General News

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23977, 18 June 1943, Page 4

General News

♦ Port Christchurch Scheme “For some reason the press of Christchurch has been up against the project.” said Mr G. P. Purnell, when speaking at a public meeting called by the Port Christchurch League last evening. “We have had the press against us, especially the Christchurch ‘Press,’ which came out with a strong leading article pointing out that from an engineering point of view the Construction of a port in the Estuary was impracticable. There is no evidence from an engineering point of view to back up that statement. That is an idea that needs to be scotched.” Future of N.Z, Division “One of the things I would like to see cleared up satisfactorily is just exactly what happened over Mr Fraser’s cables to the Prime Minister of Great Britain about our division: None of us knows what happened, but I think that the public are entitled to know just What the position is,” said Mr J. J. Maher in an address to National Party supporters at Makara this week. Work on Dredge Two divers have been Working at the sunken dredge Canterbury during the last few days and several tons of heavy fittings have been removed from the Vessel. Wooden frames are being bolted across all openings in readiness for the compartments to be pumped out, which will be done during tne next few days. Soldier Candidates for Parliament A request that soldiers who were to be candidates for Parliament should x’eceive six weeks’ leave on full pay was made when the House of Representatives met yesterday by Mr J. A. Lee (Democratic Soldier-Labour, Grey Lynn), in notice of a question to the Minister of Defence. He asked if the Minister would take this action so that the soldiers concerned would not endure economic disqualification.—(P.A.) Abolition of Rotary Clubs j “Rotary clubs have been abolished in Germany, Italy and Japan,’’ said Mr D. A. Ewen, in an address to the Wellington Rotary Club. “I am inclined to think that we should take it as an honour that they were abolished, as Rotary stands for friendship between man and man, and nation and nation, and friendship is the last thing those nations stand for.’’ Manpower Problems A request for information concerning the Government’s policy Ift the utilisation of manpower had evoked no reply, it was reported to a meeting of the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. Mr N. B. Spencer, president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, said the subject should be pursued closely. It appeared that the authorities were floundering along without plans of any sort. It was resolved to write to kindred bodies with a view to a deputation waiting on the Prime Minister, and explaining the dislocation that would result in key men being withdrawn from industry lor Army service.— (P.A.) How to Grow Vegetables How vegetables can be raised by well-directed energy i s aptly illustrated in a letter received by the wife of a Wellington officer, who is a prisoner of war in Germany, says the ‘Dominion.’’ He was given permission to cultivate one-sixth of an acre of land, and this is what it produced; Radishes 750, lettuces 10.950, spinach beet 19591b, carrots 4981b, curly kale 4651b, mixed greens 5551b, red beet 2951b, pumpkins 2011b, onions 571b, beans 671b, tomatoes 1001b, celery •501b, brussels sprouts 2501b, leeks 350, cucumbers 31, cabbage 17. Cost of Stickers and Number-Plates The cost of number-plates to motorists was mentioned in the House of Representatives yesterday, when MrR. McKeen (Government, Wellington South) gave notice of a question to the Postmaster-General, He asked if the Minister’s attention had been drawn to a statement made at a meeting of the North Island Motor Union to the effect that stickers issued to motorists at a charge of 6d each cost the department 10s per 1000, and were sold to motorists at £25 a 1000; also that in nine years the department had made a profit of £IOB,OOO from num-ber-plates. Mr McKeen asked the Minister to have the matter investigated, with a view to putting an end to this subtle form of exploitation.—P.A. Building Permits Not Obtained Numerous cases of people erecting buildings or carrying out alterations without obtaining the permit required by the city's by-laws have come to the notice of the City Council, Several people have been prosecuted for offences of this nature, and more are to be prosecuted in the future. A recent amendment to the Building Control Regulations now makes offenders also liable to prosecution by the Building Controller The City Council has now issued a warning to the public that a permit is required before a building is erected or alterations or additions, no matter how small, are made to existing buildings. Anyone doing work without a permit is liable to prosecution without further notice. In some cases people who have erected buildings contrary to the by-laws have had to demolish them, and the cost ot complying with the by-laws of the City Council and the Drainage Board has been more than the cost of the original building. Rugby Trophy for Troops The officer commanding the 3rd Division of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Major - General Barrowclough, and Mrs Barrowclough, have presented a cup to the division with the object of fostering the game of Rugby football, and to promote healthy rivalry among the various units of the division. The trophy will be. known as the Barrowclough Cup. It is the wish of the donors that so long a- the division exists as a military formation, the cup should be competed for among the units, and that on its disbandment the cup should be disposed of as directed by the general officer who is commanding the division immediately before its disbandment. The donors have suggested that in giving directions as to the cup’s ultimate disposal the general officer commanding the division at that time should consider the advisability of offering it for annual competition among units of New Zealand's post-war army in some athletic or military activity.—(P.A.) Palestine To-day “Some of my hearers may have been in the last war and have fought in order to free Palestine from the old Ottoman Empire and to bring it under British rule,” said Chaplain Major J. M. Stewart, who recently returned after three years’ service in the Middle East. “To those of you who were there, you would hardly recognise it to be the same country. In those days it was not a land flowing with milk and honey. Its population was small and poor; the towns were squalid, and there was no talk of industry; the country was ravaged by neglect, and impoverished peasantry menaced with the continual threat of disease. Palestine, in those days, was part of the dead Orient; its beauty and fertility were covered with the stagnant desert of time. The soldier of to-day finds things very much improved. He speeds along in up-to-date buses, along tar-sealed roads, past agricultural settlements to modern cities. The dead hand of centuries has been shaken off, and the Holy Land has come to new life.” Pensions of Widowed Mothers A request that the Minister of Finance look into the question of pensions of widowed mothers of servicemen who lost their lives overseas was made by Mrs A. N. Grigg (Opposition, Mid-Canterbury) in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. She said they were not as well treated as other women who had suffered in this war, and mentioned the case of a widow who was not getting a pension because her son had not contributed to her upkeep in the year before the war, though for the two years before he was killed he had made her a good allotment. She also asked if the new principle of attributability could be made retrospective.—F.O.P.R.