LOCAL AND GENERAL

Chronicle (Levin), 9 October 1946, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Cement for Tunnels A large shipment of cement from Great Britain may make it possible for earlier completion of the OkoiaTurakina railway deviation. If the Pubiic Works Department receives its promised share of the shipment, it will have sufficient to finish the job. The British shipment is expected in about three weeks. Basic Slagr The first shipment of basic slag since 1940 was brought to New Zealand by an overseas steamer which arrived at Auckland on Sunday. Three other shipments are due this month and next. The total allotment will be 10,000 tons. The fertiliser is all for the North Island. Wild Horses at Taupo To combat the danger to motorists from wild horses on the roads surrounding Taupo, the Taupo Town Board has instituted a twicedaily patrol. Some weeks ago the position became aggravated, and on several occasions motorists were lucky to avoid collision with bands or horses which rushes across the roads from surrounding scrub dangerously close to passing cars. Gunner "Chrisu" "Gunner Chrisp," the soldier whose identity has been No. 1 riddle for the Army authorities, is still a mystery man. From inquiries in Australia it was thought that he was W/O A. C. Kidson, R.A.A.F., but photographs sent to Melbourne by the Joint Council of the Order oi St. John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society have es'tablished this to be incorrect. "A Bit Irish" "As the remarks of an Australian in defence of New Zealanders against an American, Mr. Semple's statement seems to me to be a bit Irish," was a remark overheard in an Auckland city-bound bus. The speaker was commenting on the reply by the Minister of Works, to the criticisms of the American writer, Mr. Sydney Greenbie, of New Zealanders and certain aspects of' New Zealand life. Coupon Saving Campaign In the 26 weeks of the National Famine Emergency Committee"s campaign 4,682,375 meat and 242,149 butter coupons have been saved. Last week Blenheim gained first place for the sixth time since the campaign started, its contribution being nearly two coupons per household. Gisborne, which had been first in three previous weeks, was second and Oamaru third. Palmerston North contributed the biggest individual total of coupons and was fifth. Free Hearing Aids? The provision of hearing aids, either free or at a low cost, was being considered by the Government, said the Minister of Finance (Mr. Nash) during an address to supporters at Waterloo. In Great Britain plans were being made to have hearing aids .supplied to all deaf people by 1948, and in the meantime they would be sold at £10 each, a substantial reduction on the usual £20 and £30. Great Britain was willing to supply New Zealand with these aids, but a British firm which manufactured them in New Zealand had offered to supply them at a lower cost. The Temperate Lands "My journey so far has included a large part of the temperate girdle of the world. It is a solemn thought that throughout most of that area the farmer gives his daily instructions in our mother tongue, and aspires through the same technical developments to a similar standard of earning. What is done with these temperate lands is obviously of more than economic importance to the countries concerned, or to the men who farm them. In large measure the future of European civilisation depends on their fertility and their treatment," said Mr. J. Green, director of agricultural broadcasts for the B.B.C., in an address on his impressions of New Zealand . Big Increase Expected Social Security payments for the year as from April 1, 1946, are expected to reach a total of £34,000,000. The big increase over the 1945-46 figures Is considered likely to be brought about by the advent of the universal family and hospital benefits, together with the natural increase in other classes of benefits. Since 1936 there has been a steady rise in the annual total of payments made. In 1936 the figure was £3,659,664, when pensions were still the main basis, but with the coming of Social Security on April •1, 1939, expenditure for the year from that date was £11,494,202. Each year the figure mounted until at the end of March, 1946, it had i gone up to £20,935,481.