GENERAL NEWS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16703, 11 December 1919, Page 8

GENERAL NEWS.

The Genoral Committee of tho Canterbury A. and P. Association yesterday renewed its grant of £20 to the Christchurch Technical College. The Culverdcn-Waiau Railway is to be opened on Monday, the loth inst. This day will bo "the" red-lefter day in the history of Waiau, and preparations aro being made to fittingly cclobrato the occasion. Tho North Canterbury Hospital Board yesterday received a letter from the Anting-lnspcctor-General of Hospitals, stating that thero was now availablo a Government subsidy of 24s in the £ on the £273-> held by tho city treasurer on behalf of the Open-air Home for chijdren at the Casfimcro Hills Sanatorium. It was decided to instruct the Public Health and Finance Committee to get plans of the proposed homo prepared. The apathy on tho part of the public in the matter of permitting limbless men to stand in tho trams was brought before the notice of the committee of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association. A returned soldier, -with his right arm amputated at the shoulder. was. it was stated, hanging on to the strap when the conductor asked for his ticket. The man, of course, had to release his hold and produce his ticket. At that moment tho car gave a lurch, and tho man fell forward. He made no complaint, however, but was rather hurt when a lady passenger remarked: "You men should wait for a enr that has seating accommodation." Other cases of a like nature were brought before the committee, and it was resolved thnt a be forwarded to the Citv Counr-il that notices, "Wounded first,'' bo placed in the trams as is dono in England and elsewhere

The li.-.licit is to take at tho Lands ofiieo, Christehurch, to-day, tor the Wairono, I.yr.dhurst. and .Vfrn settlements. Thorp nre 100 applicants. The Ro7. FJ Kv! ::rn. reporting at tho Chist hire'i I'rrsbvtory yestcr lay on the proofed inr- of •»ho recent General As-fcn-.Wr ::t Invorcar::ill. sr. : d that it was ii'i liT.t 11::11 a large numlvr of tho«p • pr« -: "nt vero in lavo'.ir of Church union. i | At a lecture r.n Homing n^por.-: : last- night by Mr B. -T. Finnecan, ho nvotrri two Belgian authorities who hold that tho <ye ""as an in'ligation c.f wrothc a Humor w.i« a jr-vyl worker or • no:. Mr A. Smith said that nn export ! ro;ihl t< 11 whotber a horse was a gr-od ' workpr hy tho shapn of tho eye. M r .1. M. *-o:mrko~l that it wood Iv. a Co-i—end ; f roal-minp owners and were as keen students ns stooknion. | A moot in it of the Port Christchurr-h | Lo will To r-pld to-night at 7 I (»'■ ' •r-l;. in tho ci'r Conned I/hrary, < to '-unsiilT tho Progress League's rf»-p-rr on tho sehenv* of two on<-*ir«rs for a harl-our ari'l c ! annol in tho TTcatli- • rnto c = :nary : also representation of ! 11;.- T.i :'.<rn- at th<» TT -, rl>oiir B'ard eonf(.r..Tl('o t'i he to fli«rn=e Ivirhnsr and tiirr.pl road to cpe-inls. Tho Jf—ror an 1 tho olnirman nf t 1 I,vft"iton n.ar- : )oiir B-nrd have signified their intention of bring present.

A mctirg nf t'-e executive of the Canterbury and West Coast Centre of th>> St. .toh.n Amhnlanrp Association tvn? hold ni-:ht, Lieut.-Colonel Croswell presiding over a fair attendpncc. Tito oha'rnian welcomed Mr IT. Ti. Sorenson to tho oxe~utivo on that routlonwi taking his scat at tho tablo for t'ir. first tinio. Mr suitably responding. Tho financial statement showed tho to hp -CC?-14 1?s ."'l. and the e\rpnd ; hire £13- n* Gd. Thorp

•■va- a rrcdit balance of 9s 2d. Arroinits. amount in it to £S0 19s Gd, vprc passed for payment.

As an illustration of the fascination che~s possesses for men of all classes and fjilliiKrs, tho simultaneous playing in Me'hourne recently of seventeen games hv Mr Gundersen," tho Victorian champion. was notable (savs the "Adelaide Advertiser"). Mi* Gundersen was on his feet for over two hours, slowly walking from table to table, swiftly grasping the positions of each _ game, and making his own move with—in most eases —only a fractional hesitation. Tho games ire re plaved in tho Melbourne Chess Cuh, under the direction of Messrs TI. E. Grant and N. Bnrnard, the first-named being probahlv the hostknown chess player and writer in the Commonwealth. Mr Gundersen's opponents were drawn from everv walk of life, and every Allied nationnlity. The champion was loudlv applauded when he completed his with a goodly array of scalps at his belt.

