General News

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 4, 6 January 1943, Page 4

General News

Infectious Diseases. Five cases of infectious diseases were notified in Wanganui last month. Of the total four were diphtheria and one scarlet fever. Drivers* Licences.

During last month the Wanganui City Council issued 111 drivers’ licences. Fees amounting to £27 15s were collected. During the same period 99 heavy traffic licences were issued, the fees totalling £605 8s 9d. Early .Morning ’Quake.

A short but rather sharp earthquake was experienced in Wanganui at 3.45 a.m. yesterday. It was preceded by a dull rumble and was sufficiently heavy to disturb most sleepers. Bathers in River

The hot weather during the past week has been the means of popularising certain parts of the Wanganui Rive?. One of the favoured portions is just above the Dublin Street Bridge at Wanganui East, and at one period yesterday between 30 and 40 persons of all ages were seen enjoying the cool water.

Parking a Jeep. Four American soldiers gave an exhibition of the handiness of their jeep when parking in an Auckland street. The available space was so small that only a jeep could park in it, and then with difficulty. When the vehicle was driven into the space the back protruded into the line of traffic, but three of the men jumped out. seized handles on the side of the jeep, and swung it into line. Fishing at Castlecliff.

Since the start of the fine summer weather many people have fished daily from the Castlecliff Wharf. Herrings are plentiful and the crowd on the wharf yesterday was estimated at more than 70. Fishing from the North Mole is also popular and patience is often rewarded with fine schnapper. About half a dozen fishing launches have been leaving port daily and good catches are reported. Maori War Effort. *

Composed of Maoris from Taranaki and Waikato, the Te Maramatanga Christian Society held thanksgiving services at Kai Iwi on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The offerings collected amounted to £5l 5s 3d, which has been given to the Maori war effort and forwarded to Wellington. The Te Maramatanga Christian Society has collected approximately £133 for the Maori war effort.

Shortage of Nurses. In an endeavour to meet the acute shortage of probationer nurses at th a West Coast Mental Hospital, the Grevmouth manpower officer shortly before Christmas issued direction orders to 12 women to report for duty in the new year. In each instance an appeal has. been lodged, either by the woman concerned or by her present employer, it was stated n n Thursday that the direction orders are temporarily suspended pending the hearing of the appeals about the end of January.

Spectacular Fire Though of short duration, the fire which occurred in a Wanganui vulcanising factory early yesterday morning was very spectacular, the vivid glow from the flames giving the impression that there was a serious outbreak in the business area. Several alarms reached the Central Station, the first being by telephone from a city hotel. Shunters working in the railroad yards also saw the flames and telephoned the brigade. Several calls came in from the street alarm system.

Trailer Pumps Used Trailer pumps of the type often seen in action when E.P.S. trials are held in the city area are now being employed by the Wanganui Fire Brigade tor combating grass fires. Certain motors are not equipped with pumps for boosting the pressure from city mains a t d such engines tow a trailer pump. The brigade superintendent, Mr. N. M. Ross, said last night that because the present water pressure was comparatively low, due to the long spell of dry weather, it was extremely necessary to have a pumping unit in attendance at all fires.

Increasing Costs. An illustration of the heavy increases in manufacturing costs since the outbreak of war was given by Mr. J. S. Satterthwaite, chairman of the omnibus committee, at a recent meeting of the Timaru Borough Council, when the council was considering tenders for the building of a 33-seater body for a motor-bus chassis. “To-day we are paying £llOO, including sales tar, for a 33-seater body,” said Mr. Satterthwaite. “On the last occasion when we purchased a bus in—l 939— we paid only £675 for a 29-seater body. That represents an increase of about 80 per cent.” Unconscious Humour.

They were being medically examined for the forces. One victim, not yet divested of his clothing, stood before the doctor, answering a’maze of questions as to his health and history. “How many times have you been knocked unconscious?” asked the doctor. “Oh, about a dozen times,” replied the examinee, after some thought. “That’s unusual,” said the doctor. “The average man only has that experience once or twice, if at all. What are you?” “Oh, I was a boxer,” came the answer. It should have stopped there, but to the amusement of others in the room the doctor said, “Well, you couldn’t have been much of a boxer.”

The “Eighth Army News.” Printed in the desert within easy reach of raging battles, the “Eighth Army News,” a two-page news sneet, is published daily by the Army Field Propaganda Company and distributed among the troops. The news sheet, a copy of which has reached New Plymouth, was first printed in a small way on an old duplicator last January, and in June, when Field-Marshal Rommel attacked again, the need lor informing the men of what was happening first became understood, and the “Eighth Army News” was widely distributed. In addition to getting out information the news sheet was an invaluable source of stopping rumours. Three-t6n lorries, cunningly devised so that when placed side by side they formed one long room, made the newspaper office, which contained three presses, a linotype, an American autopress, and a German Heidelberg, as well as editorial offices. Blame the Fowl.

Lack of nroper feed for fowls and the consequent deterioratio* in the constitution of the eggs was* given by an officer of the Internal Marketing Department as a possible reason for the fact that some eggs sold to bakers and the public recently have been “fusty”—not bad, but hardly what the consumer would call good. Because of the war, it was explained, some poultry farmers had not been able to maintain a sufficiently continuous standard of feed for their fowls, and the result might show in the quality of the eggs. It the constitution of the egg was below normal its life would be shorter than normal, and ! t would deteriorate more quickly between the time it was graded and tested and the time it reached the consumer. An egg which passed the testing and grading machine could, in hot weather, “go off” by the time it was sold two or three days later, and even in pre-war days it was common to re-test eggs held in store over a hot week-end.