NEWS IN BRIEF

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

NEWS IN BRIEF

Armistice Day r A notice published in last night’s Gazette over the signature of the Prime Miuister, Mr. Eraser, asks citizens and traffic control authorities throughout New Zealand to observe the practice adopted in the Dominion on former similar occasions of two minutes’ silence from 11 a.m., and the suspension of all vehicular - traffic during that period, on November 11, which is; Armistice Day. Where a service, is held it is suggested that it should be at the local cenotaph or war .. memorial. Tjpical of the Times. “We have no alarm clocks or watches for sale,” is a sign which appears in the show window of a Wellington place of business which, in normal times, deals m such ware. Rose Day Appeal. . . The Ileturned Services Association ap- .- peal'for funds will be made in Wellington and surrounding districts today. Special point is given to the drive for funds by the numbers of men who are returning from fighting overseas and have to -be assisted iu re-establishing themselves in the life of the Dominion. - ; Fall from Train. Having fallen off the inwurd-bound Rotorua express, a meat exporter, Arthur Thomas Moulder, aged 50, married, was found on Wednesday lying beside the railway line at the Orakei station. He is suffering from a fractured skull and shock, and his condition is fairly, serious.—P.A. Fewer Sports Grounds. Fewer grounds for summer sports will be available in Wellington this season. Those not available include Anderson Park, Hataitai Park, Central Park, Kaiwarra Park, Nairnvilie Park, the Lyall Bay reserve (not used for such sports since 193S)', the Soccer ground at Kougotai, and the old polo ground at Miramar. Angling Prospects. T . The Rangitikei and Manawatii Rivers are both discoloured, but the smaller streams in tbe Manawatu area should be right .for fly-fishing tomorrow, says the Wellington Acclimatization Society, reporting on weekend angling prospects last night. AU other streams iu the society s district should also be in good order for fly fishing. ; . . Chocolate Vanishes. '- Chocolate has disappeared ciitifely from many of the. shops iu Wellington city. The proprietor of one of the dairies in 'Wellington said yesterday that servicemen had stormed tbe place and bought all the luxuries they could find. He added that it'was only natural after having been away from, them for any length of time. > Sentence for Theft. . “He . chose .to make himself a. foe, of society arid he should realize that a life of crime doesn’t pay, because the greater part of it is spent in jail.” said Mr. Justice Callan, sentencing Alfred Thomas Neckelson, labourer, aged 24, in the Supreme Court, Auckland, yesterday to two and a half years’ jail on 24- charges of breaking, entering and theft from dwell-: ings. The stolen property was valued at £332. Italians for Gardens. Appeals to the Wellington Manpower Industrial Committee yesterday by two brothers, Guiseppe di Mattina and Giovanni di Mattina, and by A. Johnston, Ltd., on behalf of Salvatore Famularo, against a direction by the manpower officer that they should accept employment with tho Department of. Agriculture in Palmerston North as . garden workers, were disallowed. Plimmor’s Ark. • . Best-known of the landmarks of early Wellington was recalled at the Churchill auction yesterday when a teakwood ornament made from timber of the ship Inconstant sold for 10/-. When this vessel was wrecked, it was beached where the Bank of New Zealand now stands, and there John Plimmer, the “father of Wellington,” built a two-storied house on itg deck. This became known as “Plimmer’s Ark.” .

Russia’s National Day. Flags are to be flown on Government buildings throughout New Zealand tomorrow in honour of Russia’s National Day. The Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, said yesterday he was sure that the people of New Zealand felt that the magnificent resistance put up by the forces of the Soviet Union and by . the heroic Russian people merited the highest honour they could pay. Mr. Fraser also asked that reference be made to this anniversary at any public functions held tomorrow and that flags be flown in honour of our Russian Allies. Christmas Mail for Troops. Christmas mails dispatched this year to New Zealand soldiers in the Middle East constitute a record, comprising 14,862 bags compared with 13,572 for tbe corresponding period last year. The Post-master-General, Mr. Webb, said yesterday that parcels included in the mails totalled 126,918, while the number of letters dispatched was estimated to be about 250 000. , The total weight of all classes of mail matter was 853,3501 b. It -was expected that the mails would reach the Middle East in plenty of time tor delivery to be completed before Christmas. Rush for Ration Books Over. The initial rush in Wellington for the . new ration books is over. It actually began to lessen in intensity toward the end of last week. This week the staff ot girl clerks has been cut down by 50 per cent., as the number of applicants has eased off to such an extent. Most of the t staff were new to the work when the issue began, but after the first day, they settled down in good style, and favourable comment has been made of tbe expeditious manner in which they dealt with the crowds which besieged the office in “The Dominion” building. An Appeal Allowed. Employed for the past four years as a bookkeeping machine operator by a debt collecting agency, a . young woman who appeared before the Wellington Manpower Industrial Committee yesterday appealed against her direction by the manpower officer into the Public Service as a clerk. She maintained that it would mean a decrease of 2/6 weekly in her wages. The issue revolved round the question whether Public Service rates of pay, with sick pay and other concessions, were equivalent to those J la y 3 under the clerical workers’ award, lhe appeal was allowed. Jail for False Pretences. Charles Bonner Collins, found guilty of false pretences, as the result of the cashing of a valueless cheque at Hawera, was sentenced by Mr. Justice Johnson in tbe Supreme Court,'New Plymouth, yesterday, to a year’s imprisonment with hard labour. The judge commented that Collins, who had spent a considerable part of his life in prison and had been declared an habitual criminal in 1924, tho impression of being a man of ability who could have lived a happy and useful life had he changed his outlook and taken some trouble to control himselt. Collins is at present serving a sentence of three months’ hard labour for false pretences.-—P.A. Valueless Cheques. . Having admitted that he had obtained £5 by issuing three valueless cheques iu Wellington and Petone in December, 1940, Arthur Leonard T. Fisher, blacksmith, aged 43, was sentenced to n* l ’ l -' months’ imprisonment by Mr. Stout, S.Miu the Magistrates’ Court, cilington.. yesterday. There were three charges, and on each charge a penalty of three■ mouths imprisonment, was imposed, the terms to be cumulative. A charge of attempting mi Oetobr 23 to obtain £34 trom a job I licensee by falsely representing ‘hat *''• could obtain 14 eases of whis ky pn.ami brandy from the Customs on tile paynje-i--of. £34 was dismissed. Mr. R. I. M. Sutherland appeared for Fisher.

Young Soldiers Senfeneed. “Undisciplined louts. are in the Army than in civil life, said Mu Justice Johnston in the Supreme Cour., New Plymouth, yesterday morning, when sentencing three young soldiers on a series of charges of breaking, entering and theft and attempted breaking and entering, to whicli thev pleaded guilty in the Magistrates’ Court last week, lhe men were Tames Ernest Marti, Owen Mervyn ilowse and Stanley Thomas Part, lhev were admitted to probation for 12 months conditional on paying £lO each towaru the cost of tho prosecution and the restitution of stolen or damaged goods, and thev are to be returned to the Army detention camp from which they escaped.— P.A.