NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 285, 31 August 1942, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF

Parachute Escape

An airman pilot under training at a .South Island R.N.Z.A.F. station escaped by parachute when Ins aircraft got into difficulties near the aerodrome about midday yesterday. . He was engaged on solo flying practice and jumped from a height of about 2000 feet, escaping with a sprained ankle.

Young Woman Killed. Overtaken and struck by a motor-car as she was about to cross a bridge. in Gisborne on Friday night. Miss Isabel Dalgleish Miller, aged 23, was killed. She was well known as a hockey player and .represented Poverty Bay for several years.—P.A. A Judge’s Experience. “It is not a skilled occupation. I lune done it, and would not shrink from doing it now,” said Mr. Justice O’Regan in the Compensation Court in Hamilton. The question had been raised as to whether a person concerned in the case was qualified to act as a shot-firer in a quarry.

Remedial Treatment. “You do not have to undergo treatment,” said Mr.. T. P. McCready, a member of the No. 1 (Auckland) Armed Forces Appeal Board, to an appellant. Tfie man said his medical grading hau been deferred, as he had to have treatment for varicose veins. Mr. McCready stated that, under an order issued •davs before, a reservist could decline to undergo remedial treatment. He would not be punished for-doing so.

Unexploded Bomb Dealt With. Though the Home Guard bomb disposal Unit in Christchurch has not long been receiving instruction, it hitsi already had a practice with a live bomb. This was one fired by a mortar. It did not explode so the services of the new unit were called on and, though the smail bomb could have been dealt with more easily, the correct procedure for dealing with larger types was followed. lhe bomb was blown up with explosives.

Women Fail to Report. Reporting to the North Canterbury Hospital Board on the efforts of the manpower officer to assist in the provision of staff, the chairman, Mr. L. B. Evans said 38 young women had been directed to go to the hospital for interviews. Or those only 31 Eight commenced work, but two walked out after a day or two, and one was-withdrawn, lhe. remainder had not reported for duty. The manpower officer was. in possession of the facts, and no doubt some actiou would be taken.

Armed Forces’ Sports Gear. . “A terrific amount of patriotic funus is thrown down the drain because of the waste of sports goods,” the secretary of the National Patriotic Fund Board told the Canterbury Provincial Patriotic Council last week. “At the end of the cricket syasoii all the gear is thrown bolus bolus into a shed and left to fall to bits. Then we are asked for new bats, etc. The various services have now agreed that if the Patriotic Council will outfit a unit with complete gear then that unit will maintain and renew that gear when necessary.”

Pests Increase in Britain. War has brought about a tremendous increase in-the seriousness of the wild, pest menace in Britain. Bombing practice by aircraft at sea has driven seabirds inland, and’gun-testing along miles and miles of the coast have brought about a general migration of rats, rabbits and foxes. Hosts of carrion crows, with no gamekeepers to keep them in check, prey upon newly-born lambs, and foxes are so numerous in the Welsh mountain ctountry that shoots are being organized to keep the pest down. Many of the agricultural war executive committees have been compelled to employ ratcatchers. “Near Miss.” . An explanation of the term “near miss was given by Mi*. B. de 8.. Gates, recently home from Malaya, in an address to the Otago Ironmasters’ Association last week. Like most people, he had considered the term a strange one, but during the Japanese bombing of Singapore he had found that a near miss, particularly where shipping was concerned, could produce the most devastating results. A direct hit might cause considerable damage and start fires on a ship, but quite often a ship so hit would not sink. A near miss, however, often removed the entire side of a vessel, which then, of course, became a complete loss. All Right Till Then. The prospect facing female volunteers of the Christchurch E.P.S. of having to take on their own shoulders most of the responsibility left by male wardens transferred to the Home Guard, was being discussed by the mixed section of a suburban group a few nights ago, reports a correspondent. “I suppose,” said one of the wardens, "the women will just have to carry on alone as best they can. But it is a question if they will be as efficient as the men in the event of a raid. There was no lack of confidence among lhe women. “We’ll manage all right,” a women’s section leader assured the warden, adding only the slight reservation, “so long as it’s not the real thing. ’

Broken Glass and Tyres. “A matter which in these times ox tyre shortage should surely have the attention of the authorities was that ot broken glass on the streets,” said Mr. V. Mitchell, chairman of the Wellington Taxi Control Committee, at the weekend. Broken beer bottles seemed to be nobody's business. He kueiv that taxi drivers were suffering from it and so no doubt was every other road user, lhe regulations about broken giass should be enforced. Controlling authorities should instruct all. their roadmen and inspectors to pay first attention to clearing up broken glass. That was one wav in which tyres could be saved and a campaign would be well worth while.

War Amputees. Subjects of particular interest to war amputees will be discussed at the annual conference of the New Zealand Iv ar Amputees’ /Association, which is to be opened by Mr. Berry, M.L.G., on September 2. Nearly fifty remits will be considered. They deal with pensions and allowances, rehabilitation, artificial limbs and facilities, and repatriation of the Second N Z.E.F. war amputees. Discussing the question of artificial limbs, the annual report states that the association had continued with its policy of erecting better facilities for their manufacture. The Government, in conjunction with the Disabled Servicemen’s Re-establishment League, had negotiated for an up-to-date factory in Wellington and for branches to be established in other centres.