In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24884, 26 October 1942, Page 4

In the News

Issue of Gas-masks An allocation of 40,000 civilian-type respirators has been made for E.P.S. personnel in the Wellington area, ana their issue will begin shortly, it is stated, although none will be made available at present to the general public. Instructors responsible for the distribution and fitting of the masks will undertake a special course at the gas training school in Wellington. After E.P.S. personnel have been equipped, the remainder of the respirators will be held in store for distribution later. Clergy’s Wedding Fees “Please dismiss the idea that wedding fees are a source of income in this country,” said the Rev. P. F. Lanyon at the diamond jubilee assembly of the Baptist Union of New Zealand, when ministerial stipends were being discussed. “In Australia I never married anyone under three guineas or two guineas at the home, but here the wedding fees are appalling.” (Laughter.) The president (the Rev. F. A. Parry) made the delegates laugh again when he described how he once received as a wedding fee a cheque for £2, which the bank would not honour when he went to cash it. Nelson Harvests The picking.of peas on a commercial scale is beginning in the Nelson district on a 30-acre block for the green pea market and canneries. The harvest will continue through the raspberry, stone fruit, bean, hop, tobacco, apple and pear picking periods until about next May. At the height of the season in March, there is expected to be a peak labour demand for 2500 extra people. Plans to obtain these are now being made. A labour pool, from which it is hoped to draw requirements for the different classes of harvesting, is being established. Grave Social Problems “Juvenile delinquency presents a very grave problem,” said the Primate (Archbishop West-Watson) in his presidential charge at the opening of the Christchurch Diocesan Synod. Its frequency he attributed to lack of home discipline, and the absence of a religious background in our educational system. “The incidence of abortion and the unrestricted sale of contraceptives are alarming evils,” the Archbishop continued. “The liquor licensing laws require to be much more definitely enforced. The Church should not only urge upon the Government the necessity of legislation—and the enforcement of it—to remedy these evils, but should also arouse public opinion to realize that moral standards are not just matters of convention or legislation, but are the will of God for man, and essential to his happiness.” Chinese Clerks

“Chinese are among the finest clerical workers we have in our service,” said Mr James Morton, general manager of the South British Insurance Company, in returning thanks for a vote of appreciation passed to the staff at the annual meeting. “To the Chinese the task is always more important than the reward, and their loss is a severe one,” he added. There was no news of the fate of many of them since the Japanese occupied the territory where they were engaged, but all who could be found would receive the bonus that had been voted to the staff. Salvation Army Service An account of welfare work done by Salvation Army officers in the thick of the fighting during the battle of Milne Bay, New Guinea, has been received from Captain C. Cross, a Salvation Army welfare officer with the A.I.F. “Within 500 yards of where we pitched the Red Shield centre,” writes the captain, “the invaders made their initial landing. From that spot for 24 hours we served tea and biscuits in the midst of the tumult. As the A.I.F. came into action the central dispersing point was changed and another Red Shield centre was immediately in action. Here thousands of men daily were served.” In the front line, the wounded were tended and removed to safety, and, as each battalion came out of action, a tea service was established in its lines. Ice Cream Prices

A general but not universal increase in the prices of ice cream and other refrigerated sweets has been put into effect in Auckland over the past few days, and it is understood that the Price Tribunal will shortly issue an order authorizing increases. While one chain of confectionery shops has raised the price of 3d cones to 3Jd, they are still being sold at 3d at most shops. Lines other than plain ice cream, such as cartons and ice-chocolate goods, are now sold at 3Jd instead of 3d and Gid instead of 6d. When sales tax was increased to 20 per cent., retailers were placed in a difficult position, as, when tax was added to lines charged wholesale at 2/- a dozen to sell at 3d, and 4/- a dozen to sell at 6d, there was no margin of profit when overhead had been taken into account. Representations were made to the Price Tribunal a considerable time ago and the current increases are said to have been made on the understanding that a price order is imminent.