In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24835, 29 August 1942, Page 4

In the News

Invercargill Singer When in Christchurch with the Southland Boys’ High School choir last week, Mr Jack Thompson, son of Mr and Mrs R. Thompson, Swinton street, was invited to make a gramophone record of two songs, “The Erl King (Schubert) and “None but the Lonely Heart” (Tchaikovsky). The record was played over to some Invercargill music enthusiasts at Charles Begg and Company’s studio last night. It gave a good indication of the fine quality and unusual range of the young . baritone’s voice, which was highly praised at an audition in Dunedin a few months ago by Mr Peter Dawson, the famous Australian singer. Several musical authorities have predicted a remarkable future for the young Invercargill singer, whose voice is as yet untrained. Monkey Recaptured Driven indoors by heavy rain, a monkey which escaped from the Auckland Zoo on Monday was found asleep in a Westmere washhouse about 8 o’clock on Wednesday morning and was easily captured by two keepers who were summoned by telephone and arrived with a small net. The monkey, which is of the variety known as Macque, actually returned to the same house at which it made its first appearance on Tuesday evening. It was its friendly disposition which led to the monkey’s escape. Whenever its cage is opened it comes out to be petted, and on Monday afternoon a large group of school children gathered around gave it the chance to edge away and to climb the nearby hack wall of file zoo. Big Effort Needed An unusually big effort will be needed this morning if Invercargill is to reach its National Savings quota this week. Up to the time when business closed for the day yesterday afternoon a sum of only £7OO had been received, leaving £1343 to be collected to reach the quota of £2043. Invercargill has reached its quota for 40 weeks in succession. Greengrocers Fined Four greengrocers were fined by Mr A. M' Gouldings, S.M., £7/10/- each and a fifth £4 on a Price Tribunal prosecution at Wellington yesterday for selling potatoes at a greater price than permitted. Mr Goulding refused to hear defence submissions of what he termed more or less technical objections. Addressing the Court on the question of penalty, counsel contended that the regulations were unreasonable and confusing.—P.A. Final Discount Day Invercargill ratepayers, who have not yet paid their rates for 1942-43, and who wish to benefit from the 2J per cent, statutory discount, must make payment on Monday, as this is the last day that the discount operates. The amount paid in yesterday was £4547 compared with £7533 on the corresponding day last year. The amount paid in since the rate collection began on August 3 is £47,607, or nearly half of the total levy of £99,045. The total amount paid during the discount period last year was £47,956, almost exactly half of the total levy of £95,982. With one working day of the discount period still remaining, the percentage should be higher this year. Extra Uniform Men in battledress are likely to present a smarter appearance in the near future, as a second set is to be issued to men of all ranks other than officers. This announcement (says The Otago Daily Times) will be greatly appreciated by the men themselves, who, except for a set of denims, have been compelled to wear their one issue of battledress continuously, and even this strictly utilitarian outfit could probably be improved with an occasional press. Members of the W.A.A.C. are also receiving an extra uniform, and later they will also have two sets of battledress. As evidence of the shape of things to come, a new field service cap is replacing the soft one now being worn, and some WAA.C. members have received an issue of the new cap. It is certainly more military-looking than the one it is replacing.

The Near Future “It is difficult to say what the near future means when used by the Public Works Department in these days,” said Lieutenant-Colonel W. Bell, acting chairman of the Southland Education Board, at the meeting of the board yesterday when a letter was received from the Public Works Department stating that draining work at Surrey Park school would be attended to in the near future. Freezing Works Control “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 a meeting of 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. Sharing State Houses

The New Zealand Returned Services Association recently made representations to the State Advances Corporation about granting permission to tenants in State houses in certain circumstances to keep boarders or share the house with friends. The association suggested, in particular, that tenancy agreements might be revised to allow the wives of men absent on service to take in boarders to supplement their incomes. The association has been advised that as a war-time concession such permission may be granted by the corporation. This does not mean that the clause in the tenancy agreement prohibiting subletting or keeping boarders is relaxed, but that in certain cases the corporation is prepared to consider applications on their merits. —P.A. War Widows’ Pensions

“At the present time about 90 per cent, of the returned soldiers from the last war who are dying are suffering from the effects of war service, but not from war disability,” declared Mr W. Fi H. Stone, secretary of the Invercargill R.SA., yesterday when outlining to the District Council of the R.S.A. the purport of a remit which had been sponsored by the Invercargill R.SA. at the annual conference of the New Zealand Association. “We maintain that in such cases the widow should get a war widow’s pension, particularly where war disability had been a strong contributing factor to the husband’s death,” he added.

Stock Disposal Order General support for the newly-estab-lished central committee for the transport of live stock was given at. the annual meeting of delegates constituting the Electoral Committee of the Meat Producers’ Board. Mr Lachlan Maclean said the Fat Stock Disposal Order had been introduced in spite of the board’s opposition. The effect was to deprive farmers of the right to have their stock killed in whatever works they desired. It also undermined the board’s policy of fostering competition and enterprise in every way. Under the Transport Control Emergency Regulations, the whole question of the disposal of fat stock should be further reviewed, and every effort should be made to see that there was no overlapping or waste. The first steps would appear to be to revoke the Fat Stock Disposal Order and to support the central committee on transport, which was fully representative of the primary industry.