THE MOTOR YEAR.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16407, 30 December 1918, Page 9

THE MOTOR YEAR.

During the twelve months just passed, tho Canterbury Automobile Association has been working .steadily sometimes in the public- eye but often enough quietly and unostentatiously, and a very great amount of useful and valuable work has been done, not only by the executive, but by the members generally. The membership of the Association is a matter for some pride, being approximately 1100, making the organisation easily the largest in Australasia, and, being the largest, it needs must be one of the most, if not the most influential. Bight up to the timo of the epidemic and since then the members of the Association have done splendid work in transporting all the returned soldiers who have, come to the Christchurch station, from north or south, to their destinations. The work has been carried on practically without a hitch, and the only trouble that occurred was when the Defence Headquarters in Wellington failed to notify the Association's secretary of the arrival of a boat as promptly as was desired. This caused a little annoyance once or twice, but the Association Tose to the occasion, and it is safe to say that no soldiers were kept from their hearths and homes through any shortcomings on the part of the members or officials of the Association. As usual, the annual outing of the orphan and other children in the various institutions about Ohristchurch.jvas held, and the outing proved, as it 'Was bound to do, a great' success. "When the epidemic of influenza broke out in Christchurch, the motors of the Autimobilo Association proved their worth. Scores of members volunteered tho services of themselves and their ears, and for about a month they worked long, hours, early and late, transporting doctors, nurses, helpers, and foodstuffs to where they were most needed. The Association has never shown to better advantage than at tho time of the epidemic, and members gained the justly deserved encomiums of the Minister of Public Health, the Hon. G. W. Ilussell, for the splendid assistance they rendered to the general public. It is estimated 'that the cars covered close upon 100,000 miles during the period in which the epidemic visited Christchufch and tho surrounding districts. The big picnic organised by the Association for the V.A.D.'s who worked during the epidemic is still fresh in the public mind, and this, like most of tho other things the Association has taken in hand, was a huge succcss. The part of the Association's work which includes the sign-posting of roads, the bridging of streams, and other matters of that nature has gone on, with tho co-operation of local bodies, smoothly and well, and road users are under a considerable obligation to the Association_ for the work it has caused to be carried out. A /big matter which is to be, dealt with .almost at once is the bridging .of the Selwyn on tho Main South- road. The Association will confer with the Minister of Public Works to-morrow, and if this much-needed' work can he encompassed, it should prove a boon to the travelling public.