General News

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 230, 30 September 1942, Page 4

General News

Brownout Time. The time for the drawing of blinds in Wanganui to-day is 6.45 p.m. E.P.S. Headquarters. The Wanganui E.P.S. headquarters are now located in the Opera House premises. The new ’phone number is 3211. Grass Fire. A call at 4.28 p.m. to a grass fire at Stewart Street, Aramoho, was responded to by the Wanganui Central Fire Brigade yesterday. No damage was done. A Slogan. “Scrap the Jap with scrap” is the slogan adopted in a Save the Waste Material Campaign in America, and a letter to the Reclamation Board at Christchurch suggested that the slogan might well be adopted in New Zealand. Hostel For Soldiers. Notices informing visiting soldiers -of the whereabouts and facilities obtainable at the newly-formed Y.M.C.A. soldiers’ hostel in Wanganui have been posted (with the permission of the City Council) in prominent places in the business area, including the railway station. Team Withdraws. Winner of the junior grade cricket championship in Wanganui last year, the Garrison Band team notified the annual meeting of the Wanganui Cricket Association that because ot loss of personnel resulting from men going into the armed forces it would not be able to field a team this season. Safe Oxygen Cylinder. Crews of high-flying United States war planes are now protected by a new type of oxygen cylinder that does not burst even when riddled by .50calibre armour-piercing bullets. Made of a secret metal, it ends the danger inherent in earlier cylinders, which, when hit by machine-gun fire, exploded into deadly pieces of jagged steel. Facilities For Soldiers. Bed and breakfast can now be obtained at the Y.M.C.A. by men in uniform for a small sum under a system approved by the National Patriotic Fund Board. In the first seven weeks and two days, the Y.M.C.A. secretary, Mr. R. March, reported yesterday, 208 soldiers availed themselves of these facilities, ample evidence of the hostel's popularity. Oldest Freemason in England. There has recently been some controversy as to whom is the oldest Freemason in Britain, says a London paper. The claim of Mr. W. T. Dommy, of Chard, who is in his ld3rd year, is likely to go unchallenged. Mr. Dominy was initiated in the “Prudence and Industry” Lodge (Chard) on October 25, 1882, and recently attended the Lodge's annual festival. Beefless Days Advocated The view that if each person in New Zealand went without beef on one day a week it would mean the saving of hundreds of fat cattle for use overseas was expressed by Mr. WS. Glenn, chairman of the Wanganui District Primary Production Council yesterday. “It is no sacrifice for the man on the farm to go without beef, for he lives mostly on mutton. The people in the cities can equally share the sacrifice,” said Mr. Gienn. Shortage of School Teachers In the latest lists of vacancies in the Wanganui Education Board there are 12 positions offering, but because of the shortage of teachers, owing to the demand for personnel for the armed forces, only four of the positions can be filled. In a previous list there were a further six vacancies for which the board was unsuccessful in obtaining suitable applicants. At present two schools in the board’s district are closed because of lack of teachers, and recently three others were closed for periods up to two weeks. Secretary Commended. “The treatment received by the Wanganui District Primary Production Council in getting men released from the Army, tor farm work has been excellent,” said the chairman, Mr. W. S. Glenn, in answer to an inquiry made by the Supervisor of Primary Production, Mr. M. J. Scott, at the meeting yesterday. “I cannot speak too highly of the courteous way Mr. A. Garry, secretary of the Armed Forces Appeal Board, has met us. He has been prompt and reasonable. We recognise the difficulties of the Army, and we must be entirely fair.” Greatest Air-raid Danger. Fire is undoubtedly the greatest airraid danger, said Mr. A. D. Wilson, Assistant Fire Force Commander in the Brtish National Fire Service, in a broadcast address recently. “It has become necessary,” he said, “for everyone, man, woman, and child, to make sacrifices for the protection of their homes and property. In Britain this has been seen and recognised by everyone. Raid experience quickly teaches us to rely on ourselves. Fires will not wait on the fire brigade, and the brigade cannot be expected to tackle all the incendiaries. If the public do not deal with incendiaries the fire damage in a raid will be enormous.”

Army Potato Ration. Soldiers are stated to be sharing the vegetable shortage with civilians despite the impression held by some people that the army has plenty of what the public goes without, comments the Dominion. All ranks are on six ounces of potatoes daily and below normal in other vegetables. The deficiency is being made up with brains, liver and similar items considered to compensate for the lack of vegetables. Central Military District has arranged for unit quartermasters to contact supply officers weekly. The object is to make the best use of the rations available for the ensuing week to obtain variety in the menu. If men consider they are not getting enough, they may complain through their proper unit channels and the matter will be taken up with quarter-masters. Cars in Collision

A light car which was being driven up Bell Street from the city shortjy after 5 p.m. yesterday was struck by a larger car, lifted bodily and turned completely round, being left facing in the opposite direction to that in which it was travelling. The driver of the light car, Mr. J. Steel, of Grey Street, suffered injuries to the right‘side but was able to proceed home. The larger car, driven by a lady, travelled some distance after the impact. The driver was seen to get out but she re-entered the car and, it is stated, drove away without ascertaining whether anyone was injured. It is understood that a passenger in the light car, together with a resident attracted by the noise of the collision obtained the number of the larger car. Accidents in which any person is likely to have suffered Injury must, under the regulations, be reported to the police.