General News

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20955, 8 September 1933, Page 8

General News

A Note of Optimism. The optimistic tone of the bulletins received from overseas chambers of commerce and financial institutions in the last few months was commented on at last night's meeting of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce by the vice-presi-dent (Mr A. F. Wright), who was in the chair. Mr Wright remarked that this cheerful tone was worth, noting, especially as the chamber received a large number of these bulletins. Most of them were passed on, after members had been given an opportunity of perusing them, to Canterbury College, the economics department of which gave the chamber such valuable assistance in the preparation of its own bulletins.

Praise for the Police. '"Policemen , get more kicks than halfpence, and I am pleased to hear counsel express his appreciation of the discretion and tact of a constable in this particular case. The constables very often do not get the praise they deserve." said Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, after counsel haa mentioned Ihal he and his client fully appreciated the attitude of a constable who showed considerable patience before he arrested a man who was charged in the court with resisting the police. Mr Mosley said that the action of Constable "d. JLloyd, who arrested the man, was extremely praiseworthy. If the constable had not used a great deal of discretion and tact, serious trouble might have developed. Printing' in Canterbury.

Even overseas .scholar.-; arc mter- » in the extensive collection of New Zealand book's at the Canterbury Public Library. Mr E. ,1. Bell, the librarian, recently received from Mr D. C. McMurtrie, of Chicago, an enquiry concerning the first painphlets and books printed in Canterbury, and he found that the library possessed a copy of a sermon by the Rev. 11. Jacobs, published in pamphlet form in July, 1851. This pamphlet is considered by Hoekcn, whose bibliography of New Zealand books is a standard work of reference, to be one of the first printed here. The information given by Mr Bell about this and other early Canterbury books has resulted in a gift for the library of several books about printing in other countries.

Chinese and Other Gamblers. "It is an anomaly that we in New Zealand should "constantly harry Chinese residents .for playhu' tan in their own homes," said Mr John Mac Gibbon at the meeting of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last evening. "It is a wellknown fact that wherever men congregate—l am not referring only to the Chinese —the gambling laws are broken with impunity. We have to consider the effect on the Chinese people of this treatment, for the Chinese in New Zealand are one of the most law-abiding sections of the community. If the Crown wants revenue from breaches of gambling laws it can get any amount by invading any of the places of resort of our own people." Mr C. P. Agar said he did not think this was a Chamber of Commerce matter. "It is, so far as it affects our trade with China," remarked Mr Wright. Chamber of Commerce.

The Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe) has consented to be the chief guest at the annual dinner of the Canterbury Charnlx of Commerce on September 2!'. So that the routine business of the meeting may not interfere with the occasion a formal meeting for the election of officers, the president-'.-; remarks, and the presentation of the annual report and balance-sheet, will be held on the afternoon of the same day. The chairman ut last.night's meeting of the chamber (Mr A. F. Wright) remarked that this arrangement would prevent important speeches from being crowded out by formal business, as had sometimes happened in the past. Pollarded Willows. Though the recently pollarded willows on the river bank by the Worcester street bridge are still bare and ugly, while other willows nearby show a fresh spring green, they will make plenty of new growth later in the season. Pollarded willows, according to Mr M. J. Barnett, the Superintendent of Parks and Reserves, will put on as much as from six to eight feet of new growth in the first season, while in the second the casual observer will hardly notice that; they have been cut back. The good effect of pollarding can be observed in the graceful shapes of the trees behind the old City Council Chambers, or in those along Avonside drive, which were cut back three years ago. Shorter Working: Hours.

Both Mr H. Holland, M.P. for Christchurch North, and Mr P. W. Freeman, the Coalition candidate for Lyttelton, who addressed a meeting at St. Martins last night, answered in the affirmative when, at question time, they were asked if they believer" in and would support a movement for the introduction of shorter working hours. "It is not a question of whether we believe in it," said Mr Holland summing up the joint answer. "It. is bound to come." (Applause.) Women Dismayed. When the new telephone directories arrived in Christchurch homes yesterday many women surveyed them with dismay. Men were not unduly concerned when they noticed that the department had changed the familiar red cover to one of light cream, but to the women it meant that the means of making a beautiful pink dye had been lost —an effect probably not anticipated by the department. It appears that the department, with the thoroughness for which it is noted, used a particularly good dye when making the old covers. When boiling water was poured on these, and the resulting pulp well squeezed, a dye was produced which could be used and very often was used successfully. A Place to Tie a Horse.

Hitching posts are among the reminders of a slower-travelling past that, are rapicUy disappearing in Christchurch. Ivlanv have been removed as the footpaths have been improved and new channelling installed, until now only four or five of them remain in the inner city area. One of the most imposing hitching posts stands in Hereford street, by the Bank of New Zealand. It is a six by six wooden pillar, with a large and ornamental hook. The Christchurch Club has a hitching rail—reminder of the days when a row of fine horses "sed regularly to be tied up there, and the Canterbury Club has a solitary post, standing beside another historical relic in the form of an old gas street lamp. Not far along Cambridge terrace the Public Library hitching rail is still standing, though in close proximity are its successors—a bicycle stand and a car parking area defined by painted white lines nn the roadway.