NEWS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 4, 5 January 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

A Mayor Enlists The Mayor of Pctono (Mr. G. London), a son of a Petone pioneer and former Mayor, has enlisted for service in the Special Force. Mr. London is a bachelor and New Zealand’s youngest Mayor. Traffic Under Control The one-car bridge spanning the Rangitikci ltivcr, just south, of Pulls — the longest bridge of ics kind between Wellington and Auckland—necessitated two traffic officers being in continuous attendance from December 23. Tlie inspectors camped on the roadside and had a strenuous period directing traffic and preventing congestion. Not Allowed to Figlit The Comte de Paris, the 31-year-old sou of the Due de Guise, the Pretender to tho French Throne, has been refused permission to join the Allied forces, says a Paris cablegram. The French Premier, M. Daladier, informed him that French law exiled all male members of the former Itoyal Families. The Comte do Paris thereupon oilered his services in London, but they were refused. “Good Old Tiny!’’ Enthusiasm v,as the keynote of the civic reception to Major-General Freyberg in tne Auckland Town Hall. At ono stage when Rt. Hon J. G. Coates, who represented Auckland returned soldiers, referred to Major-General Freyberg there was a cry of “Good old Tiny.** Tiny is the nickname by which the army leader lias been popularly knowu siuco ho held various New' Zealand swimming championships and records before the Great War. Long Arm of Law As tho result of two years of patient work and painstaking endeavour by detectives throughout New Zealand it is now possiblo that the Hcathcote County Council will discover the fate of a new motor-cycle which it bought in 1937 for the traffic inspector (Mr. A. J. Tait) and which was stolen on the night of .September 10, in the same year. The police believe that they have identified the machine which was dragged out of the Auckland harbour on May 22 of last year and a charge will follow. The War Aims “Men of the First Echelon, you will be fighting for something oven more than tho freedom of this small nation,’’ declared Hon. W. Perry, at the farewell to tho troops in Wellington. “This monster who rules Germany has torn down the Cross of Christ from its altars and erected in its place the swastika, or the crooked cross of paganism. You don’t need to read in books what you are fighting for or what our war aims arc. You know that you arc fighting to rid Europe and the world once and for all of the terror and menace of Nazi ruthlcssncss and Nazi paganism.” Three Distinguished Officers

“I went out in the Naval Division to Gallipoli with the three most distinguished officers as platoon commanders who have ever left the shores of Great Britain on an expedition of that nature/’ said Major-General Frcybcrg, speaking at the reception in tho Auckland Town Hall. “The first was Charles Lister, scholar of Eton, with double first in ‘Greats’ at Balliol, a great scholar, who would have risen to any position in the Foreign Office. The second was Patrick Shaw Stewart, an equally great scholar, probably one of the greatest classical scholars at Oxford for 100 years. The third was the national poet Rupert Brooke. ” Pilsudski’s Daughter Jadwiga, 19-ycar-old daughter of Madame Pilsudski, Poland’s most distinguished exile, wants to join the Royal Air Force. She flew frequently when the family home was at Belvedere, just outside Warsaw, and wanted to fly with the Polish Air Force. They would not let her. She has asked the French to tako her as a qualified Polish pilot and permit her to fulfil her dream, states a special London correspondent. “They all very properly have said ‘No,’ ” her mother observod, “but my daughter has tho unquenchable spirit of her father and her race and her heart has alw;iys been in the air.” Madame Pilsudski is living with her daughters, Jadwiga and Wanda, in a very small London suburban villa. She is awaiting the hour, as sho expresses it, when Poland will rise again. Gimcrack Dinner Cancelled Tho war has been responsible for the cancellation of the annual diuner of the Gimcrack Club. It would have been tho 173rd. anniversary of a function which had never previously been broken, says a London correspondent. The dinner commemorates the exploits of a little grey horse named Gimcrack who, curiously enough, never won a race at York. It is given by the Brethren of Ye Ancientc Fratcrnitie of Yorke Gimcracks. ” Tho guest of the evening, when able to be present, is the owner of the winner of tho Gimcrack Stakes, York’s most important two-year-old race. It is his privilege to reply to the toast of “The winner of the Gimcrack.” Many notable speeches have been made by prominent sportsmen, some of which have had effect on turf politics. This year tho race was won by Tant Mieux, then owned in partnership by Mr. Peter Beatty and Prince Aly Jvhan. Tant Mieux has since been sold to the Maharajah of Ivolhapur. Gifts for Prisoners Major-General Sir Ernest Swinton, in his weekly war commentary, states that gifts are being showered on German prisoners of war by anonymous British sympathisers, reports a message from London on December 22. “There is no evidence,” he states, “that these prisoners are not properly fed, so it is a sign of unhealthy sentimental hysteria which seems to prevail in some people at a time of national strain. It would be far better if these cranks ceased to p6t prisoners, who, although merely carrying out orders, are comrades of perpetrators, or possibly themselves perpetrators, of atrocities. lenders should compulsorily inscribe their names and addresses, the subsequent publication of which might divert their generosity to a better objective. Parcels w'hich are not inscribed should be handed over to prisoners’ guards.” Sir Ernest Swinton’s criticism follows newspaper stories contrasting pampered prisoners with forgotten guards.