LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 June 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dance Postponed. The Wairarapa Interhouse Association dance which, had been arranged to be held on Saturday night has been postponed indefinitely. Echo of Man Hunt.

A statement that full payment of compensation had been made to the relatives of the constables who lost their lives in the Koiterangi man-hunt was made by the Minister in Charge of Police, Mr Webb, in reply to an inquiry during consideration of the Estimates. The vote for this purpose, said the Minister, would appear on the Supplementary Estimates. Mr Webb said he thought the Government had been very liberal, but he knew in doing that it was meeting the wishes of all members of the House. The relatives of the Home Guardsmen who lost their lives were treated equally with the constables on duty.

More Oranges Shortly. “We hope to have better supplies of oranges shortly from Australia,” said the Minister of Marketing, Mr Barclay, in the House of Representatives yesterday. He added that one or two shipments from Australia had already been received, and that if shipments arranged for came to hand, there should be supplies on the New Zealand market during the next two months. Speaking generally of the orange shortage, Mr Barclay said that when the position became acute some time ago, his department placed a quantity into cold storage for release to invalids, but even that supply had been exhausted.

of Fire. Civic and insurance authorities have both issued warnings to householders in districts affected by Wednesday night’s earthquake to inspect their chimneys .before lighting fires. As a result of the more severe earthquakes in recent years at Cheviot, Murchison and Napier, it was found that chimneys and fireplaces apparently intact after the shock were actually more dangerous than those where the damage was obvious, stated Mr L. C. Gibbons, general secretary of the Council of Fire and Accident Assurance Underwriters, at Wellington yesterday.

Missing Men Found. Little the worse for their two nights in the open, three Rotorua men, Mr William Hodge, aged 30, married, Mr J. Newby, aged 29, married, and Mr Ken Nicholl, aged 28, single, who had been missing following a pig-shooting expedition in the bush west of Ngongotaha mountain since Sunday, were located and brought back to Rotorua on Tuesday afternoon. Shortly after seven o’clock in the morning, a plane, with Detective-Sergeant A. J. White as passenger, sighted a fire about one and a half miles in the bush. After returning to Rotorua, the plane made another flight over the area with Mr C. Dinsdale, an experienced bushman, as observer. As a result, two search parties comprising 15 men, were directed to the area. The men, though tired and hungry, were able to walk out of the bush to a waiting car. Doctors and Hot Water Bags. “The rubber hot water bag can no longer be treated as a luxury or as a means' to personal comforf,” said the Minister of Health, Mr Nordmeyer, yesterday. He added that as some doctors had given orders for rubber hot water, bottles to people who were not their patients and who were in a normal state of health, it had been necessary to issue a new notice stating that hot water bags are to be sold only on the order of a registered medical practitioner issued in the course of his ordinary practice. This meant that the practitioner could supply such orders only to patients who were under his care and where, in his opinion, a hot water bag was necessary for proper treatment. Prescriptions or orders issued by medical practitioners should be retained by the pharmacist who sold the hot water bag. In due course these would be collected and checked against stocks and sales.

E.P.S. Meeting Cancelled. The meeting of the E.P.S. committee called for this evening has been cancelled. Presbyterian Church Services. The Presbyterian services in Masterton at which the sacrament of the ■Lord’s supper will be dispensed will be held tomorrow in Knox Hall, which was not damaged at all by the earthquake. At Kaituna and at 'Knox Church the Rt. Rev. John Davie will be the preacher. This will be Mr Davie’s last communion with Knox congregation. Earthenware Hot Water Bottles. “Special efforts are being made to expand the local production of earthenware hot water bottles. There is already at least one good type on the' market and new production is being explored and encouraged. These earthenware bottles are not subject to control. They can be retailed by any shopkeeper without any restriction,” said the Minister of Health, Mr Nordmeyer, at Wellington yesterday. Glass Replacements. There is no shortage of glass to meet the requirements of Wellington city, according to a large importer yesterday, but till a survey is made of the loss of glass in Masterton and the Wairarapa generally it could not be stated whether supplies would be adequate. Labour to remove shattered glass and replace new panes is expected to be the chief problem. Till a few months ago glass was coming into the country regularly in large quantities, he said, but shipping difficulties recently restricted the, supply. British factories could now produce 20 times the quantity they did during the last war, and replacements were not being made to windows in blitzed areas. Referring to labour, this authority stated that not only was there a shortage of men, but replacements took about three times as long as glazing a new building. Shortage of Accommodation. The shortage of accommodation for soldiers and sailors on leave in Wellington and elsewhere was referred to by Mr Broadfoot (Opposition, Wallomo) in an urgent question he asked the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones. He inquired if patriotic funds could not be utilised tor the purpose of providing the necessary accommodation. “Soldiers, including returned men, and sailors,” said Mr Broadfoot, “are compelled to apply night after night to police stations for shelter or in the alternative walk the streets.” The Minister said the matter was one to which the metropolitan patriotic councils were devoting much attention. The existing accommodation in the cities was at present being augmented. In Wellington, for example, another combined services hostel providing 150 beds would be opened in Dixon Street within the next three or four weeks, and in Auckland there was a somewhat similar project under way. Strain on industry. “Our war defence effort can only be obtained by those remaining in productive occupations producing in excess of the civil population’s consumption requirements, as there is no other source from which such production can come,” stated the report presented at the annual meeting of the Wellington Employers’ Association. “The workers engaged in production must provide for 25 per cent of their fellowworkers who are absorbed in the forces, and furnish them with their needs. This has placed a tremendous strain on the manufacturing section of employers and called for special effort and speeding up in every direction to meet requirements. Workers likewise have been exp&cted to put forward greater effort and to produce to full capacity; thus labour today must be handled economically and used for the most essential of our requirements.