General News.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18920, 8 February 1927, Page 8

General News.

It is reported that there is a potstbilit- that -Mr W. Machin will be askei; to contest the Riccarton mayoralty at the municipal elections in April. The dispute in the freezing industry i.; to come before the Court of Arbitration ut Wellington nest Monday. | Amongst the witnesses will be Mr H. 11. Arlaiul. who will give evidence on behalf of the New Zealand Sheepowne.s' Federation. At 3.30 o'clock yesterday morning the Fire lirigade received a call to 25 Brougham street, a dwelling occupied !,v Mr V. S. Richards. A shed at the hack of the house was destroyed, and a fowl-house, adjoining the pro])erty, was also damaged. Hy the action of tht- C hnstchureh East Branch of the Labour Party in clumj:ing its delegates to the Labour Representation Committee, the president of the latter body, Mr P. C. AVol-.li. and a member of the executive, Mr (J. It. Hunter, have lost their .soatv. The present refresher course for pilots at the Wigram Aerodrome, Sockburn, is still in progress, instructional and practice work being carried out daily. The course will conclude on Thursday, and the next batch of (en pilots will take up duty on Saturday. While sitting on the back of a motor-car at Mina on Saturday, S. Rogers, of Solywn street, Spreydon, received injuries to his and arms. Another ear collided with the car on which Rogers wa.s sitting, and crushed him. He is progressing favourably. When picnicking at North Beach on Sunday a party left their clothing and leather attache case on the beach. When thev returned the case was gone, but the clothing was loft untouched. Several similar contemptible thefts from the various seaside resorts have been reported. At a meeting of the Canterbury Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Inst night, it was decided to writo to the Minister for Railways drawing attention to tho method of dispatching dogs by rail, suggesting thnt tho present facilities were inadequate.

For tho week ended noon yesterday tho notifications of infectious diseases were, as follows:—Canterbury: Scarlet fever 7, tuberculosis 10, puerperal sepsis 2, erysipelas 1, eclampsia 1; West Coast: diphtheria 1, tuberculosis 1. One death from diphtheria occurred in the Canterbury district and ono from puerperal sopsis on tho West Coast.

Dry and hot weather affect both flsh and fishermen. The lish do not feed on days of a temperature such as that of Sunday, and bait has little attraction for them. For the past week sport at the Seiwyu river has been disappointing, and fishing was very poor during the week, bags being small and few. Quinnat salmon are expected to run in the Waimakariri shortly. In view of the misconception there is concerning tho new traffic regulation, particularly in respect of the mann»x of parking cars in tho inner area of the City, tho Council of tho Canterbury Automobile Association decided laat night that a deputation consisting of tho chairman (Mr B. Falck) and Messrs F. W. Freeman and F. W. Johnston wait on tho By-laws Committee of the City Council. "In railway matters Timaru is now controlled from Dunedin," Raid Mr L. Q. K. Steven at last night's meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce. This was a matter upon which representations might well be made to the Railway Advisory Board. Christchurch was more closely associated with Timaru than was Dunedin. Tho chairman, Sir Francis Boys, remarked that Timaru was anxious to work in with Christchurch.

A British ten shilling note, surcharged for use in .Turkey, by the troops at the Dardanelles, has been presented to the Christchurch Museum. Other recent additions include a very fine specimen of the prow of a Maori canoe, found on the east coast of the North Island. This has been deposited by Mr Wilson, of Lyttelton. Specimens of Mount Torlesse annelid or worm tube have been presented by Mr E. R. Williams. The specimens occur at 4000 ft on the Rubicon Peak.

Heavv offerings of stock have been received for to-morrow's Addington sale, and all the Railway Department's trucks have been ordered for its transport. Over 400 "deckers" lfavo been Dooked. Of these 177 with sheep will arrive at Addington to-day and 21 cattle trucks. Twenty-eight trucks of sheep will arrive from tho West Coast to-day. The orders received by the Department include 48 trucks for North Island sheep on the Whangapo, '27 for sheep on the Tees, 11 for tho Alexander (due to-night), imd several for the Cygnet. Forty-six trucks of stock arrived at Addington on Monday.

A somewhat unusual request was made to the Canterbury Society for the Prevention of Cruelty'to Animals at a meeting of that body lost night, when a woman correspondent wrote regarding the killing of oysters. The letter, which was not taken seriously by the members of the society and which was nu-rely "received," read as follows: • .. • I was told by someone that tho New ealand method of dispatching oysters was so much mora humane than our method. Would vou tell me exactly what is done to kill them? I believe it was oysters. I mav have made a mistake, but it was something of the sort."

The work of converting the Christchurch telephone Bystem from overhead to underground is proceeding slowly but surely, and at the present time the underground wires are being joined. Some time will elapse before this work will be finished. A start has been made with the erection of the heavy pole line between the Telegraph Office and Shirley. This will carry the trunk circuit from the north, especially the new telephone circuit between the North and South Islands. Good progress is being made with the overhead lines and the re-wiring of subscribers' premises.

According to a report from the Works and Traffic Committee, which came before the Christchurch Tramway Board yesterday, a comparison with the recently issued balance-sheet of the Auckland Municipal Tramways shows that Chrietchureh operating costs per car mile continue to bo lower than in tho northern city. Auckland's average receipts per car mile are, however, higher, due to a large extent to the climatic conditions, and the hills of Auckland offering more inducement to people to use trams. The absence of bicycles is another factor.

Although not a tropical city, Christchurch possesses a very fine "specimen of the banana palm, and during.the past week-end it was greatly admired and praised by overseas visitors. The opinion has been expressed that the palm is more nearly perfect than any seen by people frorr countries where bananas are largely grown. In the open, banana trees have their leaves torn by winds, but with the protection afforded the tree in the winter garden at the Christchurch Botanie Gardens, the leaves are whole, and this fact enters largely into the formation of the high opinion of the tree. Another strong attraction at the Gardens at present is the begonia house where brilliant blooms are seen in great variety.

No one can get better service than that given by J. Heywood and Co.. Ltd., either as furniture removers, Custom House- Agents, or General Carrier*. —6