Unusual, Donation.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 158, 4 June 1940, Page 6

Unusual, Donation.

An unusual donation of 300 live geese has been made to the Hastings appeal for the Sick and Wounded Fund by Mr R. Harding, of Raukawa. Licensing of Shcivvmen. Compulsory licensing of showmen by one authority, in order to prohibit the operations of undesirable types ol showmen and sideshows in New. Zealand, was recommended at the annual conference of Auckland provincial agricultural and pastoral associations. Students Give £SO. A cheque for £SO has been handed in air the office of the Sick, Wounded and Distress Fund by the students’ executive of the Christchurch Training College. The Christchurch and Dunedin training colleges abandoned their annual tournament; and the contribution of £SO represents the money which would have been spent on the gathering. Halt To Negotiations. “No further, negotiations have taken place since the House of Representatives adjourned on Friday,” said the Prime Minister, when referring last evening to the discussions between himself and the Leader of the Opposition. Following remarks made in the House by the Prime Minister and by Mr Hamilton, it is generally expected that discussions in regard to the War Council proposal or any possible alternative will be resumed. Tattoo and Rally. Leaders of Church and State, civic and social life, attended a spectacular military tattoo and recruiting rally at Wellington last night. Among those present were the Prime Minister (Hon. P. Fraser), the Catholic Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan of New Zealand (Most Rev. 1 T. O’Shea), the Anglican Bishop of Wellington (Rt. Rev., H. Holland), the Mayor of Wellington (Mr T. C. A. Hislop), the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom (Sir Harry Batterbee), the Australian Trade Commissioner (Mr C. E. Critchley), the High Commissioner ’'for Canada (Dr. W. A. Riddell), and consular representatives of the Allies.. “This is Illegal.” , Under the caption. “By Gosh this is illegal,” the clever cartoonist Low lampoons Hitler, Goering and Goebbels in the London Evening Standard.- Drawn at the time of the Nazi invasion of Norway, the cartoon shows the Nazis expressing rage, clinging to the funnel of a sinking German warship. At that time Britain was destroying ships of the Nazi Navy, and Norway (still regarded as a neutral by the Nazis) also had several .successes. The chief exponent of the Nazi creed is shown with “Mein Kampf” open in his hands and*, his minions eagerly scanning its pages to prove the assertion in the caption. From the masthead flies the signal, “Hitler expects every neutral this day will kiss his foot.” . .'

A Heavy Decline. The decline in the school population of Otago is the subject of comment in the annual report' of the Otago Education Board. The report states that in 1921, when the province had a population of 137,062, the school roll was 21,991, and that this figure 'fell to 17,745 last year though the population of the province had increased to 151,400. The board expresses the opinion', however, that to obtain a correct comparison, it is necessary to take into -account private-and other schools. On this basis it finds that the figures are 24,003 hi 1921 and 20,219 in 1939, a fall of 3784, despite a population increase of 14 388. “In other words,” 6ays the report, “the. loss of primary school children during the period of 18 years, based on the 1921 figures, is 6294.” The report goes on to state that a fail in an earlier decade was almost made good at a later period, and suggests that “history may repeat itself in the next 10 years.” .

Level rof Lake Taupo. The Public Works' Department has accepted a" contract for raising the level of Lake Taupo by sft to guarantee an adequate flow of water for the Arapuni hydro-electric station. Oranges From Islands. The largest individual shipment ever made of oranges-from the Cook ■lslands arrived at Auckland ""on Friday. The consignment totalled 30.100 cases, portion of which lias reached Palmerston North. No Bankruptcies Registered.

For the month of May there were no petitions in bankruptcy registered at the office of the Deputy-Official Assignee (Mr F. C. Litchfield) for the Palmerston North district. "There were none in May last year also. Force For Norway. A move is on foot to send a special force of Scandinavians resident in Now Zealand to Norway to- link up’ with the Allied forces there. The ap-\ peal is made to all eligible male Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, and Danes. Motor Car Returned.

A motor-car which was unlawfully removed from Cuba jStreet on Monday was found later to have been : returned. The owner, Mr J. A. Couper, of Botanical Road, found nothing missing except about two gallons of petrol. Emu Contest Off.

The Wellington Zoo’s cook emu', Victor, . for many years the winner of the annual egg-hatching contest with. Horace,- champion of the Auckland Zoo, will not defend his title this year. The reason is that Victor’s mate, on whom devolved the important preliminary of laying the eggs, has died. Milk in Schools.

From figures furnished bv Dunedin schools to the Otago Education Board, it was found last'- year.that, out of ,6690 children who were embraced by the free milk scheme, 1202 did -not drink the milk. Of 5488 children who accepted it, 217 left more than half a bottle and 643 left less than half a bottle. Munificent Donation. The Joint Council of the Order of St. John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society has decided to donate £IO,OOO to the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John in England for ,war distress purposes and the National Patriotic Fund Board has undertaken to make the necessary sterling available.—Press Association. Identification of Ships. A sign of Britain’s command of the seas has been given at New Zealand ports in recent weeks bv the reappearance of the names of overseas ships on their sides. Since the outbreak of war the names of British vessels have been painted over,/ a large board bearing the name being placed in a prominent position when required. Eleven Years Ago. It is 11 years ago since the late AirConunodoro Sir C. Kingsfdrd Smith, and his crew of the Southern Cross were lost for 12 days in the wilds of the north-west of Australia. Accompanying him at the time were Messrs O. T. Ulm, H. A. Litchfield, and T. H. McWilliams. The fliers were found 40 miles from Port St. George by Captain Holden. '

Births Figures Double. As compared with 39 registrations of births at Palmerston North in May of last year, the figures for the corresponding month of this year were 78. The deaths registered in May, 1940, totalled 25 as against the same number a year before, but the marriages totalled 33 compared with .39. in May, 1939. Nine marriages were performed by tiie registrar in. May compared with three on the corresponding month a year before. Revaluation at Fcxton.

A. charge of £95 for rates on sections at Foxton lias been made to the Foxton Harbour Hoard this year by the Manawatu County Council. The chairman of tire board (Mr J. Linklater) said at a meeting to-day that the only thing that the board could do about the rates would he to apply to the Valuer-General for a revaluation, as this amount was considered excessive. It was decided to take the necessary steps to apply for a revaluation of the board’s sections at Foxton. Imperishable Fame. Never had .the spirit of England shone more brightly than in the great battle of Dunkirk, of which they were reading from day to day, said Sir Harry Batterbee (High Commissioner for the United Kingdom), speaking at a rally in Wellington last night. There were some defeats more glorious than victory. Such, he was convinced, would Dunkirk be, just as Corunna was the prelude to Waterloo and Gallipoli to the victory of 1918. So long as the English tongue survived the work at Dunkirk would be spoken of with reverence.

Air Force Ceremony. The heavy rain during the week-end somewhat marred the functions held at the R..N.Z.A.F. Ground Training Station at Weraroa, Levin, in connection with, the “passing out” of a number of pilots, gunners and observers. These men arc to be posted to the various schools for further instruction. Gala sports and a military ceremony had to be postponed on account of the weather, but a ball and concert were held. There were visitors from Palmerston North, Foxton, Otaki, Shannon and Wellington, and also 38 representatives from the Air Department.