The Birmingham Post from Birmingham, West Midlands, England • 3

THE BIRMINGHAM POST FRIDAY MARCH 16 1951 3 Government Policy on Food Stocks NEWS IN BRIEF £11600 Paid for Light Railway The Causeway Portrush and Bush Valley light railway the world's first hydro-electric line built 68 years ago was sold for £11600 at Belfast yesterday RIGHT TO JOBS AND HOLIDAYS Plea for Protection Equal to Reservists Favourable consideration would be given by the Government to putting the Territorials on equal terms with the Class and reservists called up for 15 days in receiving protection against dismissal from employment and protection of their holiday rights Viscount Alexander of Hillsborough said in the Iff Lord Cobh am on Changes in Land Tenure Birmingham Dinner Faith in the future of Britain despite the and twisted state of the present economy was affirmed by Viscount Cobham in proposing the principal toast at the annua to Birmingham last night the Warwickshire Staffordshire and Worcestershire branch of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Chartered surveyors he said were probably more closely in touch than other professional men with the catastrophic changes taking place in land tenure Everyone sympathised with them in their attempts to deal with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act Nationalisation Threat "I think you will agree that the threat of land nationalisation is an extremely empty one at the moment because if things go on as they are there will be no need to nationalise land in another 20 years I know perfectly well that were it not for the fact that one pays a lower scale of death duties on land than on other property no one would go in for land tenure If the good relations between landlord and tenant were destroyed for good he believed England would lose one of her most priceless heritages To-day the landlord was physically incapable of carrying out necessary repairs and maintenance to his farms because of delays to claims under the Planning Act Speaking of the future he said he did not believe Britain was doomed If the nation could get through the next ten years in safety the country would be all right The tide of materialism which had been sweeping in from the East was already receding and would recede further Responding Mr Hobbs president of the institution spoke of the dangers of overcrowding in the profession The demand for surveyors would not continue at its present level for ever and the numbers of entrants to the profession were considerable Before long there would be more surveyors than Jobs CORISER PUBLIC TO SEE THE STUDY AT CORNER with the desk and other effects Mr Bernard house and grounds at Ayot St Lawrence will be opened to the public under the auspices of the National Trust on MR CHURCHILL IN PRIVILEGE MOTION DEBATE By Our Political Correspondent Several controversial debates In the Commons next week will increase the temperature before the House rises for the Easter recess next Thursday Mr Churchill and Sir David House of Lords yesterday On this undertaking Viscount Swinton withdrew an amend ment to this effect in Com mittee on the Reserve anc Auxiliary Forces (Training) Bill Moving the amendment VIS COUNT SWINTON said that the Territorial felt that there was discrimination against him in favour of the conscript If the amendment was not made he would be worse off than the reservist Surely the spirit and comradeship of a unit was bound to be better if all in it were treated alike Attitude LORD MANCROFT supporting said that the amendment had caused considerable heart-searching in the Territorial Army since being moved in the House of Commons He asked whether the Government had any evidence that employers were being caused anxiety by the amendment THE EARL OF ELGIN said that the reservist was given an assurance that he would get a holiday but the Territorial was not There was a general agreement among employers to give Territorials a second week but there were some who did not Even a Territorial who had the second week had the feeling that he might lose his job as a result VISCOUNT ALEXANDER said that Government information based on consultation through the recognised channels was that the Territorial Army did not want the statutory protection extended to it but preferred to remain as it was It would be wrong for the Govern ment to accept this compulsion on the employer for Territorials If there were to emerge a volume of opinion contrary to what had been gathered the matter would have to be reconsidered He then gave the romise of favourable consideration efore Report stage BENEFACTIONS THE COAL TRADE Maxwell Fyfe will speak for i Opposition in the privilege debate Mr Silverman's motion arising from a Conservative action in sending a letter he had received from a vicar (a constituent) to the Bishop The Member for Nelson and Colne will move that the matter of his complaint be remitted to the Committee of Privileges Mr Chuter Ede as Leader of the House will intervene from the Government Front Bench to give guidance on what both Government and Opposition regard as a House of Commons matter and not a party question The Government