General News

♦_ Sealing of Road on Hills j Proposals have been made by the j Heathcote County Council to the j Main Highways Board for the sealing of Dyers Pass road from the - tramway terminus on the hills to j Dyers Pass. The distance which it is proposed should be done is 2 miles 10 chains and it has been suggested that the road should be given j a sealing of two bituminous coats, j Walking on the Grass j The damage done to the grass in < the Cathedral grounds by persons j who take short cuts across it was | referred- to in a letter the Christchurch Tramway Board received yesterday l'rom the Cliristchurch Beautifying Association. The letter also asked that rubbish boxes be placed on the north and south sides of the Cathedral. The general manager (Mr F. Thompson) said he did not think members of the tramway staff were guilty of walking elsewhere but on the paths when they went through the Cathedral grounds. Origin of Confetti The origin of confetti was explained yesterday by Dr. W. G. Fern at a combined luncheon of the Canterbury Advertising Club and the Christchurch Business Men's Club, lie said that a manufacturer in Paris made paper in which holes had to be punched. One day he found the girls in the factory throwing pieces of paper which had been punched out at one another. He did not dismiss the girls. He was at once impressed with the possibility of using the waste paper at weddings. He put them on the market, and later someone had the idea of using coloured paper. The latest development, he was told, was confetti gummed on one side, which made it extremely difficult to remove. I Unpaid Fares A note reading "unpaid fares, with interest" was attached to a postal note for Is which the Christchurch Tramway Board received at i f s meeting yesterday. It was sent anonymously. Both the address on the envelope and the message inside were printed in block letters. "A Soft Answer—" Some outspoken criticism which the members of the executive of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers' Association levelled recently at the League of Nations Un'on was tactfully answered last evening in a letter the executive received from the honI orary secretary of the Christchurch branch of the union (Miss Muriel Ockenden). Mr W. E. Leadley referred to the reply as "a soft answer turning away wrath." It read: "My council regrets that your association has not found it possible to affiliate with the union, but at the same time I have been asked to express to your executive our appreciation of the difficulties which prevented you from affiliating. May we send you our expressions of cordial goodwill, and may we hope to achieve in the future a closer association, which, we feel, would be as profitable to our union as to you." Unemployment Board Criticised A complaint that the Unemployment Board was making it impossible by its attitude for the council to provide work for the unemployed in the borough was made at the meeting of the Riccarton Borough Council last evening by Cr. H. W. Wise. He said that the board had objected to the work provided by the council on the ground that it was maintenance. The council, said Cr. Wise, was keeping machinery idle in its yards in order to provide more work for the men. If the objections were persisted in the council would have no alternative but to employ, possibly, one extra i" o3 "' and use the machinery. This would mean that'a great deal of work would be lost to the unemployed. The council was sympathetic to the men and was doing its best to help them. | Riccarton Avenue Lighting j The new gaseous discharge elec- ' trie lamps which will be installed ; in Riccarton avenue are expected to > be in use well before Christmas, j The first part of the equipment fori the lamps has arrived in Christ-j church, and the preliminary work of erection will be proceeded with ' immediately. The Christchurch City ; Council decided some months ago to ! install 24 of the lamps for a trial in : Riccarton avenue. They will be; placed along the road from the Pub-1 lie Hospital corner to Deans i avenue, and in view r of the marked , departure of this type from the; lamp usually in use it is expected j that the installation will create a ! good deal of interest. When the j City Council decided to secure the lamps it was stated that their use would involve an approximate annual cost of £384. 1 Naming of Streets 1 The naming of streets in. the cottage homes settlement at Sandiland3 presented a problem for the executive of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers' Association at its meeting last evening. After discussing various suggestions for nearly half an hour the meeting decided to give the name Anzac drive to the main street leading from Rudd's road to the central block. One roadway will be called Ferriman street, in memory of Mr F. Z. D. Ferriman, who was very well known for his I work among returned soldiers in I Mid-Canterbury. Another will be called Nicholas avenue, in memory ■ of Sergeant H. J. Nicholas, who was the only Canterbury man to win the Victoria Cross; and the fourth will be Lloyd street, in honour of Mr G. W. Lloyd, a former member of the i executive. j Grant for Cottage Homes I The finance committee of the Canterbury Patriotic Fund has virtually decided to .give £250 to the cottage homes scheme of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers' Association, according to a statement made by Mr : T. L. Drummond at a meeting of the executive committee of the association last evening. He said that this proposal from the finance committee of the fund had, yet to be approved by the executive of the fund. It was necessary to raise £SOO before the fund in Wellington would grant assistance, and he suggested that £250 be earmarked from the poppy fund for the cottage homes scheme; this sum, together with the £250 from the Patriotic Fund, would provide the necessary £SOO. On Mr Drummond's motion the proposal was referred to _ the finance committee of the association.

TAXI FARES HALF PRICE. Only by the GOLD BAND TAXIS private Hire Taxis, so spend a penny m the nearest telephone box and 'phone for one, as the new taxi fares for 5 passengers are 2/- minimum and L- per mile by all other taxis, but our fares are still 1/- minimum and 6d per mile, so please give us your full support. 'Phone 33-477. Thank you.