General News.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 19400, 28 August 1928, Page 6

General News.

The Canterbury Mußewn wiij be closed from September 10th to 21st for annual cleaning operations, The erection of the Municipal- Electricity Department's ■ sub-station in Milton street has been completed. The equipment has yet to be installed. The balance-sheet of the Heathcote County Council for the year ended March 31st last, has been received back from the Audit Department without any'.'tags,". . The State Forest Service has renewed, for the- current year, its grant of £250 for silvical research in Westland, to be carried out by the School of Forestry.'. The Board of Governors of Canterbury College expressed its thanks yesterday to Dri. A. J. Orchard for his gift to the School of Art of a number of coloured anatomical casts. The New' Brighton Borough Council &st night decided to send a letter of condolence to the relatives of the late Mr Geo. Dennis, an old resident of the Borough. The transfer of two plaster busts, of William Shakespeare and Robert. Burns, from the School of Art to the Public Library was approved at yesterday's meeting of the Canterbury College Board of Governors. Sunday was a busy day for the workmen engaged on the electrification of the Christchurch-Lyttelton railway line. The day was spent in running out the feeder wire for the overhead gear at the ChristchUrch end. For the week ended Saturday, the goods traffic through the Otira tunnel from the "West Coast to Canterbury was 10,429 tons, as compared with 10,624 tons for the corresponding week of 1927. Plans and specifications for the reconstruction of Page's road are being prepared by the officers of the Main Highways Board and it is expected that tenders will be called for the work in two or three weeks. Charles Bowles, an old age pensioner, aged 88 years, WBB found dead in his bed at 37 Cornwall street, where he was boarding, yesterday morning. He was a widower, but little else is known about him. No inquest will be necessary, A live specimen of the scink, a rare Western Pacific lizard, was caught by Native boys and was brought to Auckland on tho mission steamer Southern Cross, but died a few hours after reaching the zoo. A travelling companion, i a young crocodile from Vanikoro (Santa 1 Cruz Islands) has, so far, suzviyed*

The excavation for the new pipe line at Lake Coleridge to supply the new unit which is to generate 7500 k.w. has been completed, and the erection of the concrete piers to carry the pipes is in hand.

A proposal to erect a pavilion in Hagley Park, at the Hospital corner, for hookey players will be considered by the Sports Ground Committee of the Christchurch Domains Board tomorrow. ,

A fine specimen of a South Island kiwi has been liberated in the Nortti Canterbury Acclimatisation Society's gardens, near the Hospital, where the undergrowth is thick enough to offer it the shelter that it requires The bird was caught near Carlton road. A competition, open to children attending primary schools, is being inaugurated by the New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society for the purpose of instilling in the young people the value of the Dominion's forests and birds. A prize of £5 is offered to the writer of the best essay of not more than 500 words on observations of any native bird or on the uses of any native tree.

Only fourteen of the 213 cases of scarlet fever at present in the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Burwood are regarded as severe cases. During the week ended noon yesterday 58 cases (38 in the metropolitan area) were reported in the Canterbury Health District, and one in the West Coast Health District. The previous week 57 cases were reported in the Canterbury Health District.

The misdirected flight of a bittern was responsible recently for a stoppage of electric power in the Matamata district and the cutting off of the current to about 700 milking machines. The bird flew into the main supply line at Te Poi, the impact bringing the two wires together, thus causing a short circuit. The bird, which was electrocuted, measured nine inches from tip to tip of the wings, At yesterday's meeting of the Board of Governors of Canterbury College, the High Schools and Hostels Committee reported having referred to the Estates Committee, for favourable consideration, a proposal from the City Council that the Board dedicate a strip of land, approximately fifty links wide, along the River road frontage of the Avonside Girls' High School property, to enable the street to be widened. Weather figures supplied by the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory for last, week show the versatility of which August is capable. On Thursday the mean temperature was 53,6 .degrees, but it was followed on Friday by a mean temperature of only 39.6 degrees. The highest air temperature reached was 67,8 on Thursday, while the coldest was that of 2,9,1 on Saturday morning when there were 12.1 degrees of frost. During the week the rainfall amounted to 87 points.

