NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24420, 4 October 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

TSJHEN a number of suburban resi- '' dents, waiting for a tram, crowded into a shop doorway one night this week to avoid a chilly wind, it was almost inevitable that someone should have audibly compared them with Londoners. sheltering from blasts of a much more dangerous type. The remark reminded one woman who was present of a story which had been told in a letter which she had received from British friends. The district in which they lived was subject to air raids, and, as a precaution, arrangements were made for each of the young women of the locality to take care oT elderly couples who might be expected to have difficulty in reaching the shelters quickly. When an alarm sounded on one occasion a young woman dashed off at her fastest to protect the old couple who had been placed in her charge. To her astonishment she found them standing in the middle of the street gazing upwards with evident enjoyment at a dog-fight which was proceeding overhead. Their only remark as she approached was ° casual, “Hurry up. lassie: you’re miss' ing the best of it.” ■

Thieves at Work After breaking into the offices of the Dunedin Ice Cream Company in Ward street on Wednesday night, burglars removed the safe to the ice chamber and forced it open. Their efforts were rewarded with a small sum of money. The police are can-ying out an investigation.

Exchange of Stamps The permission which was previously given to stamp collectors to exchange stamps with collectors m othe: British countries has now been withdrawn. Advice to this effect has just been received from a Government authority, and exchanges cannot now be made outside New Zealand. This restriction will, no doubt, be keenly felt by the young collectors with “ pen friends ” overseas, and also by the older collectors, many of whom will find their lifetime hobby seriously curtailed.

Trade with South Africa In view of increased hade between the Union of South Africa and New Zealand, the absence of an accredited trade representative of the New Zealand Government in South Africa was regretted, said a letter from the Capetown Chamber of Commerce received by the Wellington Chamber. The Capetown Chamber offered its services, therefore, in an honorary capacity, if it appeared it could be of service to New Zealand exporters desirous of finding a market in South Africa, and importers who wished to secure supplies from that country. The chamber was prepared to answer all inquiries and to promote contacts between merchants of the two dominions.

Skeleton in Tea-tree A skeleton, believed to be that of an elderly man, was discovered on Sunday evening in a clump of tea-tree on the slopes overlooking Duck Bay, on the Onehunga side of Blockhouse Bay. It is believed the skeleton must have been there for about two years. There is no clue to the identity of the man. The clothing worn at the time of death included a hat with the initials J. C. on the hatband, a grey suit, overcoat, a felt hat and tan shoes. The skeleton was found by a man clearing gorse from his section.

Women in Uniform “ There are 3,000,000 women in uniform in England to-day,” said Miss Nelle Scanlan in an address to the Wellington Rotary Club. “ They are in the front line of the war; they sign on like men. If they die they are given a military funeral; if found guilty of an offence they are sent to gaol. The only difference is that they get £2 a week while the men get £3 a week. They consider a woman is worth just twothirds of a man. . . , Only last week I had a letter from a gentleman in London, who wrote: ‘ London is full of women in pants looking for sjmeone to boss.’” Smaller Tussocks

“My father has told me that when he first went to the Dunstan, in Central Otago, in the early sixties, one could lese a bullock among the tussocks.” said Dr F. W. Hilgendorf in an address to the Canterbury branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand. “ You could hardly lose a mouse there now, because the tussocks are so small. The probable explanation of the change is that the tussocks of the early .days were just able to survive in spite of the dryness of the climate, but when fires and sheep and rabbits came to aid the drought, the equilibrium, unstable at best, was overset and the tussocks disappeared." Dr Hilgendorf produced a fullgrown specimen of the tussock that is now dominant on the Raggedy Hills, near Alexandra. “ You see,” he said. “ it is about the size of a button mushroom, and would have some difficulty in hiding a bullock.” “A Lying Jade ”

An indication of the ease with which a perfectly normal incident may become the subject of a rumour with such circumstantial backing that it is given credence even by the most soberminded has been provided by the circulation of a story in Dunedin that only recently a large tanker was actually seen jettisoning a considerable quantity of oil and petrol off the Otago Heads. The facts of the case were that the tanker in question, prior to going into dock for overhaul, was required to remove from its tanks all traces of oil and motor spirit which might constitute a danger, and proceeded to sea to wash out the tanks and pump the scourings overboard. Naturally the small amount of residual oil and sludge which accompanied the water through the pumps caused a suspicious gloss on the surface of the sea, and from that evidence of oil upon the waters was born the startling but entirely incorrect assumption that large-scale jettisoning had been carried out. Isolationism Now

“It may be true, as I dare say most of you believe, that however honourable the isolationist ideal might be in itself, the modern world of rapid communications makes it obsolete and impracticable,’’ said Dr J. Y. T. Grieg, professor of English at a Johannesburg university, in a public address at Ghristchurch. “There isn’t a corner cf the earth now in which you can shut yourself away and cultivate your garden secure from all interference by outsiders. Recent events in Europe have made it all too plain that the best you can do is to choose your friends and ally yourself with them for mutual defence; if you don’t you’ll be beaten up, and no ideal in the world will be any use to you then. But the bulk of Afrikaners haven’t yet come round to this practical opinion. As a people they undoubtedly think slowly and hold on to their conclusions. Hence the irrefragable repugnance that so many of them feel to participation in the present war.” Few Desertions

“ It is most unusual in these days to hear of a desertion by a member cf the crew of a British ship,” said the Rev. H. K. Vickery, of the Flying Angel Missions to Seamen, Auckland, when commenting on a suggestion made in the Wellington Police Court that desertions caused great inconvenience. '‘As far as I can learn, there has been only one desertion in Auckland in the last few months, and that was of a boy of 16, He had taken part in the evacuation at Dunkirk, and had done his share well. There was no suggestion of ‘funk’ in the reasons that caused him to leave his ship. For any vacancy that may occur on a British ship there are numerous applications, especially from Englishmen who wish to return to Britain because their offers of service have been refused for various reasons.” Mr Vickery added that it was very heartening to meet British seamen in these times. Their attitude toward the war made him feel proud that they were British and members of the great company of merchant seamen upon whom so much now depended. In spite of the many perils which beset their calling, they had no thought of themselves. Their only concern was the possible dangers to their folk in Britain.