will probably announce that its Whips will be off and suggest that there should be a free vote The Opposition however will oppose the motion and urge that the Speaker having given a ruling that there is not a pruna facie case to go to the Committee of Privileges should be supported in his ruling Midland Supporters Mr Silverman's supporters now number 64 including Mr Edelman Coventry North Mr James Johnson Rugby Mr Ellis Smith Stoke-on-Trent South Dr Stross Stoke-on-Trent Central Col Wigg Dudley Mr Wyatt Aston Mr Julius Silver-man Erdington and Mr Yates Ladywood Last night a group of seven Back Bench Conservatives including Mr Enoch Powell Wolverhampton put down an amendment to Mr Silverman's motion the effect of which is to ask that the matters be not remitted to the Committee of Privileges On Monday in a civil aviation debate the fate of the helicopter services to Birmingham and other cities will probably be raised ALLEGED THEFT OF AUSTER AIRCRAFT Brynley Fusseil (20) who was brought back on an extradition warrant from France where he had been detained since arriving in an Auster aircraft in November was at Wellingborough yesterday remanded in custody till Wednesday charged with stealing the plane from Sywell aerodrome Birmingham Association 's 51st Festival The 51st anniversary festival of the Birmingham and District branch of the Coal Trade Benevolent Association was celebrated at the Hotel last night under the chairmanship of Mr Vincent Wilkes The guest of honour was the Earl of Dudley a former president of the association -in London The association helps members or their dependants who have met with misfortune and contributions this year were £450 compared with £306 last year Mr Wilkes proposing said in these days of high taxation and the building of the Welfare State there was a temptation to think that the State would take care of material needs without the need for private benevolence It would be a sad day if such thoughts were translated into actions In 1950 the association paid out about £15600 In relief to people in the mining industry and the distributive trade The Birmingham branch distributed £846 Mr Errington Brewis (chairman of the association) responding described the Birmingham branch as one of the finest A Lost Business Mr A Wall branch president in submitting the toast of commented that many of them had suffered severely from nationalisation He himself had seen a fine wholesale business which took a large part of his life to build practically taken away without compensation The Earl of Dudley responding said he had worked for the association for many years He remembered the days when distributors had all the coal in the world to distribute and very few clients now they had all the clients in the world but no coal to distribute Mr Nash proposing said he was told that some time ago the heads of an administrative department in Egypt came to this country to study British methods and when they went back they decided to inaugurate a lot of our but they told a Press conference in Egypt that they had definitely decided not to import sand (Laughter) GREENMORE COLLEGE PRIZE DISTRIBUTION If we are not careful the nation will cease to have a mind of its own Sir Wilfrid Martineau chairman of Birmingham Education Committee said last night at the Silver Jubilee prize distribution of Greenmore College Birmingham Newspapers the cinema radio and television are tending to make you lazy We are accepting other opinions or what is worse other Sir Wilfrid said and he told the pupils to learn to think for themselves not only about work and play but about the development of the city about the country and about their own place in the universe The independent schools to-day Sir Wilfrid said were playing an important part in the educational system because they were free to experiment in a way which the local authority schools found it impossible to do Mr Morris principal presented his report and the chair was taken by Canon Bryan Green Rector of Birmingham Sir Ernest View The price-cutting methods that existed before the war in the pharmaceutical industry did not do anybody any good Sir Ernest Canning said at the Birmingham New Hair Styles for the Chignon Hat By ILL McBAIN Hairdressers have now turned their skill to styles for the popular chignon hat fashion At a demonstration given in London yesterday by Raymond the chignon was presented again and again It is principally made up of added real hair to match the wearer's own or frankly make-believe hair made of nylon which looks very much like spun sugar and can be rinsed to any of the fondant colours New styles seen yesterday are generally disarmingly simple The hair is taken back softly from the THE CHICNETTE evening shown in London yesterday Added hair is dressed in loose curls pinned low in the nape of the neck and outlined with a series of jewelled flowers linked by golden rings Iforehead and brushed smoothly up and away at the sides For day wear it is combed round the back of the head in loose half curls for evening Ithe chignon is added Tills can be coiled braided softly curled rolled bound high at the back of the head in