NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 98, 28 April 1939, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Five Guineas for a Poppy. Much has been said for and against a definite charge of Is lor the poppies < sold on the streets on Poppy Day (.say., | the Christchurch Press'. One city business man, however, cheerfully pair* 15 for a poppy last year. He sene £5 ■ 5s to the same collector on Friday, and in return received one poppy. New Government Building. The Government will shortly announce acceptance of a tender lor the construction ot an eight-storeyed < Government building in Wellington whicn ' is expected to cost just over £300,000, ; exclusive of the foundations and the steel frame, which are ready for the | builder. In Distress? A recognised signal of distress at sea was seen in Auckland on Monday morning, when New Zealand's national flag was hoisted upside down to the top of a flagstaff on a public building in Wellesley Street. The mistake was promptly seen, and the flag immediately hauled down, to be replaced in its proper position, but the incident, trivial though it may seem to some, was the subject of considerable comment among those who noticed it. Lonely Americans. "Have you fellows any girls who 1 would care to write to a couple of us lonely boys?” Such was the text of a note which was found in a box oi machinery consigned to a Timaru firm, and landed from the City of Brisbane. The names of the two lonely American men. which were written on the reverse side of the note, were: Al Conti, 119 Portland Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., and Cyril Payne, Franklin Street, Alliton, MassachuOpossum Causes Fire. A fire, which fortunately did not g<» I beyond its incipient stage, occurred at Trent ham Camp recently. The cause of the outbreak was unusual. An opossum climbed one of the electric power poles and caused a short circuit. It was killed and the wire broke instantly. Sparks from the end or the broken wire, when it reached the ground, started a small fire, which was promptly dealt with. The body of the opossum showed burns across its neck ■ and one one of its paws. Friends In Need. One effect in the north of the week- ■ end rain and subsequent solution of the water supply problem will be the cessation of an extraordinary practice involving town and country residents. Visitors from Whangarej bring news that for the past two months those in the town connected with the water suply have had \isit.s at regular intervals of about a week from country friends, who wanted baths. It is also stated that some whose water supply was depleted took the trouble to book in at a town hotel, just for the privilege of taking baths. One-Sided £1 Notes. A number of £1 notes which have been split in two have been given to | Wellington shopkeepers recently as 1 genuine notes. Some of the notes have I a light-coloured paper pasted on in! place of the side which has been torn 1 off to make them up to usual thick- | ness of note paper. The person who ' performed the operation must have • gone to considerable trouble to sen- | arate the two sides of the notes, as there was no sign on the printed han * of the notes that they had been tampered with. It \as only when the! note was turned over that it could be I seen that there was one side missing. • Chinese Labourers. Fourteen Chinese are among the 401 men at present employed on (he re-; construction of the Stratford aero--drome. They live in the public works' camp at Surrey Road. The men are all Cantonese, and they follow closely I the fortunes of the Chinese armies.' Regularly these men send contributions to the Chinese war funds. The l Chinese are engaged on various types of work at the aerodrome, and are described aj excellent workmen. Thex are chiefly men who have gone out of I business or who were engaged on mar-! ket gardening and found for some rea-; son that it was not profitable.

River Board Employees' Wages. On the ground that their work required special experience, tour employees of the Palmerston North Rivet Board requested the board to gram them an increase in wages of JOs a w eek. The chairman, Mr. A. E. Mansford, said the application was not m keeping with the Minister's suggestion for stabilizing costs. The men were not skilled tradesmen like carpenters, for instance. In view of the Minister’s statement the board could not consider an increase. The advisory engineer, Mr. E. Fisher, said the work being carried out by the men was specialized work, but other iof the board supported the view of the chairman. It was agreed, however, (hat one of the men who was in charge of a gang should receive an increase. More Immigrants Arrive. A sharp increase in the number or immigrants coming into New Zealand in recent year-; is shown in returns compiled by the Government Statistician and published in the latest Abstract of Statistics. The total for the 11 months ended Februray last was 5457, compared with 3847 the previous year and 2541 in 1936-37. Thus the number of immigrants arriving with the intention of residing permanently in New Zealand has more than doubled in three years. Arrivals of permanent residents returning after trips abroad, tourists and business visitors, all show increases, making the total arrivals during the period 46,582, compared with 40.793 in the same period last year. Manuka Tea or Beer. After Captain Cook’s brewing of beer at Dusky Sound in 1775, other captains felt disposed to take advantage of this antidote to scurvy—for it was hardly to be drunk for pleasure, j out rather as a medicine —ana brewed . . imilar manuka, rimu and molasses beer. In 1791 Vancouver’s expedition called in at Dusky Sound, and. amongst other activities, set up a brew-house. Soon the sailors "found on a small island plenty of the New Zealand tea which was much want.eeat the brewery.” Later they were able to report with satisfaction tha.t "our spruce beer, which was made after the directions given by Captain iCook, proved excellent, and was served .out to the ship’s company in lieu of | spirits.” Immigration of Jews. A suggestion that the Government should oe asked to facilitate Jewish immigration to New Zealand was made in a report submitted Io the council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce by the junior chamber. View's on the whole favourable to tiie suggestion were expressed by members. and the report was referred io the legislation committee i.»r consideration. The president. Captain S. Holm, said the British nation had boon built up from various races, and it seemed that the admission of suitable i foreigners would in every- way assist New Zealand. It was stated that there : was at present no bar to the admission of Jew’s, but a number of formalities had to be observed. Two persons ' had to sign a declaration that they would see that the immigrant did not become a charge on the State within five years. Preparing for Market Changes. I "In another generation our overseas ; mai kets may have changed radically in response to international trends be1 yond our control,” says Dr. E. MarsIden, Secretary of ths Department ol ■! Scientific and Industrial Research, in I a bulletin on land utilisation in Hawke's Bay issued by the Govern •ment. He adds that New Zealand must jbe prepared to make adjustments in •jits production with a minimum dislocation to its social and economic struc- ■ J lure, and points out that the task of I assessing the natural resources is a ’ continuous one, which becomes more 'complicated as industry develops. la • i chousing Hawke’s Bay for first inves- ■ | ligation, he stated that* this province supplied the local initiative and assistance which made the venture Isible. Attention was focused mainly I on soils and climatic conditions, ■ other factors, such as pastures apu • farm-management methods and pracj tices, were also taken into consideration.