LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 December 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Health Stamp Sales. The record week in the health stamp campaign was the eighth period, which mded on November 30, when 136,124 stamps were sold. During this period donations totalled £719 9s 6s, making a iotal for the campaign to date of £4,435 5s 7d. So far nearly 900,000 icalth stamps have been sold.

Orthopaedic Hospital. The Wairarapa Hospital Board decided at its meeting yesterday to support i proposal by the New Zealand Crippled Children’s Society that a separate jrthcpaedic hospital be established at !he seaside. The hospital will be con..rolled by the combined hospital hospial boards in the northern part of the South Island and the southern part of the North Island.

‘Best Country in the World.” "After touring the world,” said Mr W. S. Jenkins, when interviewed at Westport yesterday, “I am quite satisfied that New Zealand is the best country in the world. The cost of living in New Zealand and England is almost on a par, but working conditions and wages in England are bad, whereas they are excellent in the Dominion. New Zealand people should be the most religious in the world and should thank the Lord that they live in this country.” "

Mo Nurses Sitting Room. At yesterday’s meeting of the Waicarapa Hospital Board, Mrs J. Robertson pointed out that while there were three sitting rooms for sisters in the new Nurses’ Home at the Masterton Hospital no sitting room was provided for the nurses. There were about. 32 nurses in the Home and 16 or 17 sisters. The chairman, Mr H. H. Mawley, agreed that the position was not satisfactory and said he had been surprised to find that the nurses had to coms over to the old Nurses’ Home, It was decided to refer the matter to the new Matron, who is to report to the board.

Firemen’s Wages Increased. A decision to place the Auckland Fire Board’s employees on the same wages and footing as the employees of the Wellington board was made by the Auckland board yesterday in response to a letter from the local union stating that because of the failure of negotiations for a Dominion award the union suggested a renewal of the present award, subject to a 5 per cent in-, crease in wages. The superintendent recommended that, the request be granted,. stating that it would be much better than going to court, where the men would probably receive the wage increase in any case. Iron and Steel'lndustry. '

An indication that Ihe iron and steel industry will be one of the major industries under the Government’s seneme of industrial expansion in the event of a survey at Onekaka revealing sufficient ore to justify its establishment was given by the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, in an interview last evening.- He said that investigations were being macle at Onekaka with a view to ascertaining the quantity of iron ore available. Without a thorough investigation it was impossible to lay the foundation of a big scheme. There would be no unnecessary loss of time in completing the investigation.

Business in a Revolution. The difficulties of conducting a business in time of revolution wore remarked upon yesterday, when Mr R. W. F. Newton outlined the recent history of the Mexican oil industry to members of the Christchurch Businessmen’s Club. The greatest difficulty, Mr Newton said, was to know which towns were held by the Government and which by the rebels, and which party the various bands of soldiers that were frequency met with' supported. It was practically impossible to distinguish between the troops of either side, because they wore no uniform. Occasionally one could pick Government troops if a new issue of rifles had taken place, but before a fortnight had passed the rebels were sure to possess half of these supplies, and the conundrum was as difficult to solvo as ever. Bull Rims Amuck. * The peaceful dawn and a large plateglass shop window were shattered yesterday morning when a bull ran amuck in the Avenue, 'Wanganui. After splintering the window of a shop owned by Frankish Brothers and Alp, the animal escaped down the Avenue and ran a mile through the town, to be rounded up finally by a drover and dog outside the Karitane Hospital. When returning to cross the Town Bridge the bull, with its frothing mouth and blood-spattered tides, so startled a woman that she fainted. The bull bolted at about 5 a.m. when there was little traffic about, but the woman was alarmed at 8.15 a.m., after the drover had chased the animal lor nearly three hours. The bull was one of a mob of 50 cattle being driven to the Imlay works, and it broke away at the Town Bridge. The window which was damaged was 12 feet by six met. It was insured.

An Inflationary Trend. The Dunedin Chamber ol Commerce tossed the following resclufon on Tuesday night: "While in fu’l accord "ith the Government’s desire to avoid default in the overseas debt, the •hamber deplores the necessity for the departure of New Zealand from the ;teil ng exchange bloc and the imposition of import restrictions. Il ./iews with alarm this acceleration of lie inflationary trend in our economics, ind urges on the Government the imperative need for internal adjustment o check rising costs and excessive expenditure on unproductive works if hie value of the New Zealand pound : s to be prevented from falling still lower.” It was also decided that the Government be urged to appoint a committee representing all classes of Ihe commercial community to confdr with the Government in the administration of ihe regulations.