NEWS OF THE DAY.
Abundant Spring Pastures. Heavy spring rains and the warm, sunny weather experienced in the Bay of Plenty district during the past few, wecks have brought away the growth far beyond expectations for this time of the year, and conditions promise well for the dairying season. Fire in Posting Box. One of the mail boxes at the Te Aro post office, "Wellington, was found to be alight shortly before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, and a quantitv of mail was destroyed .before the flames were smothered. The police and lire officials are inquiring into the cause of the fire. Scrap Metal Collection. After discussing the collection of scrap metal, the Devonport Borough Council decided, at a meeting last evening, to have a clean-up week in the borough during the last week of October. A circular is to be sent to ratepayers, with a request to gather up non-ferrous metals, which will bo col--1 i-ted by the borough staff. Measles in Military Camp. A second-lieutenant at the isolation camp at the Te Rapti racecourse yesterday became the first commissioned oflieer there to contract measles. He wae admitted to the Waikato Hospital's emergency ward at the new Hamilton West School. Eight men were discharged on Sunday following their recovery, and a further eight returned to camp on Monday. The number of troops at present in hospital is 52. Museum. Air Raid Shelters. Although it was considered unlikely that New Zealand would ever be bombed by the enemy, the members of the council of the War Memorial Mueeum Institute have decided to take no chances of having the most valuable of its exhibits destroyed. It was reported at yesterday's meeting of the council that three "shelters" were to 'be excavated, each 6ft by 4ft by 4ft. They would have cement walls, protected by sandbags, and the doors would be of steel, at the first suggestion of a possible air raid the most valuable exhibits in the museum would be collected and .placed in the "shelters." Five Per Cent More. The Devonport Borough Council decided at a meeting last evening that a 5 per cent cost of living bonus should be given to all members of the staff. ; The cost to the council will be about '• £120 a year. The proposal was opposed by Mr. E. Aldridge, who pointed out that people with fixed incomes, such as pensions or superannuation, had no chance of an increase, and the btirden would fall on them. He said that borough councils did not make money, 'but collected money from one group to pay it to another. High salaries had been given consideration by the council at various times. Radio Messages to Troops. In reply to a suggestion niade by * Hamilton resident, the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, has stated that complete arrangements had' been made for the receipt of broadcast messages from Egypt as soon as practicable. There were many difficulties in the way, but the co-operation of all services in the Empire had been . received, and he hoped that broadcasts would be accomplished. Mr. Jones added that the Government was Jising its best endeavours to improve arid maintain communication between the troops overseas and relatives and friends in New Zealand. He mentioned the special news .broadcast from New Zealand every day. Government Criticised. .Criticism of the policy of calling upon local bodies, through the hospital boards, to carry a share of the cost of providing hospital treatment for soldiers was levelled at- the Government by the Mayor, Mr. I. J. Goldstine, at last night's of the Oile Tree Hill Borough Council. He announced his intention as president of the Auckland Suburban Local Bodies' Association of asking that body to discuss the matter. He had read with alarm that the Government intended transferring a large part of its responsibility to the hospital boards. That meant that the ratepayers in the board's district would be called upon to carry an additional burden. "The responsibility is essentially national, and should be borne by the Government, and not by a particular section of the community," he said. A resolution supporting the Mayor's views was adopted. Tax on Stock. Characterised by one speaker as a capital levy on farmers, the Auckland provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union yesterday discussed the effects of a recent amendment in taxation legislation governing the valuation of stock for social security and income tax. It was stated that farmers were required to show returns of stock held at March 31 last at approximate market value. Where this value exceeded, as it would in most'cases, the standard .conservative values used from year to year previously, .taxation at 1/9 in the £ would be payable on the difference between this year's valuation and that of last year. Speakers strongly criticised the measure, which they characterised as a means of extorting money from a section of the community which had been hardest hit by rising costs and was working longer hours than any other section. Nurses on Horseback. Members of the St. John Mounted Auxiliary, a large group of women and girls who have undertaken training in order to carry first aid facilities to out-of-the-wav localities in time of emergency, concluded their first intensive period of instruction, reports a Gisborne correspondent. This mobile body might he called npon to work as a unit in any given field, or might be scattered in pairs or ae individuals to carry the benefits of their training to isolated families in the event of" road communications being interrupted. A total of 43 attended the camp. Not all the group were able to spend the full week in taking instruction; nor are all able at short notice to secure mounts for the field work of the Unit. Nevertheless, a great deal of useful work was accom--1 plished, and the course will be rounded ' out in the week following the Poverty Bay Show, when members with horses will enter camp again for training, in the mounted portion of their work. j Well-known Poverty Bay horsemen who served in the Palestine campaign in the last war will assist in instructing the unit in horse manoeuvres, and in the j methods of handling their mounts to the J best advantage.
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Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 223, 19 September 1940, Page 6
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1,038NEWS OF THE DAY. Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 223, 19 September 1940, Page 6
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