NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26637, 6 December 1947, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Anonymous Orders There are still people who display surprising carelessness when sending money by post and, within the last few days, the secretary of the Otago Centennial Association, Mr VV. Williamson, has received three anonymous orders for pre-publication copies of the book “ The Otago of Our Mothers.” The letters, which all contained postal notes, were from Miller's Flat, Outram. and Dunedin. Mr Williamson said that, until he received advice from the senders, together with the numbers of their postal notes, he could make no move to send out the books ordered.

Wine Shop for Invercargill To cope with the Christmas demand, the Invercargill Licensing Trust will open a wine and sherry shop next week in a room next to the Brown Owl milk bar. No ale will be sold in this shop, and sales will be strictly confined to wines and sherries. Lord’s Prayer at Meetings The Riccarton Borough Council will continue to open its meetings with the Lord’s Prayer. The recentlyelected council made . this decision when the Mayor, Mr H. S. S. Kyle, said that the practice had been adopted at the request of the churches during the war. “I do not think it is anything to be ashamed of,” said a member of the council. Mr Kyle said he thought most local bodies had dropped the practice.

New Coins in Puddings When asked if the new cupro-nickel coins could lead to any serious food poisoning if mixed in with Christmas puddings, the Government analyst at Auckland, Mr K. M. Griffin, said the coins did not contain enougli copper to cause any serious cases of poisoning. When moistened they would show a slight mildew around the edge, but this was by no means a cause for anxiety on the part of housewives. Copper was not, even in its pure form, a serious poison.

Raffles at Schools “ The churches in Timaru run raffles, and if it is good enough for them, then it is good enough for us,” said Mr A. Manning at a meeting of the executive of the South Canterbury School Committees’ Association, when a protest was received from the Timaru Ministers’ Association concerning the participation of children in organised raffles at the four Timaru primary schools. “It is time enough for us to take corrective measures when the churches put their own houses in order.” Mr Manning added. Members of executive agreed with the speaker. Bus and Car Collide The driver of a 1947-model car emerged shaken but unhurt when his car was involved in a collision with a bus which was travelling down Driver’s road yesterday. The accident occurred on a bend at the foot of Driver’s road, near the junction with Queen’s drive. The bus. which was carrying six passengers, appeared to skid on the turn, and as it crossed the footpath to stop with its nose in the bank, the rear part of the vehicle crashed into the car. The driver and passengers of the bus also - escaped injury, but the car was considerably damaged by the impact. Machinery for New Guinea

When the Fort Pic sails from Dunedin on Monday to complete loading at other New Zealand ports, she will carry mining, gold sluicing, and hydraulic elevating plant weighing 25 tons and valued at £3OOO for an Australian company operating at Wau, New Guinea. This will comprise half of the order received by the Dufiedin firm of Cossens and Black, Ltd., some months ago, to replace machinery supplied in 1935 and damaged by enemy action. Before the war this firm supplied plant for about 20 mining ventures in New Guinea, and the present order is the second since the end of hostilities. Compulsory Secret Ballot

“ Communists who have captured union offices by an organised vote may have less success in future if other unions follow the example of the State Executive of the Transport Workers’ Union,” writes “ Granny ” in the Sydney Morning Herald. “It has decided to introduce a compulsory secret ballot for its sub-branch elections next January, with a penalty not exceeding 10s for members who fail to vote. The A.L.P. group in the Transport Union has won control of the State branch after years of bitter faction fights against the Communists. TheyTe convinced they can now keep the Communists out if every member votes at the elections.” Tram Ordered Back “Traffic officers are the executives of the road, and if they tell you to go back you have to go back.” This comment was made by Mr W. C. Harley, S.M., in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court in fining a tramway motorman 10s for going against red traffic lights. The fine followed a lively case in which the officer’s statement that the defendant had ignored the lights was countered by the defendant’s submission that he had gone on to the intersection with the lights in his favour but that the lights had changed to amber and the officer had ordered him to reverse off the intersectionsomething which trams were not built to do.