Direct Radio Communication.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 February 1942, Page 2

Direct Radio Communication.

Direct radio communication was inaugurated yesterday between New Zealand and the United States of America. Appropriate messages were exchanged between the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, and the President of the United States, Mr Franklin D. Roosevelt, and between Mr Fraser and the New Zealand Minister to Washington, Mr Nash, Wheat Crops. The threshing of wheat is in full swing in the Wairarapa now that the weather has improved. Although no very serious damage has been done on account of the unsettled weather experienced recently, a continuance of those conditions would have had dire consequences. It is estimated that there was about a fifty per cent increase in the acreage of wheat sown in the Wairarapa this season. The increase would have been -even greater if the weather had been more favourable at sowing time. Compensation for Loss of Eye. Compensation amounting to £398 has been awarded by the Compensation Court to Frederick Malcolm Mantell, aged 25, Petone, for the loss of the sight of his left eye as a result of an accident while he was employed by William Cable and Co., Ltd., chipping paint from the hull of a steamship undergoing overhaul. A fragment flew into Mantell’s eye and was removed, but the next day the sight of the eye began to go, and, after he had been nearly six months in hospital and had three operations, was lost completely. Refusal to Undergo Treatment. Charges of refusing to undergo remedial treatment to fit them for service in the armed forces were preferred against four reservists in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Accused were Frederick Gearschowski, Wallace Peter Ireland, Alan Robert McKenzie and George Edward Rumble. Ireland pleaded not guilty and the charge against him was adjourned. Gearschowski pleaded guilty and, after telling the magistrate he was now prepared to have the necessary operation, was convicted and remanded. McKenzie pleaded not guilty but, after hearing the evidence, he said he would report to a specialist at the Christchurch public ' hospital and his case was adjourned. Rumble pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to imprisonment for two months.