Further referoneo to the amounts allowed by the Repatriation Department for sustentation allowances was made at last night's meeting of tho Canterbury District Repatriation Board. In reply to tho Board's letter to the Department on the matter, tho Director of Repatriation wrote stating that the Department was aware of tho fact that tho Australian Government had increased the unemployment sustenance scale, and it had _ written to tho Australian Repatriation authorities for particulars. All New Zealand sustenance grants wero higher than those in tho Commonwealth, excepting unemployment sustenance, which was the samo as that paid in Australia. Mr LeaiTiey said that tho present sustentation allowance of 52s a week, with 3s Cd a week per child, was insufficient for an unemployed married man. Tho Board decided to continue to press its representations in the matter.

In connexion with tho social servico work of tho Presbyterian Churchy tho Rev. F. Rule, at yesterday's meeting of tho Christchurch Presbytery, said that as a result of last year's epidemic, thero were many more orphans to earo for than formerly, nnd thero was also the increased cost of living to bo considered, the result being that thero was a serious financial problem to be faced. On tho. maintenance account for the vear thero was a debit of £900, and the greatest previous debit had been £300. By the time tho financial year concluded, the debt would probahlv he £1000. Tho Rev. Dr. Erwin said that two homes had been purchased durirg tho vear, which partly explained tho financial position. A clcnrvman present said that the Presbvterian Homes did moro work than tho Silvation Army Homes, yet they received less acknowledgment. Ho considered that in looking for support, tho Church should not confine itself to Presbyterian adherents sololr. It was decided that Mr Rule should bo given an opportunity to plead tho canse of social work beforo tho various congregations of the Presbytery.

The fossil beds in tho Wynyard Bluff, Tasmania, ■which have already been shown inanv times to be tho resting placo of tho bones of rorft extinct animals, hnvo ngain yielded up ono of those scientific treasures which onl- occasionally come into the possession of a public institution (says tho "Launceston Examiner"}. The fossil whalo, -which was obtnined latelv by Professor Flynn, of tho Tnsmanian Univorsity, and thought, in its uncleansed condition, to Tielonc to tho interesting gronp of beaked whales, has now been taken to ITobart, and tho greater portion of tho covering ro?k has lioon removed. It has been found to be much more valuable and rare than at first supposed. In fact, tho specimen is absolutely unique. Tt is one individual of a race of whales lonu extinct, in which some of tho teeth wore serrated like those of a shark. A few teeth of there whales have from time to timo been found in various deposits in Australia: but never before has the complete skull been obtained. Thi« nninue specimen is closely allied to a whalo Prosfjualdon, of which two very much broken skulls were found in certain tertiary beds of Patnponia. One of. the skulls is in the "British Museum, the other in the Museum of La Plata. P»sid"s the skull. Professor Flvnn was able to obtain tho skeleton of the arm, a number of ribs and vertebne, the breastbone, the l>ones of the ear, and some others. Tt is verv rarely that it is pnccihle to obtain so much material from a fossil skeleton of fit is kind. whn«e a<re eon be reckoned as not less than two million Years.

Tho subject of science study in tho Pacific Islands, which has engaged thought in the Universities of Melbourno and Sydney for soino time 4 assumed practical form Inst week (says tho Melbourne "Ago"), when a report by Professors Masson and Scott, of Melbourne University, and Mr A. P. Piduiugton, K.C., of Sydney, was adopted by tho council of Melbourne University. Tho report recommended that the best method of obtaining investigators from the universities would Ik> by establishing six fellowships of £.500 a'vrar each tenable for three years. Fellows should be paid travelling expenses. Tho fellowships should bo awarded on the recommendation of a committee roprefcnting each of the universities in Australia. with a chairman appointed by the Federal Government. Tin* subjects for fellowships should be anthropology and sociology, languages, forestry, biology (including zoology and botany), geology, and topography. The schemo finally adontrd by tlic universities should bo laid before tho Prime Ministor by deputation arranged by the universities, but representing aH* interests. It. was decided to eommunciato the repprt to all the Australian universities. Sir James Barrett, reterring to tho rel>ort, said that tho matter was of some urgency. Tho language and customs of some of the peoples of the Pacific wero in danger of dying out, and should bo studied before tho peoples became too highly civilised. Little was known of the grammar of some of the languages. The Lniven-ity had no funds to do the work itself, which should be tho function of the Commonwealth, carried out through the universities