Grecian fashion worn low on the nape of the neck or spread out round the back of the head like a fan The important thing is that it brings fullness to the nape of the neck and hides growing difficult ends of hair Decorative Effects Many of the evening chignons shown yesterday are decorated One is thrust through with feathery heads of mimosa another Is looped with a golden chatelaine a third is built over a mock Spanish comb a latticework of fine wire bound with green silk and hung with droplets of pearls For younger women Raymond suggests filets that frame the head and press small bouquets of flowers close over the ears In this case the chignon at the back is kept small and neat An alternative style folds the added piece of hair softly on to the nape of the neck and holds it there with a row of little rosebuds Alleged Murder of Baby Birmingham Man on Trial Mr Justice Finnemore will sum up to-day in the trial at Birmingham Assizes of William Arthur Watkins (491 Clifton Road Balsall Heath Birmingham who is charged with the murder of his newly-born son It was stated that the boy was found head downwards in a pillow-case in a tub of water Mr Paget KC prosecuting said that Watkins a married man living apart from his wife had been living with a single woman for the past five years and they had a child aged three A second child was bom in January and the woman Florence May White was not attended by doctor or midwife White said that after the birth of the child Watkins told her that he had dropped it in a Det-Sgt Black said that Watkins told him: was helping her I got a bowl of water and was bathing the baby It slipped and I let it drop into the Congress to Hear 44 La Case President Perdn last night called a special session of Federal Congress for to-day to discuss the dispute over the Independent newspaper La Prensa The newspaper a frequent critic of the President has been closed since January 26 by a boycott of the union an affiliate of the Government-controlled General Confederation of Labour The decision followed a request by a group of Senators and Deputies who held a Joint meeting earlier yesterday Clergy Disqualification The Attorney-General Sir Hartley Shawcross presented a Bill in the House of Commons yesterday to Indemnify the Rev James Mac-Manaway from any penal consequences incurred under the House of Commons (Clergy Disqualification) Act by sitting or voting as a Member of the British House of Commons or in Northern Ireland The Bill was read a first time SPRAYS OF FLOWERS were provided at the annual Night of Birmingham Rotary Club last night and Miss Hazel Dowler (left) and Miss Jean Chapman are making their choice Details Withheld The House of Commons yesterday discussed policy of stockpiling food inevitably (as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food said) the since it was not the policy to disclose information on the subject MR TURTON (C-Thirsk and Malton) who raised the subject on the Ministry of Food vote (which was eventually approved) said the amount of stockpiling of food in the financial year for any emergency appeared to be only a very small proportion of the total The programme was for £75000000 yet only £3000000 was being carried out this year The conviction was growing that very little had been done and was being done The Government should have started earlier Imports of wheat and flour last year apparently amounted to 76000000cwt 34000000 less than in 1949 and previous years He suggested we had only 11-12 supply of wheat Last summer we could have bought 220000000cwt in North America but we kept out of the market Sugar Exported The Government should also have stocked course grains and sugar There was plenty of sugar to buy last year and imports had been larger but the Government had been profligate in exporting sugar We might have earned dollars but have we gained insecurity The stock of dried fruit was to-day lower than ever He found it hard to see what the £3000000 represented MR MICHAEL FOOT (Soc-Devonport) said that if war came now we would start with a larger stock of food than in 1939 Our net agricultural output was more than 140 per cent of the pre-war figure MR MACFHERSON (NLC-Dumfries-shire) said the first place to stock sugar was in the sugar-bins If it were taken off the ration after an initial the people would thus getting a perfect distribution of reserves Ministry Reply MR WILLEY (Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Food) said that this year we had had a record sugar campaign The whole crop of 5200000 tons of beet had been processed to give a record harvest of more than 700000 tons There is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of stockpiling It would be quite impossible for this country of all countries to envisage stockpiling of a consumption of imported The problem had to be looked at very largely in terms of shipping the Government concerned itself with bulky commodities which could save the maximum amount of storage The vote ot £3000000 was needed to buy the commodities to be stocked before the end of the financial year but he was not going to be drawn into saying what the commodities were No