NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 106, 29 January 1943, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF

Civil Defence School The'Directbr of Yn'L' J, S. Hunter, stated last night that the Civil Defence School of Intstruction would be inaugurated in Wellington on Monday in accordance with , th ? merits already announced, but that it was not proposed to proceed with the-appoint-ment of the full-time operations officers as had been intended. ' ■ Hutt Valley Hospital. ■ Total expenditure to date in the Hutt Valiev hospital and nurses home is £225,365. G °A d proclamation gazetted ihst night brings the Sea Carriage of Goods Act, 1940, into force on March 1, Hospital Statistics. . For tlie month of December admissions to the Wellington Hospital totalled 10(3 and the daily number of occupied beds 830.2. There were 406 operations.

Angling Prospects.,- . . The Wellington Acclimatization Society reports that recent rains have improved the rivers and streams throughout the district, and waters are again clear. 1 respects for weekend' angling are favourable. Price of Apples. , . The maximum retail price for apples is fixed at 6d. per lb. by a. price order issued last evening. The maximum wholesale price is not to exceed 13/6 a standard case.

Grading of Potatoes. . The grading of potatoes is altered by an amendment gazetted last night. lor merly one and a quarter inch square was used for deciding under-grade potatoes. This has been altered to an inch and a half square. Working Week. , A statement that emergency regulations are expected to be issued soon, extending the working week to 48 hours, is made by the Hospital Boards Association in a letter received by the n ellington Hospital Board.

Cliild Injured. , n , , At ?.35 yesterday afternoon, John lullock, Kged 4, 53 Victoria 'Street, Petone. was knocked down by a motor-van on the corner of Vivian Street and Kent Terrace. He was taken to hospital by the Free Ambulance suffering from a fractured left thigh and head injuries.

Massage Department. , v xv ' An endeavour is to be made by the ■Wellington Hospital Board to find suitable accommodation in the city tor a subsidiary massage department for the treatment of service patients. At a meeting of the board last night the'opinion was expressed that the financing ot such an -institution should be done by the Government, not by the'ratepayers. Engineers’ Certificates. By an amendment to the marine engineers’ examination rules gazetted last night, the over-all service required from engineers before sitting for the examination for tlie second-class steam or motor engine certificate has been reduced by six months. This provision is made to enable competent men to quality and so reduce the shortage of certificated men. Lorry and Van Collide. ™ u On the Wellington Working Men s Club corner, shortly before 3 p.m. yesterday, a timber-laden lorry, bound from Mercer Street into «Victoria Street, hit the onside of a scarlet postal van (with woman chauffeur), which was rounding the club corner into Mercer Street. The lorry pushed in the front bumper and mudguard and smashed the headlight of the van. Neither driver was injured.

National Savings. Investments in national savings in Wellington for the first three days of this week amounted to £3500. Jms leaves a 'balance of £4495 to be subscribed by tomorrow to reach the citys quota of £BOOO. National savings is an important part of the plan of w-ar finance, and as such it is expected that citizens will invest the amount required in the remaining days of the week.

Pathetic Matriculation Sequel. Behind the list of matriculation results published this week is one of life s tragedies. A young Auckland girl, stricken with an incurable disease, decided, nevertheless, to study at home for the. examination. and! when the annual examination was held arrangements were made lor her to sit for the papers privately. Lhe young girl’s name was included in the list o. successful candidates, but she did not learn of her success. Her death had occurred a few hours earlier. Portrait of Mr. Churchill. In Wellington recently Sir Harry Batterbee, High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, presented a signed'portrait ot Mr. Churchill to the New Zealand Returned Services Association. Terhaps, when the achievements of the present war are written, Mr. Churchill will be recorded as the greatest leader in the Empire’s history, and what an inspiration the leadership o£ Mr. Churchill had been to the people o£ the Empire in Britain s darkest hour,” said the Dominion president of the association, e Mr. Perry, in thankjng the High Commissioner.

Hospital Accommodation. “The citizens of Wellington are debarred from hospitalization unless they are dying—or nearly so,” saul Air. FL r . Toogood at a meeting of the AA ellin ß ton Hospital Board last night. He was referring to the fact that, because of lack of accommodation, only acute c f se f could now be admitted. He urged that one of the board’s architects should be released from the Army to help push on the building. There was a grave danger, he said, that if action were not taken there would be no hospital accommodation available for men requiring it when they returned from overseas.

Soldier Absent 115 Days. According to evidence given at a court-martial in the AVellingtou district. Private William Ansenne Clarke °ot 12 hours’ leave on September 14, 1942, and did not return to the Army till January 7, 1943, when h'J surrendered himself to the military police at Auckland, wearing civilian clothes. He was charged with desertion. Captain C. 1. Crane, prosecutor, said accused must have known he might have missed an overseas draft while absent. . For accused, Captain R. AlcEwan, said family difficulties were responsible for accused’s absence. He was able, while absent, to maintain his wife and child, which he had bc?n unable to do on Army pay. r I lie Court s finding will be announced after promulgation.

(Jost of Apricots. "In order to meet the demands of the armed services as well as the public, 50 per cent, of thes Otago apricot crop is lo be dried or canned to replace what would normally be imported, and as a safeguard against abnormally high prices for the remainder, a price order was issued last night fixing the price throughout New Zealand. The effect of this is that the maximum wholesale price in Otago and Southland will be 8/- a 201 b. case ; in Canterbury, 8/6; in the northern end of tlie South Island and the southern half of the North Island. 9/6; anil in the Auckland province 10/6. The retail price will not exceed the following: Otago, Southland and Canterbury, B|d. per lb.; northern end of South Island, and southern half of North Island, 91d.: Auckland. IOJd.

Fire Warning. Wellington lias now entered upon tlie driest season of the year, when the grass and scrub is so devoid of moisture that it is likely io take lire on the least encouragement. One st.eh case occurred within lhe city limits last week when a whole steep hillside below,Sar Street became a flaming inferno for over an hour and the tire brigade bad to use much valuable water in getting the lire uuder, before it did material damage to property. Wellington can ill afford at tlie presell 1 time to waste thousands of gallons of water in subduing gorse and grass tires, and people are asked to exercise the greatest care with matches and cigarette ends, and when lighting camp fires. A recent outbreak in the Williams Park bush. Day’s Bay. high up the hill behind the pavilion, was only just caught in time. On that occasion Hie services of the Eastbourne Fire Brigade were called on.