General News

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 29 August 1942, Page 4

General News

Freak Iceland Poppy An Auckland gardener has cut from a display of Iceland poppies one flower of most unusual colouring. One of the four petals has one orange and one white portion, the next is white, the third is almost equally divided into white and yellow and the fourth is yellow and orange, so that the whole flower is yellow, orange and white in approximately equal portions.

More Freezing Works Suggested “That the sum of money held in the Meat Reserve Fund be set aside for the purpose of acquiring one freezing works in each province, to be run on strictly co-operative lines, the works to kill all classes of meat,” was a remit forwarded to the North Canterbury executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union by the Motukarara branch. The proposal was put forward by Mr I. L. M. Coop and approved by the executive. “A Wonderful Club for Girls”

“I think the Women’s War Services Club in Christchurch is a wonderful club for the women in the armed forces, and I do hope they make good use of it,” said Lieutenant-Colonel V. Jowett, Commandant of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, Army Headi quarters, Wellington, when she visited the club during a tour of units in which women are serving in the Christchurch area. “If parents only saw this club and saw how well it is run, they would be very happy to know their daughters have such a place to go to in their hours off duty,” she said. “They have their own rest rooms there, and also a room in which they can entertain their men friends. When J see other clubs of this kind established throughout the Dominion T shall feel we have something to talk about.” Relief Goods Reach London Amidst the news of steamers being sunk and the consequent non-arrival of letters, etc., It will be very gratifying to all the Red Cross voluntary helpers of New Zealand to learn that a further 42 cases of relief goods have reached London, and the War Purposes Committee has received from the Liaison Officer of the War Organisation of the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John of Jerusalem further indications of how pleased and thankful they are that we are able to continue sending such valuable help, and in concluding the letter of acknowledgment the War Organisation asks the New Zealand Council to convey their most sincere thanks to all those who are associated with these generous donations.

Child Labour The Factories Act provides that no boy or girl under 16 years shall be employed in a factory unless the occupier holds a certificate of fitness relating to the child. The issue of certificates to the number of 4298 in the year ended March, 1942, compared with 4199 in the previous year, is recorded in the annual report of the Labour Department, which states that 196 were for boys and 284 for girls under 14 years. Children under 14 are not permitted to be employed on machines, although in some workrooms girls over 14 are employed at light work on power machines of the standard type. Public Servants on War Duty

The large proportion of Public Service officers and employees who are or have been on active service with the armed forces is mentioned in the annual report of the Public Service Commissioner, Mr J. H. Boyes. Although at the outbreak of war the number of males in the Public Service was not more than 14,000, there are at present 6054 officers and employees away and 623 have returned from military duty. The total who have served, therefore, is 6677. To meet the position, the report states, every form of work which cannot positively be classed as essential is being discarded. A total of 3200 women have been employed so far for wartime duty. The impressive part played by them in carrying on the State service had made possible the release of such a high proportion of the male officers.

Service Car to the Rescue Slight concussion and bruises were suffered by Isly Ivan McGregor, aged 52 years, when the car he was driving got out of control and overturned at the Black Bridge, Mount Furneaux, ten miles from Kaikoura, on the Wairau inland road, about 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Mr Maurice Gibson, a service car driver, extricated Mr McGregor from the car, which had jumped the creek and was upturned and conveyed him to the Kaikoura Hospital, where he was reported to be making satisfactory progress. Eyesight and Accidents

Striking evidence on the relation of defective eyesight to accidents comes from America, where a big organisation had the eyesight of 1150 of its motor drivers tested. The examination revealed that 85 per cent, of the men possessed some defect of which they were not aware. Eight were quite blind in one eye, 26 per cent, needed glasses for driving, 11.5 per cent, were colour blind, 67 per cent, were unable to judge distances properly, 18.6 per cent, could not estimate accurately the speed of approaching vehicles, 35.4 per <s£nt. were slow in recovering from the effects of dazzle by approaching headlights, and 37.4 per cent had defective side vision—i.e., blind spots of six degrees or more. It is stated that a comparison of the accident-record cards of the motor drivers who underwent the examination revealed an amazing reY lationship between the type of accident in which the driver had been involved and the eyesight deficiency indicated. Little Wear on Private Tyres

The motorist who has reasonably good tyres, and is allowed to purchase only the ration of petrol, has no need to worry about not being allowed to buy new tyres, states the “Radiator,” the journal of the motor trade in New Zealand. Half a coupon a month permits a car on an average to run 40 miles a month, or about 500 miles a year, whereas tyre manufacturers claim a useful life of 18,000 miles for their products. Thus, in theory, a tyre at the present rate of use would last 36 years, disregarding deterioration through accidental damage, age. and exposure to air, oil and dirt Even a tyre threequarters worn would last nine years.

Kea Probably Electrocuted Two of the popular keas of the Blenheim aviary recently escaped, reports “The Express.” One has returned and, with a wink, settled down to his meal but the other has been found dead by the police and, as there were no visible marks of injury, the present theory is that he was electrocuted. Keas are ground parrots, but they can fly with speed and complete silence. They are not feathered Harvards. Probably he went up a pole, attacked the insulation and died from shock. Cases have been known at the pumping station, the Power Board’s engineer, Mr G. F. MacLean, states, where keas stripped the insulation on an 11,000-volt line. All that remained of these electrical experimenters was a pair of singed legs and in another case on a 6000-volt line, the beak was burned badly.