National Patriotic Fund.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 January 1940, Page 4

National Patriotic Fund.

The principal of a girls' secondary school has given others a very fine lead in systematic giving to the national patriotic fund. Recently Mr G. A. Hayden, secretary-treasurer of the National Patriotic Fund Board, received from her a cheque for £1 Ils, representing her contribution at Is a day for December. Accompanying the cheque was a letter, in which the principal intimated that she proposed making similar regular contributions each month and suggested that others might feel disposed to do likewise. Profitable Side Line. One outcome of Christmas and New Year celebrations in Hastings has been the profit accruing to small boys from the disposal of bottles—beer and whisky—found on empty sections and back-street corners. A baby's pushchair proceeding along Heretaunga Street the other day, powered by threesmall children carried the unusual burden of a varied assortment of bottles which the youthful dealers watched with tender care. This must surely have proved quite a lucrative enterprise for the holiday period. An Audience's Reaction. Some idea of the reaction of Mr. Average Man to the peculiar technique of Herr Hitler was gained in a Hastings picture-theatre recently when a newsreel shot of that person employing his usual stand-thumping mode of address while speaking to the Reichstag was flashed on the screen. A medley of boos and laughter in approximately equal proportions greeted his appearance, while row upon row of goose-stepping soldiers evoked only mirth. Evidently the Fuhrer and his men are still regarded merely as figures of fun by the majority of New Zealanders. Closing Date of Exhibition. Emphatic denial of rumours that the Exhibition would close before its allotted span of six months was completed was given yesterday by the general manager. Mr C. P. Hainsworth. He repeated that it would not close till the end of April. "It has been brought to my notice that there is a suggestion circulating in various parts of New Zealand that the Exhibition might close toward the end of February." said Mr Hainsworth. "This is by no means the case. Intending visitors to the Exhibition can rest assured that it will not close till toward the end' of April, as originally planned. A definite closing date has not yet been announced, but that does not mean that the Exhibition will close months, or even weeks, before it has run its full course of six months. It means merely that the actual day of closing has not been decided because, if this decision were made, it would leave no room toward the end of the Exhibition for it lo be extended or cut short by a few days to fit in with the weather and holiday crowds."

Hitler says: “This will be the most decisive year in German history"—he does speak the truth sometimes.