NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26624, 21 November 1947, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Ration Coupons

Meat coupon No. 3 will expire on Sunday and No. 4 on November 30. A full row of coupons has the value of 2s Id for adults and Is Id for children, the H coupon being worth lOd and the J coupon 7d. Butter coupons Nos. 1 to 3 in the new book will expire on Sunday, and Nos. 5 to 7 will be available up to December 21 Each butter coupon entitles the purchaser to 6oz. Tea and sugar coupons Nos. 1 to 4 will also expire on Sunday, and Nos. 5 to 8 will be current until December 21. Each sugar coupon entitles the purchaser to 12oz, while the value of each tea coupon is 2oz. A special six-monthly issue of tea coupons is made to persons who have reached the age of 70, and two such coupons, each of. Boz, are available for the three-monthly period ending on January 31. Expectant mothers, nursing mothers and persons who have reached the age of 70 are entitled to an extra Boz of butter a month on production of the appropriate coupon. Country Hotel Sold The Otago Land Sales Committee yesterday approved of the sale of the Grand Hotel, Roxburgh, the purchase price being £IO,OOO. The sale was made from John Copeland Stevenson to Thomas James Tubman, Mr Tubman having been the tenant for some time. The purchase price was not opposed by the Crown.

Price of Tea A reduction of about 5d a lb in the price of tea is expected to become effective in Auckland on Monday, the first day of the new rationing period. The reduction arises from the elimination of sales tax, amounting to 10 per cent., earlier this month. When inquiries were made by the Daily Times yesterday as to the position in Dunedin, grocers stated that they had had no word as to the date of the reduction in the city, but were awaiting advice from the Price Tribunal.

Cupro-nickel Coinage The issue of cupro-nickel coin will be commenced in the Auckland district next Wednesday, and at the same time a token quantity will be put into circulation by the Reserve Bank pending receipt of major supplies, stated the Acting Minister of Finance, Mr Nordmeyer, last night. The Minister, says a Press Association message, added that only four denominations would be issued—namely, the halfcrown, florin, shilling, and sixpence. Threepenny pieces have not yet been received from the Royal Mint. Ignorance of Regulations

“There are so many regulations binding us these days that it is difficult for the average citizen to know when he is breaking one of them,” said Mr F. F. Reid, S.M., when a man, pleading' guilty in the Christchurcn Magistrate’s Court to a charge of using cement without a permit, said that he did not know he was committing an offence. “I have to agree with you there, sir,” replied the defendant. It was the general impression, said Mr C. V. Lester, appearing for the defendant in a later case, that if you had the cement you could use it. Pupils’ Parents Buy School Because the principal of St. Anne's Private Preparatory School at Takapuna, Mrs A. Dignan, had announced her intention of closing the establishment chiefly because of staff difficulties, the parents of the pupils have formed a company known as St. Anne’s School, Ltd., to keep it in operation. The company, which was financed mainly by one parent, will purchase an interest in the school and the lease from Mbs Dignan. It intends to invest any profits in improving the school, taking over as an advisory committee at the beginning of next year. Seeing is Believing A very startled reception clerk at a city hotel yesterday saw a prospective guest stoop carefully as he entered the main doorway, to avoid banging his head on the lintel. As the doorway is seven feet high he could be excused for doubting the evidence of his own eyes, but the image did not shrink to normal size, for it was Dennis O’Duffy, who is no less than eight feet and one inch in height. Mr O'Duffy, who is described as “the Irish giant,” is one of the tallest, if not the tallest, of living men in the world, and he is paying a short visit to Dunedin, before leaving to look down on America., Child Immigration Vital Both the British Government and International Refugee Organisation had appealed to the United Nations to help to solve the displaced persons problem, stated a report on child immigration presented by Mrs P. Ruston at a meeting of the Timaru branch of the National Council of Women. The appeal was aimed particularly at countries such as New Zealand, which had room. Of the 1,500,000 displaced persons, the majority were orphans or children who had lost their fathers and were regarded by those working among them as being good types of people. They were mainly from the Baltic countries. The children were the most needy, and would be the most easily assimilated as immigrants, since they would grow into New Zealand ways and outlook.

Foi rings watches and jewellery, tr> Peter Dick. Jewellers 30 Princes street Dunedin—Advt.