o'ti'.. 1 <-f Mr 1.. Neil. Mount Sorr.ors. consisting of nboii: 1000 acres, has "been offered to the Government for soldier settlement. All tiio Canterbury rivers were reported clear yesterday except tho south brin-h of tho Waimakarin, which was dirty. Tho successful tenderers for the additions to the Christchttroh Post Oflioo are Me«rs J. and W. Jamicoon, Ltd., of this city. A short discission took pln-e at ln<tnicht's of tho St. .Tohn Anibiilaiico on tho qt:ostioti of fmaii"o. Tho secretary, Mr C. J. Tro'oaren, said that he considered tho pithlie should a. r sist. the Association tiioro than had boon done in tho past. > : r.oo th.o C'itv Council had decided that no more stalls should be erectol in the streets, it hid lwomo more than over necessary that more money should he raised from other Eottrces. The matter was referred to the executive to report at the next mcetinp. In tho Employment Committee's rei>ort to tho Repatriation Hoard last night, it was stated that there worn eight returned soldiers seeking employment as v.-001-r lass ~\ s who could not bo placed in tho shearing sheds. It was remarket! Hint a man did not have miHi opportunity of getting work as a woolelasser in a shed unless he was known as a tried man. Mr T. W'ntoringham, assistant repatriation officer, stated that there wore a few men now learning wool-classing at fho Technical Coiloce. hut. these intended taking on farming later on. and they were learning wonlclassing ho-anse tliov realised that this was the only work they could do in thp shearing sheds. Tho Board considored •"''at it was inadvisable to eontinue t<i giro vocational assistance to men learning wool-classing, ns thorp was no guarantee of sulvsootipnt employtnont. Tt was reoommendod that the Vocational and K lucntional Committee should go into tho whole question, tho fooling of Bmrd beinT that no returned mon sho-ild be subsidised for learninc woolclassin<T tinlers they pronosed to take up farming as an occupation.

Always dear to tho heart of womenfolk aro perfumery and other toilet requisites. For Xmas gifts these articles are ideal. The most comprehensive range of tho choicest, perfumes, toilet soaps, manicure requisites. English brushware, etc., is at Loasby and Co.'s Pharmacy, Colombo street opposite Ballantyne'(s). 6 Reform voters in Christchurch East cannot very well support Dr. Thacker after his deplorable exhibition of discourtesy to tho Prime Minister. 6 It is quite clear from an impartial J study of tho position that, Reform voters in Avon who give their votes to the Hon. G. W. Russell will ho voting to put Massey out, and put Ward in. Mi* Russell has definitely pledged himself to vote with Sir Joseph Ward, if he moves a no-confidence motion in Mr Massey. 413 Christchnrch commercial travellers strongly favour 'No Rubbing" Laundry Help for washing clothes clean, is packet suflicient for saven weekly wash, mgs. (4) You can depend upon everything being done promptlv and well if you only hand your shipping documents to •T. M. Heywood and Co.. Ltd. Thoj are recognised as experts at this work. Telephones 250, 1211, and 2174. t) SIX-CYLINDER STTTDEBAKER— £350. For salt?, on view at garage, tPcylinder Studehnkor Touring Car, fi-7-seater; electric lights and self-starter; spare rim and tyro; tyres in good order. An ideal car for hire service. £350. Adams, Ltd., Garage, Tuam street. SMART-LOOKING STUDEBAKER ROADSTER—£3BS. An exceptional opportunity —1-cylin-der 3-seater StudebaKer Roadster; full equipment; electric light and self-start-er ; spare rim and tyro, etc. Looks equal to now. £335. Adams, Ltd., Garage,. Tuam street. j NEARLY NEW OVERLAND—£36O. For sale. Overland Touring Car (758), only run 3000 miles. Electric lights and self-starter; finished in popular biscuit shade. Full equipment. £350. Adams, Ltd., Garage, Tuam street. 6