a municipal bus at the intersection of Church and Wilson streets. Mr Stout, who entered a plea of guilty, said that the taxi had practically stopped, and actually the bus hit the car. The driver of the bus was rigidly carrying out the right-hand rule, and expected the taxi to give way to him. Defendant was convicted and fined £3 and costs 10/-. Retention of Signports Recently the Automobile Association (Manawatu) decided to remove signposts as a war measure but, after advice received from the Highways Board, will hold the matter in abeyance. The board asked for retention of the posts as they were of use to the military. Mr C. R. Murphy, mover of the original motion, thought that ’f the military valued them for training purposes, they would be doubly advantageous to the enemy, adding that he considered it ridiculous that the military were unable to carry out their work without these signs. It was decided to communicate with the Defence Department asking for a decision as to when they should be taken down and who was to remove them.