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Evening Star, Issue 23700, 7 October 1940, Page 4

Territorials in camp at For bury Park and at Wiugatui freely availed themselves over the week-end of the facilities of the 11.5. A. Club, which have been offered to them during the course of their three months’ training. Tho club is usually closed on Sundays, but will be opened on those days during the poi'iod of the camps. Meals are provided at special rates, and these have been much appreciated by the visiting troops. A party of 10 British children evacuated from their homes for the duration of the war will reach Dunedin by tho North express at 5.1 this afternoon. They will be met by tho mayor (Mr A. H. Allen) and members of the British Children Committee and will bo informally welcomed and introduced to their foster-parents in the mayoral rooms at the Town Hall immediately afterwards. No fewer than 100 Auckland women have been interviewed by the Superintendent of Police, Mr J. Cummings, during the past fortnight in response to an advertisement calling for applications for women police. Many of the applicants have good qualifications for the work. The date upon which applications must be entered has not yet been announced, and no appointments have so far been made. ’ “ Everything, with two exceptions, suits and overcoats, is far dearer here than in New Zealand,” wrote Sergeant L, E. Judd, of the Second Echelon, in a’ letter from England to his parents in Hamilton. Sergeant Judd said suits were extraordinarily cheap. An eightguinea suit in New Zealand would cost at the most £3 10s. He had seen nothing at all, even in Regent and Bond street shops, over £5 10s. The suits, he added, were of wonderful cut and style. Chimney fires at Anderson’s ■ Bay road at 9.15 on Saturday night, and at Highgate at 7 last night, were extinguished by the South Dunedin and Roslyn Brigades respectively. At 9.38 this morning, an automatic false alarm was received from tho Chief Post Office, while, at 11.9, a chimney fire in Bay View road was attended. Compounding of cocktails is an art, or science, calling for all the accuracy and skill of the apothecary; hut certain elements in- it are absolutely indispensable. Will supplies of these be available in the near future? The question is a serious one, according to tho angle in which it is attacked. France and Italy, as suppliers of vermuth, are out of it for the moment. Holland itself is xinable to export the liqueurs for which it was famous. England can and does continue to supply dry gin, variously described as “ Blue Ruin ” and “White Satin”; but Cognac, being occupied by the Germans, is not in a position to pick no its trade in liqueur brandy. There are signs that the coektail habit may go, and, going, may take a long time to return. The first of this season’s locally-grown hothouse tomatoes to appear on . the local market were offered at auction this morning, and brought 4s 7d a lb. They were grown by Mr Wright, of Waverlcy, and were of first-grade quality. One of the most widely-cii’culated “ scare ” rumours in the history of New Zealand, and perhaps the most “ well authenticated,” was current in 1881-83. It involved a Russian “ threat.” This period was referred to several times at the reunion of the Dunedin Highland Rifles Ex-members’ Association on Saturday night, and one speaker recalled a paragraph which appeared iu a New Zealand paper to tho effect that a Russian man-of-war, having mistaken the entrance to the Auckland Harbour, bad carried on and been wrecked near Thames. -Of course, tho Russian Navy, said the speaker, was no nearer Now Zealand then than it was to-day. Rumour has a numerous progeny and. remembering the uncertainty of the international position to-day, it is interesting to see that Russia, though a, vastly changed Russia, is stiil the Power which the world regards with speculative doubt.

Good .service badges are to be awarded to New 7 Zealand Royal Naval Reserve Class “ C ” ratings as an encouragement to keenness and efficiency in tho reserve, states a 1 Gazette ’ notice. These badges are unpaid and may be awarded gratuitously, up to a maximum number of three, by the commanding officers. On each occasion of ratings joining for training, their service certificates are to be scrutinised and the ratings awarded the badges for which they are due. Two or more badges may be awarded at the same time if a rating is eligible. Service required to qualify is as follows: —-For one badge, four years; two, eight years; three. 12 years. During his previous period of training a rating’s character must have been assessed as “ V.G.” The award of badges will lapse on mobilisation, but deprivation and restoration of any badges held on mobilisation will take place, and badges earned prior to mobilisation may bo granted. Time served during mobilisation, or temporary service in tho Naval Forces in response to a call for volunteers, will count towards the award of badges on return to the Royal Naval Reserve.

Pastoral conditions are excellent in Southland, and in the Invercargill area especially, it was found by the ‘ Star ’ on a visit over the week-end. Lambing has produced excellent results, and stock, assisted by the fine, open weather, is in tip-top order. Lambs generally are probably more advanced than in Otago, while the pastures are replete with lush grass, so that this rich grazing land looks fully up to the present standard of the Taieri Plains. Certainly the weather has been favourable to the south of New Zealand at a time when increased production has been the order of the day. To judge by the numbers of latest additions to flocks the output from sheep will be a bumper one.

The requirements of members of the Expeditionary Force in England were described by Sergeant L. E. Judd, in a letter from England to his parents, Mr and Mrs L. V. Judd, of Hamilton. In answer to his mother’s inquiry, be said that all that would bo really acceptable would be coffee, sweetened milk, barley sugar, and metal polish. “ Anything else can be bought here just as cheaply as in New Zealand,” he said, “ but coffee and sweetened milk are invaluable, particularly for an emergency drink on manoeuvres.” Sergeant Judd also said that handkerchiefs wore always acceptable.

That a New Zealand trade representative in South' Africa would help to foster trade between the Union and this Dominion is suggested in a letter received by the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce from the Cape Town Chamber. “In view of the increasing trade between the Union of South Africa and New Zealand my management committee regrets the absence of an accredited trado representative of your Government in this country,” writes the secretary of the South African body. “ 1 have therefore been directed to write to you, offering the services of this chamber in an honorary capacity if it appears to you that we could be of some service to New Zealand exporters who wish to find a market in South Africa and to iniporters who may wish to secure supplies from here. I should bo grateful if you would advise your affiliated chambers that we are prepared to answer all inquiries which may be addressed to us and to promote contact between the merchants of South Africa and New Zealand.”

The Railway Department advertises in this issue train arrangements and die issue of special excursion tickets lo Dunedin in connection with (he Dunedin races on October 12 and 14.