LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waikato Times, Volume 194, Issue 22243, 12 January 1944, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Notifiable Disease Two cases of scarlet fever and one of diphtheria were reported in the South Auckland health district for the week ended January 10. Fall from Tree As the result of a fall from a tree MacGregor John Ruru, aged nine, of Tirau, fractured his left leg. He was admitted to the Waikato Hospital. Ban on Use of Hoses The Cambridge Borough Council has imposed a total restriction on the use of garden hoses. Other measures i are also being taken to conserve the municipal water supply. Matriculation Results i The maticulation examination results will probably be handed to the Press Association for distribution throughout New Zealand late on | January 20 nr earlv on January 21. National Party Caucus i A caucus of Parliamentary members of the National Party is to be (held in Wellington on Thursday, January 20. This will be the first I caucus of the party since the return : of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr |S. G. Holland, from his recent visit jto Australia. Not Very Profitable Illustrating the difficulties of obtaining a team of good workers on the State vegetable farms an official mentioned yesterday that one boy, working on an hourly wage, had for a full day’s work picked only 41b. of peas. “No wonder we prefer piecework conditions,” said the official. Miners Resume Work Almost all the employees at the mines of Glen Afton Collieries Ltd., | have resumed work this week after j their holidays. When the mines re- , opened after the Christmas and New Year holiday period last Wednesday only a small number of men reported for duty. There were 27 at work on Thursday and 28 on Friday. Film Star’s Divorce After proceecings lasting less than ten minutes, the film star, Deanna Durbin, was granted a divorce from Vaughn Paul, says a message from Los Angeles to the Herald, Melbourne. She testified that her husband’s constant criticism of her film and radio work kept her in a constant state of nervous distraction. Actress-Singer in Battle Area Gladys Moncrieff has arrived back in Sydney from a tour of New Guinea, where she sang to the troops. She left Sydney on December 7 and has been in all forward areas. Miss Moncrieff said that she had had a wonderful reception. She will remain in Sydney for a few days and will then go to Melbourne to rehearse her new production, “Katinka.” American Navy’s Coffee Men on service with the United States Navy in the Pacific now receive their coffee freshly roasted and blended from a navy-owned plant at Pearl Harbour. The plant was formerly at Mare Island, California, but was dismantled, shipped to Pearl Harbour, and reassembled. It used to take up to six months to supply orders, but now it never takes more than three weeks. Landlord Fined £SO A Sydney landlord, Chadwick Walter Langdon, of Vaucluse, was fined £SO by Mr Atkinson, S.M., in the Special Court, for a breach of the National Security (Landlord and Tenant) Regulations. The Crown alleged that Langdon had received a rent of 30s a week from the tenant, which exceeded a fair rent of 25s ’ for a certain dwelling at Vaucluse. Langdon’s defence was that 5s of the 30s was by arrangement with the tenant for attention to the garden and lawns. Clipper’s Last Flight Today is the sixth anniversary of the last flight of the Pan American Airways Samoan Clipper which was lost shortly after leaving Pago Pago for Auckland, on the first commercial i flight to New Zealand. The machine j exploded in mid-air while dumping | fuel and the commander, Captain :Musick, and his crew of six were all killed. East Tamaki Point, Auckland, was subsequently chosen as the site for a Musick memorial radio station erected by the New Zealand GovernI ment. ’ | Life in Prison Camp I Writing from the prisoner-of-war camp Oflag V.A., Germany, Lieutenant John Bevin, formerly of the - 7th Medium Battery, Hamilton, mentioned that he was recently transferred from camp Stalag VIII, which he explained was only a transit camp. Conditions - there were more j pleasant than he and his companions had expected. They were domiciled 14 to a room which was airy, with electric light, stove, bunks, tables 1 and chairs, and with a fine outlook. I Food was not plentiful but it was of fair quality. The prisoners were making the best of circumstances and looking forward longingly to letters and papers from their relatives and friends in New Zealand. Combing of Markets In order to provide crockery for recreation rooms in camps and at stations, material for indoor games and sports equipment, the National Patriotic Fund Board has had to comb markets both in the dominions i and overseas. A large number of | lines required have long disappeared ;from the Dominion, and where possible arrangements have been made | to import under license from abroad. ; Even in the big centres of production overseas, however, in some cases | there are no longer stocks, and in j other cases production of certain, i lines is limited and export strictly : controlled. The board has placed a ! number of orders. Some of the ; goods are now coming to hand, but 1 delays are inevitable. | Licensing Poll Recount The magisterial recount of votes cast in the Invercargill licensing poll will begin on Thursday morning before Mr R. C. Abernethy, S.M. It is not known for certain how long the recount will last, but it may extend over two days. The recount will apply only to civilian votes. In the i case of soldiers’ votes, the certificates from the Chief Electoral Officer, Wellington, giving the result of the soldiers’ votes cast for the Invercargill licensing issue, must be accepted. Although the possibility of a major discrepancy cannot be ruled out, it is thought unlikely that any such discrepancy will be discovered. The official count was carried out carefully and the figures thoroughly ; checked.. If there is any change j made in the figures of the official \ count the most likely cause is the ; admission of votes by the magistrate i that the returning • officer has re- j jected or the rejection of votes that } the returning officer has admitted. !