A rapid asoent of Mount Egmont was made by two climbers, Mr L. Bryant, of New Plymouth, and Guide R. Larsen last week. The mountain was covered with snow, hut the two men completed the return journey in four hours. They left at 8.30 a.m. and. were back at 12.30. The snow was soft and in perfect condition for fast and safe climbing without the necessity of laborious cutting while the return journey was quickly accomplished by a long glissade which carried the two men well down toward Humphries' Castle. A large tawa log, with the timber in a perfect, state of preservation, was struck 18ft below the surface by workmen excavating for the foundations. of a new building in New Plymouth. The portion struck had to be chopped through and was found to be over 4ft in diameter. As there were branches shooting in several directions it was thought that the trunk of the tree must have .been considerably larger. Several smaller logs have been found at various depths.

Shortly after 7 o'clock on Saturday evening a five-seater sedan car, owned by Mr James Beban, 177 Edgeware road, was stolen from, Manchester street, near Moorhouse avenue, and on Sunday it was found upside down and badly, damaged, on the old zig-zag road between Lyttelton and Sumner. It had run oft the road at Evans Pass, travelled down a steep bank, and dropped over a 10ft cliff on to the old road. The theory is that the car was taken by joy'riders who let it career off ,the road when they had finished witb.it, as there was no sign of passengers. "Pronunciation of Maori words, beautiful in the raoutbe of the initiated, are grotesque in the attempts of those who are unaware of the five chief rules governing Maori vowel sounds,' said Mr Farquhar Young; elocution judge at the Hawora competitions, Ho said he had found Italians best able to pro nounce at sight Maori words. After travelling on the railways and passing beautiful examples of native words, h«> had discovered guards committing atrocious blunders when calling names of stations. He suggested they should be obliged to pass a test before being allowed to call the names of stations According to figures prepared by the i Town Clerk (Mr J. S. Neville), the roll to be used in connexion with the City Council's roading' loan poll on September 6th contains 27,339 name» of persons entitled to vote. The roll, including two supplements, actually contains 50,403 names but is reduced to 27,389 as follows: —Names on roll as printed, 50,403; struck off owing to property having been sold, 5029; residential und occupiers who, are not entitled to vote on loan proposals, 18,035; total, 23,084; leaving, 27,339. Infectious and other notifiable diseases reported in the Canterbury and the West Coast health districts during the week ended noon yesterday totalled 111, as follows:—Canterbury: Scarlet fever, 58; diphtheria, 3; tuberculosis, 11; pneumonia, 11; pneumonic influenza, 9; puerperal sepsis, 1; erysipelas, 1; lethargic encephalitis, 1; septic abortion, 2; food poisoning, l. West Coast: Scarlet fever, 1; diphtheria, 8; tuberculosis, 4. Deaths.— Canterbury: Pneuiuonia, 4; pneumonic influenza, 1; lethargic encephalitis, 1; total, 6.

The liabilities of School Boards in respect of accidents to scholars arising from negligence on the part of the Boards was discussed at the last meeting of the Hutt Valley High School Board of Governors, when a letter was received from an insurance company pointing out sueb liability and offering suitable insurance. The letter stated that every owner of a school, or School Board or Committee, or institute, etc, was liable for accidents to pupils where negligence could be shown, "The members of the Board or Committee are jointly liable, but the loss may fall on those members who cap pay." The chairman thought that the Board should bring the matter before the Education Department and ask the position, and whether the State would cover the matter, and a motion to that effect was carried. Spring Top-Dressing: Besides our standard double-drive, horse-drawn Top-dresser—-the most popular machine in New Zealand—we make and supply Motor Top-Dressers—attachable to any motor-truck or car chassis. Also a Duplex Rotary Top-Dresser, attachable either to farm dray or waggon, or motor-truck —all practicable propositions. Fuller details on request. Booth, Macdonald and Co., Ltd. —6