Response to Murder Appeal Hedge Search Ended From Our Own Correspondent Mansfield Thursday The appeal over radio rediffusion services in Nottingham Mansfield and Hucknall for people to come forward and assist the police investigating the death of Florence Jean Weatherall (23) the mother of twins whose body was found in a Nottinghamshire ditch three weeks ago was repeated twice yesterday but last night had met with no response Police asked people who were In motor vehicles on Moor Lane Best-wood on the afternoon and evening of February 2 and subsequent days to come forward Anyone who may have found a handbag and shopping basket which Mrs Weatherall was carrying when she left her home are also asked to assist the police The hedge bottoms along about 40 miles of Nottinghamshire roads have been combed by police searching for the handbag The search has now been discontinued Unionist Proposes a New Alliance A new alliance of the United Kingdom West Germany Spain and Turkey was advocated last night by Mr Francis Irwin prospective Unionist candidate for Small Heath at the inauguration of a Small Heath branch of the party He said that if the Germans were to be brought into the European community and were to play their part in defence they must be allowed not only their own army but the command of it as well If war should come Germany would be the first battleground The Germans could not be expected to resist aggression if the statesmen of London and Washington held the sole right of decision Attack on Divorce Bill The new Matrimonial Causes Bill might be called the charter Mrs Helena Normanton first woman KC said at a meeting of the Married Trust in London last night It was so undesirable that she felt sure it would get on the Statute Book It really should be called the Matrimonial No Causes Bill The man who had married a slut or was a casual worker and got Into arrears would not have this privilege of throwing out his wife but the moneyed man who was a libertine at heart should love the Bill It paved his way beautifully BUS SERVICE VIA MIDLANDS PLEA The high cost of rail travel and indirect bus services to English cities and towns was mentioned in the transport licensing court in Glasgow yesterday when an application was made by a Glasgow bus company to run two direct bus services between Glasgow and Southampton via Birmingham and Coventry The Highland Transport Co Ltd the applicants said the fares would be £1 15s single and £3 10s return against rail fares of £4 9s 2d and £5 18s lOd 1951 GUIDE BOOK 1951 Guide Book (City of Birmingham Information Department 6d) commemorates Fesival Year with an attractive coloured cover of St Church As in former editions ft contains chapters giving a brief outline of history and a description of the city residential facilities civic management and industry and cultural facilities A clear street plan shows the one-way traffic system and there are more than 30 photographs Halesowen Amateurs in Comedy The Halesowenians Amateur Dramatic Society gave the first of three performances of Ivor comedy Fresh Fields In the Halesowen Grammar School last night It will be repeated to-night and to-morrow night The production is by Stanley Perring and In the cast are Phyllis Dunn Amy Ryder Paddy Lawrence Margaret Edwards Peter Good and Stewart Corrin LOUGHBOROUGH MAGISTRATES yesterday refused to allow cinemas to open on Good Friday THE EASTER TRAINING CAMP of Birmingham University Air Squadron will be held at Honiley from April 8 to April 15 A PERFORMANCE of Dido and was given last night by the Warwick School Musical Society In the Big School THE FIRST COMMERCIAL TV relay system by direct line to the home will come into operation to-day at Gloucester GREAT BRITAIN has made a second gift of £250000 to Hongkong University the Colonial Office announces today A RATE OF 17s 3d In the an Increase of 8d will be proposed at a meeting of the Oxford City Council on Monday THEATRICAL and Press charities will benefit by £140 as a result of the fifth annual pantomime ball held a fortnight ago BIRMINGHAM MPs have received a letter signed by 333 constituents requesting support for the claim for compensation by former prisoners of war of the Japanese TALLEST MAN Mr Henry Edward Dagllsh (25) who was 7ft 7in tall died suddenly at his home in Kingsdown Road Upper Stratton yesterday TURKEY AND EIRE have decided to establish diplomatic relations and the Turkish Minister at The Hague has been appointed Minister also In Dublin RADNORSHIRE'S new county hall at Llandrindod Wells Is to be opened on May 18 by Capt Geoffrey Crawshay chairman of the Welsh Board of Health THE ROYAL NAVY Is adopting the helicopter for air-sea rescue and for Inter-communlcatlon between ships of the Fleet the Admiralty announced last night THE 14th-CENTURY Beauchamp Chapel In St Mary's Warwick Is to be used for lunch-time services for office workers during Holy Week starting on Monday MRS CHURCHILL was unable to go to Lisbon yesterday because owing to bad visibility preventing landings there the plane in which she was travelling was diverted to Madrid AN AIR AGREEMENT signed at Belgrade between Jugoslavia and Greece