NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 32, 2 November 1942, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF

New Group Of Sunspots

Mr. G. V. Hudson reports that after about two months of comparative quiet a group of three fair-sized sunspots of considerable activity appeared round the eastern limb of the sun on October 28. It it at present favourably placed.for observation and will shortly pass the sun s central meridian. The greatest length of the group is about 120,000 miles. None of thA component parts is more than 40,000 miles in diameter. Liberty Loan. . t , Additional investments in the secona Liberty Loan include: —Golden Bay demerit Cd.; Ltd., Scoullar, Co., Ltd. £a00; George Ihomas and Co., Ltd., £1000; Arthur Jacobs, £500; S. J. Newland, £500; b. I) .ory, Ltd., £500; Wellington Gas Co. Ltd., £2500; British Empire Filins (N.Z.), Ltd., £2500; N.I.M.U. Insurance Co., £5000; Charles Hill and Sons, £200; IV. and R. Fletcher (N.Z.), Ltd.. £oooo. Will Appleton, £250; Bristol-Myers Co., Pty., Ltd., £2OOO. Rongotai College Masters. Since the outbreak of the war, 1J masters of Rongotai College 'have left. With the exception of three, all are now serving in the Army, Navy or Air Force. “Witlr the constant changing of masters at the college, the modern lines of education which were planned two years ago, are difficult to maintain,” said the principal of the college, Mr. F. Martyn Renner, yesterday. “The continual change of the staff has a bad effect also on those boys who intend to sit examinations at the end of the year.” Repairs to Duke of Edinburgh. Repairs have been commenced on the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel at the junction of Willis Street and Manners Street. This is being carried out under the direction of Mr. A. G.. Wells, who is also concerned in the re-building of the Roxy boarding house aud shop premises opposite. The severe damage done to buildings in this neighbourhood brings to the memory that a crack running rising ground at the rear of the Hotel St. George to the old harbour front is said to have opened in the earthquake of 1855. New Conscience Plea. “You are appealing on the grounds or conscience?” asked the ehairmau, Mr. E. A. Lee, of a reservist. Hugh Tregeagle Burnside, a railway ganger, at a .sitting of the No. 1 Armed Forces Appeal Board in Christchurch. “Yes,” replied Burnside. “My conscience tells me that I should be in the Army.” “That is not conscience as we understand it," remarked the chairman, amid laughter. Burnside said that he believed he could serve his country best in the, Army, and he felt'the same about all-Grade 1 men. The Crown representative, Dr. A. L. Haslam said that it was refreshing to hear a different type of conscience appeal. .Gold Mining to Bomb-making. Workshops in South Africa belonging to gold mining companies have been converted to war production, and new shops erected. One illustration is that of a bomb-producing machine shop, the foundation for which was cut in June, 1940. The machine shop is 44ft. by 220 ft. It was finished and the machines were running in June. 1942, and the first bomb was completed by July 4. The machines needed were made in the workshops or several different mines; the material used included old railway rails, second-hand motor-car gear boxes, and various odds and ends. All the lathes with which the shops are equipped were made by mine engineers and mechanics in this way. Saving of Water. Though the reservoirs at Karori are filled with water, and a fair ■ amount of water is flowing over the spillways at Wainui, there is still no excuse for wastage of any kind. The town clerk has had occasion, to remind, people with gardens and lawns that they are not legally entitled to use hoses for watering unless fhe water passes through a meter. One of the steadiest causes of wastage in Wellington is, the automatic water sluices common in lavatories in large buildings and public places. At times these devices are permitted to function all through the night without need. City council officers have now asked those responsible'to cut off such sluices after the main body of the occupants leave the building. Vocational Centre. Good progress is now being made with the foundations of the new Governmental vocational centre, being erected, on the site of the Brougham Hill Tennis Club’s courts. Up to the present much of the work done has been the reducing of the ground to a common level. There is still a big chunk of high ground to come away at the north-eastern corner of the block. The ground is of such a nature that a high retaining wall will be necessary to prevent slips. Excavation work is also proceeding in the centre of the block for the underground accommodation of the boiler-room, which is to Supply central heating for the whole of the premises. Already part of the foundations are down in ■ the southeastern corner. Ambulances Follow Bombers. '• A letter dated August 21, received in Wellington from a former member of the Wellington tramways staff, reads as follows:—“We have some American Field Ambulance units with us, and, believe me, they do a great job of work. Whenever the Stukas come over you (Jan see those boys start up their ambulances aud follow the track of the planes, and ns soon as the vultures drop their bombs, in they go, and gather up the wounded. . . . We bad two of our men hit on our gun position one day, and as soon as the dust cleared, an American ambulance was there, and.the men were back at a dressing station, loaded on to a plane for Helwan (Cairo) hospital, bathed, and in bed within about live hours—some going.” Emergency Rations. Thousands of tons of Britain's new “welfare” biscuits are> being stored away in preparation for u national emergency. The biscuit has been evolved, after many teste, by British biscuit makers, who are now, to the number of 240, united with the cake-makers in the Cake and BiscuitManufacturers’ Wai-time Alliance, a nonjirofitmaking organization. The biscuit is made from wheat meal flour, the purest vegetable fat, and the finest grade of sugar. It gives the maximum of nutrition at the low price of 9d. per lb., aud the industry-regards it as the best value ever offered to the public. The biscuits are mainly oblong, for, although the ingredients are standardized, the shapes vary a little so as not to limit production to a few cutting machines. They are carefully packed in tins stored in cases of 501 b. weight, which will preserve them indefinitely iu all climates.