NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 34, 4 November 1942, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF

£5OO Reward The Comm issiontr’. ot; Police. Mr. D. J. Cummings, stat'd last': night that a reward of £5OO is offered any person affording information to the police which leads to the apprehension of the person or persons who murdered Brigadier Annie Smyth and her sister, Miss Rosamond Smyth, ut Wairoa. Lilac as Rat Bait. Girls in a Geelong (Australia) : otlice found lilac disappearing from vases on their desks. They suspected rats, and baited five traps with lilac flowers. Next morning each trap had caught a rat.

"Wc Have No Eggs,” A grocer in one of Wellington s suburbs, who has no doubt been harried by his customers’ plaintive inquiries for eggs, has painted the following inscription on ins window: “We have no eggs. W« don’t know when we are getting any. We don’t care.” . -

Shortage of Plumbers. “How are we going to build our 10,000 bouses after the war?” asked Mr. Justice Tyndall in the Court of Arbitration, in Wellington, yesterday, when the scarcity of plumbers was being stressed. . He said that it might be that building operations -would be held up because of the shortage. of-, plumbers.

Increased Gas Output. The statement that its output had increased by 18 per cent, since the outbreak of war was made by a representative of the Wellington Gas Company to the Manpower Industrial Committee yesterday. He added that the labour problem hall become acute as the number of men employed at the gasworks had formerly been 92 and now was 71. Cheque for Turnbull Library. A public-spirited friend of the Turnbull Library, wishing to pay' a tribute to noth the Churchill Auctions and the library, called yesterday and presented to the librarian a handsome .cheque to be used for purchases at the auctions tomorrow. He expressed the hope that his example would.be followed by others in appreciation of the institution set up by Alexander Turnbull. Red Cross Life Memhership.In recognition of long and devoted service, the following have been elected life members of the New Zealand Red Cross Society:—Lady Myers aud Mr. L. O. H. Tripp, Wellington; Lady Wigram. and Mrs. H. H. Smith, Christchurch; Mrs.-A. M. Ferguson, Auckland; Miss 1. McLean, Dunedin. These are the first life memberships conferred by the New Zealand Red Cross Society since its iu- . eeption. Metal Trade Group Officers. Officers elected at the annual meeting of the Melal Trade Group of the Wellington Manufacturers’ Association are as follows:—Chairman, Mr. N. W. Thomas ; vice-chairman, Mr. T. W. Featherston; treasurer,. Mr. W. Kenyon; executive, Messrs, T. Toombs, J. Cable, L. Southward, K. Pallo, R. Burn, N. Jones, J. Coates, R. D. Greenwood. J. Gifford, E. Ulrich, W. Bishop, C. H. Andrews, K. Macauly, G. Gunderson. Failure to Report. For failing to report for military service, Frederick. George King, labourer, aged 29, was sentenced by Mr. Stout, S. in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday to two months’ jail. King denied the charge, saying he had not received a notice to report and was willing to go into the Army or go. to sea. He had lost an eye while doing military work at Treiitham, he said. Senior-Sergeant T. Campagnolo’said King had not notified a change of address. He had been medically graded three and he had been sought for 12 months. Social Security. Friendly societies on the West Coast are protesting against the Government administration of the Social Security Act, alleging that members are denied benefits of the Act. At Greymouth a meeting carried a resolution of protest against the penalizing of members by tiie department withholding security benefits should a friendly society secretary u.>t supply information of benefits received from’the society by sick persons, 'the legality of the department’s action was questioned.—P.A. Cartage of Lambs. Problems relating to the cartage .of lambs for the new season are creating concern nmong members of the Feilding Branch of the Sheepowners’ Federation — its territory covers a large part of Wellington Province—and the branch has decided that in view of'the wide difference of opinion, among various stock committees it is highly desirable that the Minister of Transport should- endeavour to bring down a more uniform, policy throughout the Dominion on all major questions, matters of local ’ importance only to be handled by the local committees.

£7OO Sewn In Clothing. A curious instance of the prejudice that exists in some quarters against entrusting money to banks was disclosed during the bearing of a case in the bupreme Court, Auckland. The plamtitt was an elderly woman who brought with her from England some years ago £<IW in British bank notes. She said that for five years she carried these round with her sewn iuto her clothing. From,time to time she exchanged some of them for an equivalent number of New Zealand notes without receiving any extra payment. ”1 had not paid any-exchange on them,” she said, “and I did not sec, why other people should.” Commercial Careers. A fresh record ill the number .of entries 2242 from 998 candidates —has been made this year in the commercial examinations to be conducted shortly by the AVellington Chamber of Commerce. All the established centres (2<), from which entries are received are represented These embrace districts from Kait.ii'a to Gore.' Mr. P. E. Pattrick, who reported this to last night’s council meeting of the chamber said that. there was great difficulty in obtaining junior .'ina intermediate office assistants . Mil •“ number of students at commercial colleges was sadlv depleted. However, the number of entries for the chamber s examinations was gratifying, specially as last year was also a record. Co-ordination of Policy. “During the year from informal discussions which were held a proposal has emanated that there should be closer coordination between the New Employers’ Federation, the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation, the Assoeiatod Chambers of Commerce, and other similar organizations, insotar as S cn, ' r ‘ l IKilicv matters are concerned states the nnuiil report of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation, “lhere is o suggestion of amalgamation as naturally there is to some extent a sectional interests for wmeh these organizations exist. There are, however, many problems in connexion with which joint discussions with the great adiantage of joint representations to the Governmen or elsewhere could no doubt be made. Old Records Wanted.. , The National Patriotic Board “as received a request from a camp in the Wellington district for some second-hand gramophone records. Two years ago a similar request was made, "’th t e result that some* hundreds of records were produced from Wellington homes, and duly forwarded to ~ llel e au’ !^. 1 ' re Imvetevidently had thetr lla - v ’ du ' l r are now needed. These veootds arc not only wanted in the big camps but I t are isolated defence posts " -btre w " gramophone music makes a . break in tlie daily rouUne 1 ’eople • in'’ such records and willing to ol li„ • means will be found to collect and deltwr litem.

<4 Plumbing by-laws lah! down by different ''l^ 1 bo, }F® "f mented on during the Iteming W'fiinHon 6 ye'steKlay? m/j“V dall sti'id it was a"Ptrange thing that niuinbin” practice winch nad been inforce in'’New York, the largest city in the United States, the country whien was acknowledged to lead the world u plumbing, was not allowed to he used in AVellington. His Honuor also said th'il certain sanitary equipment, whien freely used in Christchurch, was not allowed to be installed tn AA ellington. A witness said that building by-laws only operated within two miles of boron hs. beyond which every comity council hart its own by-laws.