provides for a service between Belgrade and Athens four times weekly starting on April 15 A MONTH after the opening on April 4 of Hall's Croft Stratford-on-Avon as an exhibition centre the more modern portion of the building will be opened as the town's Festival Club during 1951 INCENDIARY PENCILS are being carried by children in the Mons area of Belgium The pencils are believed to be part of a stock dropped to Beglan Resistance workers by the RAF during the war LONGER RIDES at lower prices were obtainable last night at Broms-grove fair Scarcely more than two dozen people were on the fairground and the proprietor said that people had grown to mistrust the weather I A US POSTMAN Mr Abraham Lincoln Kilby said in New York yesterday after a two-month trip to Britain The British seem to be a very happy but were disgruntled about food shortages SENTENCED to four to ten years' imprisonment at Lansing Michigan yesterday for setting the State Record Office on fire a 19-year-old municipal worker said he did it because he thought a criminal record might keep him out of the army THE MARSHALL PLAN Is crashing the Iron with toy balloons More than 50000 brightly coloured balloons are being released by visitors to the Spring Fair In Vienna this week bearing streamers and postcard messages in German Russian Czech and Hungarian New York Metals COPPER Lake spot delivered consuming points in Middle-West 2462c electro spoi delivered Connecticut Valley (Custom shekel price) 2450c electrolytic world export price New York refinery nominal of Interest lined by the Ntlwntl String: Commitun PERKY stitch-lasted laced Shoe In Brown Calf 5UU Also ASCOT gusset style In Blue and Cherry 63- LIMITED HALL GREEN ERDINGTON ALUM ROCK SMALL HEATH SPAKKHILL Pharmaceutical Association dinner Political orators could always rely on some cheap publicity by criticising price control within the industry but real harm was done by ruthless cut-throat gambles Speaking of the facilities for technical training Sir Ernest said that at the College of Technology there were 70 applicants for 30 places More facilities for the training of young people wishing to enter the professions were needed in the city Replying to the toast of Birmingham Education Committee Mr Russell Chief Education Officer said he felt sure from Sir remarks that when a proposal for new training facilities costing about £1000000 came before the City Council he would be able to rely on the support of staunch watchdog of the public Fewer SOS Messages Broadcast More Appeals for Accident Witnesses By Our Radio Correspondent The number of SOS messages broadcast by the BBC declined last year but owing to the increase in the number of street accidents in the period the number of police messages asking for witnesses increased considerably Messages about lost drugs are not now broadcast in the basic home service During 1950 360 SOS messages were broadcast from London and the regions and of these 201 were successful 110 were unsuccessful and the result of 49 is not known Police messages for witnesses of accidents ate totalled 318 and before the cessation of such broadcasts there were 66 broadcasts about lost drugs and special messages Of the former 159 were successful and exactly the same number unsuccessful Of the latter group 17 were successful and 49 unsuccessful LIBERALS IN THE WAY Mr Sheldon former assistant secretary of the Rowley Regis and Tipton Divisional Liberal Association declining to accept office at the annual meeting in Cradley Heath last night said that he thought the Liberals were in the way in that division Mr Round was elected president Mr Parkes chairman Mr Brain honorary secretary and Mr James assistant honorary secretary Stechford Unionist Officers Coun Miss Edith Pitt has been re-elected president of Stechford Division Unionist Association Other officers for 1951 are: Chairman Coun Wood honorary treasurer Mr A Hutchings honorary secretary Mr Nicnolls certain days 'bf the week from next Sunday Visitors will be able to see the rooms where Mr Shaw lived and worked An opening ceremony for invited guests will take place to-morrow Record Pig Price at Lapworth Sale Totals Over £8000 A record price of 420gns was paid at Lapworth yesterday for a Large White gilt pig Solihull Maple Leaf 309 bred by Mr Wright of Gospel Oak Farm The previous record was 400gns The annual sale of pigs from Mr herd established 16 years ago attracted buyers from all over Britain A total of more than £8000 was realised for 64 animals making a record average of £125 11s 9d The 54 gilts averaged £117 each and the ten boars £172 The sale was conducted by Harry Hobson and Co JOINT DEBATE IN BIRMINGHAM A Birmingham meeting was equally divided in voting on the effect of the Welfare State on the character of the British people At the annual joint debate of the Birmingham and Edgbaston Debating Society and the Birmingham Central Literary Association there were 23 for and 23 against a motion that the character of the people was being undermined For the motion Mr Gordon Matthews said the present system was mass bribery of the people with their own money Mr Morris Bailey leading for the