NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 225, 20 June 1944, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF

Carrying £4OOO

When an elderly man collapsed in a. Christchurch street recently, it was found, when his clothing was being searched for some identification, that he was carrying £4OOO. It is not known whether it wag his practice to keep the money with him or whether he was merely transferring it. The man was taken to hospital.

Egg Issue. . Wellington is to have a distribution pt one egg per butter ration this week in addition to the priorities distribution, the acting-director of the Internal Marketing Division, Mr. Fraser, said yesterday, speaking on the authority of the Minister of Marketing.

Bodies Recovered. The bodies of both youths who had been missing since a dinghy wag found capsized off Brown’s Island, Auckland, on June 5, have now been recovered. The youths were Bernard Ellis Kelsall and Raymond Thomas Friend, both aged 17.—P.A.

Gaming Offences. James Hassall was fined £75 tn the Magistrates’ Court, Greymouth, yesterday, for using premises as a common gaming-house. He pleaded guilty. It was stated that he had five previous convictions, the last in 1935. John Joseph Shannahan, similarly charged, was fined £2O. He was a first offender. —P.A.

Navy League School Souvenir. , „ The Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, has consented to allow his autographed photograph to be used for the Navy League school souvenir for 1944. A message from his Excellency stressing the importance of the Royal Navy and the mercantile marine to the security of the Empire accompanies the photograph.

Sales Without Coupons. Refusing to accede to counsel s suggestion that he adopt the same course as a Wellington magistrate in a similar Case by dismissing the charges as trivial, Mr. H. W. Bundle, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Dunedin, fined Sydney Cooper Johnston and William Duncan McKenzie £2/10/- each on charges of selling rationed clothing without requiring the surrender of coupons. The articles concerned were a scarf and socks.—P.A.

Navy League Membership. The annual report of the Wellington branch of the Navy League shows that the school membership of the branch exceeded 4000 for the year under review, made up of 1520 from the Wellington branch, 1509 for the Nelson sub-branch (full branch from January 1), 556 for the Rangitikei sub-branch, and 507 for the Masterton sub-branch. The membership of the Navy League Sea Cadets is 75.

Youth’s Theft. “You’re to go home, stay there, and take any work offered you,” said Mr. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday, when admitting Robert Hampton Geen, suit presser, aged 18, to two years’ probation for the theft of a wristlet watch, valued at £7/10/-. Accused had taken the watch from a pawnbroker’s shop and sold it to a sec-ond-hand dealer for £2. He had been previously convicted ot theft and was on probation.

Brick Barricades Removed. The brick barricades erected in front of the cellar windows of the Wellington Town Hall have been removed on the Mercer Street frontage. There the work of erecting a ramped entrance way is now well in hand. Part of the old steps (built of Victorian bluestone) have been removed, and the foundation of the concrete wall that is to flank the new ramps has been completed. This entrance to the hall will not be available to the public till next month.

Posts on Footpaths. . ~ , Working in co-operation with the owners of properties, the tramways, lighting, and post office authorities, the city engineer’s department of the Wellington City Council endeavours, where practical, to dispense with the old-type postsupported veranda in favour of the cantilever type. This is being done in Willis Street in connextion with the restoration work on the McGill Estate property, between the Majestic Theatre and Boulcott Street. Thirteen veranda posts, and three tramway and overhead services posts are to go. Time Blacked Out The only public clock of any prominence in Wellington east is the four-faced one (from the Town Hall) in the tower of the Central Eire Brigade station in Clyde Quay. For a few years before the outbreak of war many people came to depend upon this clock as a guide to the time after dark, but ever since the blackout was instituted the illumination of the clock has been discontinued. Though there has been a resumption of normal conditions in other directions, the illumination of this clock appears to have been overlooked.

Memorial to late Mr. W. S. la Trobe. A. request from the New Zealand Technical School Teachers’ Association that space should be provided at the Wellington Technical College for a memorial to the late Mr. IV. S. la Trobe.was agreed to by the college board of managers) last night. The chairman of the board, Mr. Appleton, said it' was fitting that a memorial to a man who had done such, great service to technical education should be housed in the college in which a great part of that service had been given.

Master Briddayers. At a meeting of Wellington master bricklayers held recently for the purpose of considering many urgent problems affecting the trade, it was found that results could only be achieved by elose co-eperation and consultation so it was unanimously decided to form an association, A further meeting was held and the objects, rules and regulations were adopted. An executive committee was elected as follows: —Messrs. H. x • Berry, W. Black, A. Bryant, F. Bryant, J. Evans, E. Perry and J. C. Saulbrey. Mr. J. Evans (Petone) was appointed chairman for the current year and Mr. Ralph V. Jones, secretary-treasurer.

Police Supervision of Wadestown. “Every effort is 'being made to provide a resident constable at Wadestown at the earliest possible date,” states the Minister in Charge of the Police Department. Mr. Webb, in a letter received b.Y Mr. Combs, M.P. for Wellington Suburbs. The Minister, who was replying, to representations by Mr. Combs regarding the replacement of the police constable who recently retired, stated that in the meantime police supervision of the l° c 6’ity was being exercised by a. constable from the Central Police Station. lhe Police Department, he added, was experiencing considerable difficulty in obtaining a suitable house either to rent or purchase for use as a police station at Wadestown.

Prisoners of War. Advice concerning the transfer ot another 41 New Zealanders from Italy to Germany has reached the Prisoners or War Inquiry Office. In addition, notifications of two escapes to Switzerland ana one to the Allied lines have been received. There are now approximately -84 .New Zealanders who were known to be in Italian camps at the time of-the capitulation and whose present whereabouts are unknown. The Prisoners of War Office advises that the quarterly parcels are beinjr dispatched as usual. One hundred tons of banana flakes, conditioned in airtight tins, is a recent gift for prisoners of war from the Red Cross committees in Brazil. The value of the gift is about £12,000, and, in addition, the committees are meeting toe cost of freight and insurance.

Staff Relationships. The fact that one firm found a, considerable improvement in discipline in its workroom after making ariwngements for hostel accommodation for girls wno needed it. is referred to in n re Port t® the Auckland Vocational Guidance Council. A great improvement resulted in the behaviour of the girls and in their attitude toward their work, and this improvement was reflected throughout the staff. The firm felt that it bad achieved more from its interest in the "iris’ living' conditions than from any other effort for the betterment ,of the staff. A partial improvement m staff relations had been brought about as the result of providing recreation within the factory. Other efforts by the firm included' assistance in buying foodstuffs more cheaply.