In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24875, 15 October 1942, Page 4

In the News

Their Good Deeds At least three boys in Invercargill did their good deeds for the day yesterday. An elderly woman, who won a prize in one of the “sudden death” raffles conducted as part of the street appeal for the prisoners-of-war fund, found to her dismay that the prize, which consisted of two fairly bulky parcels, was much too heavy for her to carry. Her dilemma was solved by two small boys offering to carry the parcels to her home on their bicycles. The third boy did a similar good deed. An elderly woman bought a case of apples from an auction lorry. It was far too heavy for her to carry. Some one offered to put it on the tram and another suggestion was that she should leave it in a shop and arrange to collect it next day. The boy made the most practical suggestion. He asked the woman where she lived, placed the case on his bicycle and rode off after refusing a monetary reward for his services. Duration of Session In the House of Representatives yesterday, the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, said he would ask the House to agree to sitting on Saturdays for half a day and on Mondays so that the business could be disposed of as quickly as possible. He made the suggestion because transport facilities were such that members could not get to their homes during a normal week-end. He expected the session to last about a fortnight if they sat right through. There would be a secret sitting towards the end, but he hoped to discuss the man-power problem in open session as far as possible.—P.A. Men for Shearing Men in overseas units of the Army are now being released for shearing, stated the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. J. G. Barclay, in a telegram received by the North Canterbury District Council of Primary Production. Mr Barclay said he had , made representations on the council’s behalf to the National Service Department, which advised him to this effect. The Minister’s telegram was in reply to one sent by the secretary of the council stating that a critical situation was developing and that shed itineraries were being disorganized through the transfer of nominated _ men into overseas units, apparently since nomi- ' nation. The secretary said tonight that the shearing situation in Canterbury was extremely difficult. The information from the Minister might ease the situation, but would not solve sheepowners’ difficulties entirely.—P.A. Change of Seats Some interest was aroused among members of Parliament yesterday in the re-arrangement of front bench Opposition seats in the House as a result of the withdrawal of the National Party from the War Administration and the consequent difference of opinion between the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates and the Hon. Adam Hamilton on the one hand and other members of the party on the other. Mr W. J. Polson has taken the place of Mr Hamilton, who formerly sat in the same bench as the Leader of the Opposition, Mr S. G. Holland. Mr Hamilton has moved into another front bench seat in place of Sir Alfred Ransom, who has gone into a front bench seat vacated by Mr H. S. S. Kyle, who now shares a cross bench with Mr J. A. Lee. Mr Coates has not shifted from his old place in the Opposition benches and is now joined by Mr Hamilton.—Correspondent. Dairy Farmers’ Protest An appeal to the Prime Minister to take direct action to secure to Christchurch milk producers a “fair return for their produce and to prevent the sweating of the industry,”’ was made yesterday by a largely attended meeting of dairy farmers. It was decided to form a co-operative dairy farmers’ association similar to the Wellington body, the chairman of directors of which, Mr J. J. Maher, addressed the meeting. A telegram was sent to Mr Fraser protesting against the fixed price of 11 l-6d a gallon, and appealing to him personally to secure fair treatment for a loyal, patriotic and hard-working body of producers. Mr Maher said dairy farmers were receiving less consideration than striking miners. Mr A. P. O’Shea, Dominion secretary of the Farmers’ Union, urged the dairy farmers to keep on trying to get a fair deal. He said the Mayor of Christchurch, members of the Christchurch City Council and the Christchurch newspapers were unanimous that the industry was being done a grave injustisce.—P.A. Women Jurors Bill The right of women to serve as jurors should they desire is given in the Women Jurors (No. 2) Bill, which was introduced and read a first time in the House of Representatives yesterday. The Attorney-General, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, explained that the Bill was identical with one which had been introduced by Mrs M. M. Dreaver and declared, out of order. The Bill states that any woman between 25 and 60 years of age who possesses the necessary qualifications and notifies the sheriff in writing that she wishes to serve as a juror shall be qualified and liable to serve on juries.—P.A. New Patrol Vessel Another Fairmile patrol vessel for the New Zealand Navy was launched at Auckland yesterday, two weeks after the launching of the first vessel built in Auckland. The job of this trim, ag-gressive-looking craft will be to hunt enemy submarines. As a symbol of the ability of New Zealand craftsmen to build fighting ships, the keel of a third such vessel is about to be laid. Mr W. F. Callum, chairman of directors of the building firm, broke the traditional bottle of wine and the vessel slid into sparkling waters ready for duty.—P.A.