opposition agreed that the character of the people was being undermined but not by the Welfare State The trouble with the social services was the way in which they were being administered Smethwick Mayoralty In The Birmingham Post of February 10 an article dealing with the nomination of Coun Pinner as the next Mayor of Smethwick included the following statement attributed to a Socialist Alderman of Smethwick "The dignity of the office which suffered unavoidably during the war will probably be brought back to what it used to The eight Socialist Aldermen of Smethwick dissociate themselves from the statement as reported and individually and collectively deny having made it Our Smethwick representative reported in good faith what he believed to be an accurate rendering of a statement made to him The Editor wishes to make it clear that the words quoted were understood by The Birmingham Post as meaning no more than that after the austerities of the war and post-war years it was now proposed to revert to something of pre-war ceremony No reflection was intended on the manner in which the office had previously been filled This is clear from the reference to the dignity of the office having suffered unavoidably Six Midland motor-cyclists will enjoy an entirely different form of travel from that offered by the Vespa this week-end They are taking part on museum piece machines in a ride on Sunday over the Downs from Tattenham Corner to Brighton They are Mr a Carter Nuneaton (1904 Minerva) Mr Wheeler Coventry (1913 Rex) Mr A Bussey Nuneaton (1912 Rudge) Mr Bussey Solihull (1914 Triumph) Mr Wills Atherstone (1912 Bradbury): and Mr Pickering Coventry (1912 Premier) Fees for motorists who take out a licence for the next quarter on March 22 instead of March 25 will be 5s for all cars irrespective of age or horse-power and 10s for commercial vehicles which pay under £30 annual tax Commercial vehicles which pay over that amount will carry a fee of 10s BIRMINGHAM MP CALLED UP Major Woodrow Wvatt Socialist MP for Aston Birmingham has received his Class call-up papers He made special arrangements with the War Office to be called up and to with Brig A Low Conservative MP for Blackpool The period of Major call up will be from July 26 to August 11 As chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party Defence and Services Group he felt that in this capacity he should have first-hand experience of the working of the Class recall He served in the last war from 1939 to 1945 ending as a major in the 3rd Infantry Division Insurance Contributions contributions under the national insurance scheme will be paid by the Service authorities for reservists and members of the auxiliary forces called up for training the Ministry of National Insurance announced last night The contribution will be deducted from his Service pay Dry-rot in Floor of Cinema Evidence in Damages Claim Evidence that the type of floor covering used in a cinema might have had something to do with dry rot developing in the floorboards was given at Birmingham Assizes yesterday by Dr Findlay officer in charge of the Mycological Section of the Forest Products Research Laboratory a Government institution He was a witness in the action in which Scala (Worcester) Ltd proprietors of two cinemas in Worcester claim £5000 damages from Kalee Ltd Wardour Street London Wl It is alleged that as a result of the use of a type of floor covering recommended by the respondents in 1945 for the Northwlck Cinema dry-rot developed in the floorboards to such an extent that in 1948 a row of seats collapsed under the occupants Liability is denied Rowan and Boden Ltd-Pall Mall London manufacturers of the kind of floor-covering used at the Northwick Cinema are third parties to the action Dr Findlay said the floor-covering would impede ventilation and make the conditions more favourable for develop ent of the spores I should have expected dry-rot to come he said owing to the kind of floor construction used Even with bare boards I should have expected it to develop but very much more The hearing was adjourned until to-day Shortage of Land for Mousing Lord Mayor Speaks of Multi-storey Flats Speaking at the annual Night of Birmingham Rotary Club last night the Lord Mayor (Aid A Paddon Smith) said Birmingham would not only have to build multistorey flats but overspill into surrounding country if the problem of providing sufficient housing accommodation was to be overcome Birmingham was of land within the city boundary and to provide even sufficient car parking space it would be necessary to build multi-storey garages and also possibly garages underground which if necessary could be used as shelters in war time Mr Frank Russon president of the club said Birmingham was a first-class example- to the world of what free enterprise meant and what it could accomplish NEW DEFENCE BONDS The Suicide Rate Among Oxford Undergraduates Comments made yesterday by Dr A Torrie medical director of the National Association for Mental Health on the suicide rate among Oxford undergraduates and on the mental health of students absent through illness were described last night as by