NEWS IN BRIEF

Southland Times, Issue 24882, 23 October 1942, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF

AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS.—A programme of films demonstrating air raid precaution measures was screened at the Regent Theatre yesterday afternoon for the benefit of Invercargill E.P.S. personnel and others interested. The first series were Australian productions dealing with blackout requirements, indoor home shelters, the best way to take cover if a person vvas caught in the open during an air-raid, methods of dealing with incendiary bombs and the operation of emergency services. A New Zealand film also explained the methods of extinguishing fires caused by incendiary bombs.

HEALTH STAMPS.— HeaIth stamps to the value of £359 were sold in Southland during the period October 1 to October 15. SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE— In the House of Representatives yesterday Mrs AN Grigg (Nat., Mid-Canterbury) gave notice to ask the Minister of Defence if the Government would raise the subsistence allowance of 2/6 a day for those living out of camp to 5/- She pointed out that some of these men were paying 35/- a week for board.—P.A.

LOCAL BODY DEBT.—A review of the operations of the Local Government Loans Board for the last financial year was presented to the House of Representatives yesterday. It showed that the board received applications to borrow sums totalling £458,965. Of this £122,982 was referred back for variotxs reasons. The total of the local body debt was £67,974,529 for the year. Of this £55,883,451 was domiciled in New Zealand.—P.A. REBUILDING AT COLLEGE.— The Education Department has approved of a grant for the reconstruction of the manual training building at the Southland Technical College which was recently damaged by fire. It is hoped that a start will be made with the work in the near future. TRANSPORT UNIT OF E.P.S— The Transport Unit of the Invercargill Emergency Precautions Service held another of its periodic trials last evening. It was a partial rehearsal for the control room staff, marshals’of zones, runners and liaison officers attached to medical, law and order and fire units. Everything worked smoothly, and the high state of efficiency which has been developed in control was noticeable. Mrs G. H. Uttley, liaison officer between the W.W.S.A. and the Transport Unit, has been putting in much time in the work and much of the credit is due to her efforts.