NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 16, 14 October 1943, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF

Heavy Rain Again

Following a dull and slightly showery morning, rain set in about midday yesterday in Wellington and gradually increased in volume till evening, when it reached a steady downpour. Between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., 1.43 inches had been registered at Kelburn, bringing the total fall since the month began to 4.48 inches. With less than half the month passed, this well exceeds the mean rainfall for October, 3.62 inches. The waters of the Porirua Stream were lapping at the railway bridge shortly before midnight, and trains were being piloted across. At Last Sonic Fish. After a month's fi.sh famine, a fairly plentiful supply of soles and flounders was available in the retail fish shops of Wellington yesterday. These were sold at the Price Tribunal’s fixed scale of prices, which meant that a fair-sized flounder could not be purchased under 2/-. City Rain Damage £15,000. The recent heavy rains caused heavy slips in the Wellington City Council’s area, and the necessary repair work, which will be undertaken as labour is available, will cost £15,000. At the council meeting last night Cr. 11. .M. Macalister asked that citizens be. patient concerning repairs; the council was doing its best.

Electric'.Power Supply. The conference of the New. Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation in Napier decided to call upon the Government to take every possible step to rectify the critical position in respect of electrical power. One delegate said the position was not only due to war conditions, but to the Government’s failure to foresee a shortage.—P.A.

8.8. C. News Broadcasts. Starting on Sunday next, the 8.8. C. news broadcast which has hitherto been transmitted from Britain and rebroadcast from all the main stations in New Zealand at 6.15 p.m. daily will be transmitted 'by the 8.8. C. at 6.0 p.m., New Zealand time. The National Broadcasting Service will record these (broadcasts and rebroadcast them at the same time as hitherto, 6.15 p.m. An Earlier Prophecy. “Last time I was with you I made a prophecy, something to the effect that we might expect some good news soon,” said the Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, addressing members of the Tin Hat Club at their tattoo in Wellington last night. “That statement carried the fame of the Tin Hat Club far afield'. I even had a cutting sent to me from Britain . . . Well, you’ll understand if I make no prophecies tonight.” Private Drain Connexions. Responsibility for private drain connexions will not be accepted by the M ellington City Council, which will, however, give further consideration in this respect when normal conditions return. The council decided this last night, and also agreed to give sympathetic consideration to requests from owners for financial assistance toward defraying the cost of repairs to private drains on public streets where the cause for repairs arose from conditions over which the owner or occupier had no control. World Champion Boxer in Army. ■Sergeant Joe Louis, heavyweight professional boxer of the world, will shortly be in Australia with the special service department of the United States Army. Few are held in higher esteem than this coloured man, who rose from rags to riches, (but remains unspoiled. He has defended his crown more often than any other heavyweight champion ever did, and is the first to wear it in the service of his country as a soldier. Since entering the army he has given the whole of his earnings from two fights to war funds. Medical School Addition. A start had 'been made on afive-story building costing £200,000 as an addition to the Medical School at Otago University. said Professor D’Ath at yesterdays quarterly meeting of the committee of the British Empire Cancer Campaign Society (New Zealand branch). One floor would be devoted to research, and in it a suite would (be provided for cancer research. The 'building would also have a new animal department which _ would take care of experimental w’ork likely to be required. It would be completed in March, 1945.

Pipe Bridge Traffic Control. Cr. E. M. Gilmer suggested at last night’s Wellington City Council meeting that United States .personnel now controlling traffic on the Hutt pipe bridge should not unduly exercise their powers in the admonition of civilian drivers. Cr. Will Appleton replied that it was much to the council’s interest that the pipe line under the bridge carrying the city water supply be safeguarded. Traffic over the briddge had to be controlled, and the United States authorities, who used the bridge considerably, furnished this control. This minimized danger.

Tilings Do Change. “Things do change,” said 2nd Lieut. Keith Eliott, V.C., when speaking at the Tin Hat Club’s tattoo in Wellington last night. He was on the platform with the Governor-General, the president of the .club, Mr. Elston, Lt.-Col. L. W. Andrew, .V.C., and Captain S. Frickleton, V.C. “The last time I met the Gover-nor-General was in Britain. Before his arrival our colonel, Lieut-Col. Andrew, came along and inspected us and promptly shot us off parade again telling tfe: ‘Go and get dressed.’ Tonight, when I met Colonel Andrew he greeted me with: “Come and have a beer.’ Things do change.”

Retreader as Batman. A statement that an experienced tyre retreader had served in a military camp as a batman was made by a witness before the No. 2 Armed Forces Appeal Board, Auckland, when the Diamond Retread Company appealed for the release from the army of Frederick George Rakich, aged 20, on the ground of public interest. All men in the trade were working overtime, said the witness, and there had been no retread men out of work for 2| years. Owing to the shortage of tyres, the firm’s work had greatly increased, much of it being done for the armed forces. The board decided to recommend release, the case to be reviewed after three months. Comments on Voting Papers. During the counting of votes at Auckland, it was found that an elector had struck out the names of all the candidates and added the remark: “What a lot I” Whether he was thinking in terms of quality or quantity is not quite clear. Another wrote in “Another blow _ for Labour” and others showed enthusiasm for the candidates of their choice by such remarks as “Too right” and “My oath.” Apparently dissatisfied with the political malerial offering, a city voter struck out all names and inserted “Roosevelt.” Another drew a line across the paper and wrote “I vote for Socialism.” One elector wished his candidate "Good luck” and another appended the exhortation “At ’em, boy,” to the name of his choice. Summer Milk Prices. These summer selling prices of milk and cream, to operate from November 4, subject to ratification by the Price Tribunal, were approved by the Wellington City Council last night:—Bottled milk. CJd. a quart (retail), 1/9 a gallon (wholesale), less rebate of lid. a gallon for and over 250 gallons a month ; bottled cream, 1/10 a pint, lid. a half-pint. 6(1. a quarter-pint (retail), 12/4 a gallon (wholesale), less rebate of Id. a pint for and over 100 pints a month. In September, 13,515 gallons of milk were sold for domestic consumption, an increase of 43.36 per cent, on September, 1912. Similar figures for cream were 64,274 pints, a 38.56 per cent, increase. Last month 22,738 gallons of milk were supplied to schools. Other End of Scale.

A good deal of adverse criticism had been levelled at the supposed high wages paid to junior workers, aud the demoralization of too many of the young people through their having far too much money to spend, stated the annual report of the Dunedin Vocational Guidance Association. While this might be so in a few cases, the experience of those observing the labour market in Dunedin was that highly paid jobs for boys and girls were relatively few. There were still callings, particularly apprenticeships, in which the wages were small when compared with tho remuneration offered to other positions which gave equal prospects of future advancement. While much was heard of the large wages earned by juveniles, there was almost complete silence regarding those who received low wages,...