Professor A Gardner Professor of Medicine at Oxford University Addressing 400 doctors and Health Service officials at a London conference on Administrative Problems of the Health Dr Torrie said that more than half the students at Oxford who were absent for more than one term for sickness were suffering from psychological disorder The suicide rate among the undergraduates there between 1946 and 1948 was seven times what it was among young men outside Oxford Interest in Problem When told of these remarks Prof Gardner said that to the best of his knowledge the suicide rate was no higher at Oxford than at any other university although it was higher than it should be It was not true he said that Oxford was neglecting the problem in fact is extremely interested in the whole problem but it has taken certain decisions of which Dr Torrie Dr Parnell of the Institute of Social Medicine at Oxford said really cannot believe Dr Torrie or anyone else would make such a statement about the mental health of undergraduates It is completely incorrect New Fellows of Royal Society The following were elected Fellows of the Royal Society in London Hans Arnold Heilbronn Professor of Mathematics Bristol University Harry Raymond Ing Reader in Pharmacological Chemistry Oxford University David Lack Director Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology Oxford Kurt Alfred Georg Mendelssohn University Demonstrator Oxford University Thomas Alan Stephenson Professor of Zoology University College Aberystwyth Prof Pryce Wykeham Professor of Physics Oxford University Carlyle Smith Beals Dominion Astronomer Ottawa John Smith Knox Boyd Director Wellcome Laboratories of Tropical Medicine London David Guthrie Catche-side reader in plant cytogenetics Cambridge University Arthur Herbert Cook assistant director Brewing Industry Research Foundation London Sydney John Folley head of the Department of Physiology National Institute for Research in Dairying Herbert Frohlich Professor of Theoretical Physics Liverpool University Geoffrey Gee director British Rubber Producers Research Association Gerhard Herzberg director Division of Physics National Research Council Ottawa Joseph Burtt Hutchinson director Central Cotton Research Station Namulonge Uganda Thaddeus Robert Rudolph Mann Agricultural Research Council Albert Neuberger National Institute for Medical Research London Leonard Bessemer Pfeil Director of Research Mond Nickel Co James Arthur Prescott director Waite Agricultural Research Institute Adelaide Australia William John Pugh director Geological Survey and Museum London John Ashworth Ratcliffe reader in Physics Cambridge University William Homan Thorpe lecturer in Entomology Cambridge University Petrus Johann du Toit president Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Africa Alan Mathison Turing assistant director Computing Machine Laboratory Manchester University and Alfred Reny John Paul Ubbelohde Professor of Chemistry University Belfast SALARY SCALES APPROVED The Minister of Education has approved the new salary scales recommended by the Burnham Committees for full-time teachers in primary and secondary schools further education establishments and training colleges and lias sent a memorandum to local education authorities informing them that the new scales will apply from April 1 Recommendations on salaries for teachers at farm institutes and of agricultural subjects on the staffs of local education authorities are under consideration NEW SHERIFFS Privy Council at lace yesterday owing sheriffs for for the coming Walford Hollier )d Somerset Road mes Donald Eadte Wombourne near Hubert Slivers of Old Rectory i Farewell es who was Liberal ndidate for Rowley in at the General ig for Canada soon -ell meeting of his at Cradlev Heath Higher Rate Interest increased from to 3 Interest paid to you half yearly Income Tax is not deducted at source Repayable at par on the interest date next following ten years after purchase or at 6 months notice Maximum amount which can be invested £2500 including previous issues Buy them through Bankers most Post Offices or through your stockbrokers MORE GOOD NEWS! YOU CAN ALSO HOLD 500 OF THE NEW 15-SAVINGS CERTIFICATES over and above permitted holdings of all previous issues Motor-cycle Claimed to be Like a Two-wheeled Car For your AIRBORNE By Our Motoring Correspondent A new 125cc two-stroke motorcycle the Douglas Vespa the first model of which comes off the production lines to-day is claimed by the makers to be the nearest approach to a two-wheeled car yet made It is a replica of the Italian Vespa and is designed to appeal to the professional or business woman the housewife or the man who wants a sturdy mount for work or pleasure It has rounded wings and oversize tyres sprung suspension pressed steel frame direct shaft drive fan cooling and unhampered leg room £100 Plus £27 Tax The machine is claimed to be capable of maintaining speeds of 45 mph with a petrol consumption of over 100 mpg All driving controls except the iootbrake are on the handlebars Price is £100 plus £27 purchase tax HUINS JAMES FIVE WAYS NORTHFIEED NORTON STIRCHEEY LOZELLS REDDITCH EVESHAM STUDLEY.