NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 292, 8 September 1942, Page 5

NEWS IN BRIEF

Production Of Lime Rumours have been current in the North Island that it is the intention of the Government to make a cut of onethird in the production of lime. When these were referred to the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Barclay, last night, he said that certainly no suggestion ot that nature had been made by the Agricultural Department. Interest In Motoring. , . . Despite the considerable reduction in private motoring, the Automobile Association (Wellington) continues to attract new members, and 23 were elected at the monthly council meeting last night. Lactation Stimulated. . . A recent discovery of biological war research workers in Britain is that ot two hormones which, when injected into cows and goats, stimulate the mammary glands to full milk production without the normal pre-requisite of calving or kidding, according to a 8.8.0. broadcast during the weekend. Girl Guide Ceremony. Arrangements are being made for luw girl guides and brownies to attend a ceremony at Government House on Saturday afternoon next, when a cheque for £3608 collected by girl guides throughout New Zealand will be handed to the Governor-General, Sir Cyril NewaH, for patriotic purposes. Home Guardsman’s Collapse. An elderly member of the Home Guard, Peter McElwain, married, with an adult family, of Ponsonby, collapsed and died while training with his unit on Sunday afternoon. Mr. McElwain, who was a retired motorman, was paticipating in a rifle shoot. —P.A. Chairman Taken 111. A sitting of the Manpower Industrial Committee, scheduled to be held in Wellington yesterday afternoon, had to be postponed, shortly before sitting time. The chairman, Mr. John Head, had a. heart seizure, and was taken to the hospital. Missionaries Safe, Fears for the safety of Miss A. Burnet, founder of the Central Japan Pioneer Mission, and her first assistant, Miss Dorothy Parr, have been dispelled by a cablegram received by the secretary of the New Zealand council of the mission, Miss F. N. Hewitt. The message states that they have been released from internment and are in good health. Both of these women have conducted lecture tours throughout the Dominion at various times. No Half-yearly Radio Licences. No more half-yearly radio licences can be obtained, their issue having been discontinued by the Post and Telegraph Department because of shortage of staff. All renewals of licences expiring at the end of this month must be for twelve months, and any new licences after that date must be for a similar period. This was the practice in earlier years, but during the depression quarterly and half-yearly licences were allowed. Some time ago, however, the quarterly licences were abolished and the half-yearly licences became the minimum allowed. Gisborne's Future. Mr. James Fairway, Wellington, who spent the last fortnight in Gisborne, stated that the public ther% were agog with excitement over the pending opening of the railway (which took place ■yesterday). He formed the opinion that Poverty Bay, with its genial climate and extensive farm lands, should benefit considerably by rail connexion with Wellington and the rest of the North Island, which it has been denied in the past. "Gisborne,” he said, “is a lovely little town, well-groomed, with wide streets, well-kept shops, and beautiful gardens. It’s dry, warm climate should appeal to many who so far have not ventured that way.”

A Scientific Language. “Even the beginner to the. study of Esperanto will realize how scientifically the language has been constructed,” said Miss C. Craig, speaking at a meeting of the Karori Esperanto Society. "Its faultless structure is undoubtedly apparent when the student observes that definite rules have been formulated to which there are no exceptions. For example, all nouns end in ‘o,’ all adjectives in ‘a,’ all adverbs in ‘e,’ and the tenses of the verbs are similarly recognizable by their endings. Esperanto was built tip mainly from various languages in use today, and this fact explains why the meanings of many words can be easily identified.” No Butter Box Shortage. Fears of a possible shortage of butter boxes due to the change back from cheese to butter, are groundless, according to a statement made by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Barclay, in Whangarei. Steps taken to meet the original scheduled butter production of 100,000 tons for the 1942-43 season, requiring 4,000,000 boxes, have been sufficient to allow an expansion to 5,000,000 boxes required to pack the 125,000 tons of the new programme, he said. With timoer allocations to the butter box pool now standing at 2,000,000 board feet a month, the whole of the season’s requirements will be in stock by the end of December. More Pay in Army- . , Objection by a reservist to an appeal which had been lodged against his military service, on the ground that, m addition to his wish to serve, he would be better placed financially if he were in the Army, was commented on as unusual by Mr. A. M. Samuel at a sitting of the No. 1 Armed Forced Appeal Board m Auckland. “That’s a new one," said Mr. Samuel, for the usual complaint of reservists going into camp was that the pay was less, he said. In this case, however, the man’s salary was £270 a year. He had four children, and the allowance for them would make his Army pay more than his salary. The appeal was adjourned sine die> after it had been shown that he was engaged in essential work. Photographers Meet. There was a large attendance of delegates at the annual convention of the Professional Photographers’ Association of New Zealand, held in Wellington last week. Most of the centres in both the North and South Islands were represented. Besides the domestic business usual at such gatherings, several interesting papers were read, and demonstrations were given of methods in modern photographic technique. The election of officers resulted in Mr. Spencer Digby, Wellington, being returned president. Mr. Claude Ring, Christchurch, was elected senior vice-president, and Mr. W. L. Lampe, Wanganui, junior vice-president Mr. Rolf Keys, Hastings, was ejected honorary secretary and treasurer. Hostel Accommodation. Hostel accommodation for servicemen was in active demand in Wellington at the weekend. Mr. V. Ward, secretary of the jfetropolitan Patriotic Committee, said that 284 soldiers were accommodated with beds at the two combined services hostels on Saturday night. Of these 160 were accommodated at the new hostel in Dixon Street, where the demand was so heavy that men had to be content with a shake-down on the floor. . The position here will be improved a little later on when the top floor is made wholly available for sleeping accommodation. It may also be found necessary to make the two-tiered bunks a story higher, which could easily be done, as there is of head-room ii the new quarters. The cafeteria on the ground floor is proving a great success. »