NEWS IN BRIEF Snow On Rimutakas

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 260, 1 August 1942, Page 8

NEWS IN BRIEF Snow On Rimutakas

There was snow an inch deep for a mile on the main highway each side of the summit of the liiniutaka Runge late yesterday afternoon, and snow was then falling heavily with indications of conditions worsening. Reporting this last night, the Automobile Association (Wellington) advised motorists to take care when using this road. Manpower Committee. The Wellington Manpower Industrial Committee, Messrs. J. Read, J. Arthurs, and B. L. Hammond, has returned Io Wellington .after hearing appeals in Palmerston North, Stratford, Wanganui and Napier.

Unfair Packing. Fines of £2 on each of two charges of unfair packing of leeks were inflicted on Choo Chuck, a Chinese, in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. Cases of leeks in which the vegetables on top were very much larger than those below were submitted for sale by defendant through two different firms at the Wellington markets.

Failed to Report. Three men who failed to report for military service were sentenced to two months’ imprisonment by Mr. Stilwell, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. They were Neil Henry Duff, Allen James Hurren, and Frederick Wedderburu Moore. Each pleaded guilty. Moore was stated to have claimed conscientious objection. Compassionate Grants. The making 'of coinpasisonate grants to widows of members of Parliament who have died on active service was discussed by the Auckland Returned Services Association at its quarterly meeting on Thursday. It was considered that this was a breach of the principle ot equality of sacrifice and the action of the executive in recording a protest was endorsed. Chateau Fully Booked. No cancellations of accommodation reserved at National Park have yet heen received, according to advice, from the Chateau. All accommodation 'is fully booked. The heaviest snowfall of the winter sports season was experienced on Wednesday, though a strong wind on Ruapehu made ski-ing difficult. Snow has continued to fall since then without any rain and the road is still open.

Rigid Trading Bules. The rigid observance of wartime measures in business was brought home to an Auckland visitor this week in a manner that left him perplexed. Entering a hairdressing saloon in the late afternoon he sat down in .one of the three vacant chairs and asked for a shave. The attendants informed him that no shaving was done after 3 p.m., and he left the shop wondering at the inflexibility of rules which forced him to go unshared while three barbers stood idle. Women War Workers. ' Concern at the Jack of facilities for women in the Services was expressed at a recent meeting of the youth committee of the New Zealand Council of Religious Education. Y.M.C.A. . personnel were situated in all camps to cater for the men, but no such service was available for women. In view of the increasing number of women entering the Services, it was felt that Y.W.C.A. personnel should be given the opportunity of catering for girls in these abnormal situations.

D’Urville Island Earthquake. The epicentre of the earthquake which was felt in Wellington last Sunday night has been determined as being in the vicinity of D’Urville Island. It is staled to have been more deep-seated than usual, and to be part of a normal outbreak of seismic activity which began with the Wairarapa earthquake after a long period of comparative quiescence. The D’Urville Island disturbance did not occur on the same fault line as that which produced the Wairarapa shocks, though a slight earthquake felt in Wellington at 6.40 a.m. yesterday did. Housing Improvement. The Housing Improvement Bill, previously referred to as the Slum Clearance Bill, had not been shelved, said the Minister of Housing, Mr. Armstrong, m Christchurch. He added that the Prime Minister had suggested that a small committee of representatives of the departments affected should be set up to go into the provisions of the Bill in order that any defects might be examined. He would consult the Prime Minister on that aspect on his return to Wellington. The Bill might come before the next session of Parliament, though nothing definite was known at this, stage. • Official Year-book Smaller. A further reduction of 56 pages has been made in the 1942 New Zealand Official Year-book, which has just been issued. The volume consists of 872 pages, compared with 928 last year and 1042 in 1940. Its appearance, however, is the same, and the quality of the paper shows no deterioration. In his preface, the Government Statistician, Mr. J. W. Butcher, states that pressure of work on a sadly depleted staff, combined witii delay m obtaining necessary material, has made the publication date still later than in 1941. The contents follow closely the lines laid down several years ago.

Ancient Wrapping. An 1876 issue of the “Lyttelton Times, one of the first daily newspapers to be published in the colony of New Zealand, came into the hands of an Auckland resident on 'Thursday as wrapping round a cabbage which he purchased. The resurrection of a 66-year-old newspaper is a sign of the increasing scarcity of wrapping papers, for which competition iu some of the retail trades is becoming keen. The newspaper referred to was white and clean, but its’very age illustrates the danger attaching to the use round foodstuffs of paper which has been in the hands of the public and may have been acquiring contamination over a long period. Empire Union Conference. Approval of the conference of Empire trades union representatives suggested this week by Sir Walter Citrine, socretary of the Trades Union Council, lias been expressed by the New Zealand federation of Labour. The secretary, Mr. F. I). Cornwell, said yesterday that in replying to this effect it had been stilted that it was essential that travelling facilities should be arranged from Britain. Tlie cable from Sir Walter Citrine suggested that there should be no net agenda, but that tlie general discussion should be on labour .and production problems arising from tlie war. London was suggested as the venue, and il was stated that facilities would be provided for inspecting British war industries. A I’ress cable message says the South African Trades and Labour Council has proposed that tlie conference should be held in South Africa instead of London.