General News.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19732, 24 September 1929, Page 10

General News.

Last week the goods traffic through the Otira tunnel from the West Coast to Canterbury totalled 13,604 tons, as compared with 12,373 tons for the corresponding period of 1928. A meeting of the Health Week General Committee will be held in the City Council Chambers at S o'clock tonight. All members of the committee and citizens generally are invited to attend. At least twenty enquiries for special trains and carriages for excursions have been received already this spring by the Railway Department, indicating that the call for picnic trains will be unprecedentedly heavy this year. None has been definitely arranged yet. On Satnrday, October Bth, the ferry steamer Maori will be delayed at Wellington until between midnight and 1 a.m. to allow of the "Desert Song" Company coming south that night, and in consequence she will not arrive in Lyttelton until about midday on the Sunday. Y?ork has been commenced on the construction of the concrete roads through the Addington workshops. The steel waggon shop will soon be completed, and all of the new work should be flnishel by December, when it is probable that the new workshops will be formally opened by a member of Cabinet. Numerous enquiries in regard to the proposed combined railway and steamer trip to Australia by Canterbury farmers next autumn have been received by Mr F. Pawson, business agent, N.Z.E. There is every indication that should such a visit eventuate, the party making the trip will be a large one. Five frosts were recorded lQst week, followed on each day by ideal weather. The mean temperature for the week was 45.8, and altogether 42.8 hours of sunshine were recorded. Towards the end of the week, however, the sunny conditions were spoilt by a keen wind from the east-north-east quarter. Last week Mr F. Pawson, business agent, N.Z.E., visted Nelson to complete the arrangements for the fruitgrowers' excursion to that district next month. A complete programme for the entertainment of the visitors on the day of their arrival, October 10th, has been approved, and the remainder of the arrangemerts have been confirmed. A Railway officer suggested yesterday a method of simplifying the D-pay-ment's present practice of reserving seats on trains. He said that if a reserved seat ticket was issued to every purchaser of a ticket at terminal stations, at a small additional charge, everyone would be assured of a seat, and much confusion would be obviated. Certain City shopkeepers have suffered loss recently by counterfeit florins whieh have been in circulation, and in one shop alone two bad coins wflre passed over the counter the same day, not being detected until they reached the bank. The onus is on the possessor to show that he has no guilty knowledge of counterfeit coins, and the penalties for possession and for usage are severe. The taxidermist at the Canterbury Museum, Mr Earl J. Haynes, is busily engaged at present in cleaning and restoring the specimens in the bird gallery, and at the same timo opportunity is being taken to renovate the cabinets. The general work of -estoring specimens goes on at the Museum throughout the whole year, the various exhibits being taken in sections. The next series to receive attention will be the skeletons in the mammal room. The Museum itself is now undergoing a spring cleaning. Speaking at the opening of the Sprin's-EHesmere Power Board's new offices and showrooms, yesterday, Mr J. A. Flesher expressed the conviction that had the Waimakariri been harnessed, it would have been possible to supply power to the City and to the whole of North Canterbury at a lower rate than consumers were now paying for current from Lake Coleridge. He looked forward to the time when one authority would supply current to the whole of North Canterbury, reducing overhead and distribution costs, and passing the saving on to the consumers. Other vH tors and speakers were Messrs J. S. Simpson (Springs County Council), James Leslie (Paparua County Council), Chapman (Banks Peninsula Power Board), and Oliver (Malvern Power Board).

The Main Highways Board is to meet in 'Wellington on Thursday, and it is anticipated that it will reconsider the various schemes for road reconstruction in Canterbury. When the present band rotunda in Victoria square has been removed and the Bowker fountain has been erected, it is intended to lay out a number of flower plots it) that portion of the Square. The Bowker fountain is to be illuminated at night by electricity "The History of Handwriting" was the subject of a lecture by Professor J. Shelley before the Classical Association at Canterbury College last evening. The lecturer traced the development of picture writing from the earliest times up to the Egyptian and Babylonian periods, and the development of forms of lettering from the Roman scripts to' the various national handwritings of the present day. The address was illustrated by lantern slides. nfectious and other notifiable diseases reported in the Canterbury and West Coast Health Districts for the week ended noon yesterday totalled 34. Canterbury: Scarlet fever, 11; diphtheria. 3; tuberculosis, 6; pneumonia. 5; pneumonic influenza, 2; puerperal sepsis, 1; erysipelas, 1; hydatids, 1. West Coast: Scarlet fever, i, diP"* theria. 2 , puerperal semis, 1, There were four deaths in the Canterbury district: Tuberculosis, 2; pneumonia, I; erysipelas, 1. But for the display of ounting and the fact that the banks, insurance, and 'e-al offices were closed, there was little to indicate yesterday that a holiday to celebrate Dominion Day was being observed. The Government offices ana business places generally were open" Some local bodies, including the Council, observed the holiday. Fmt weather was experienced by holidaymakers. and the atti action of the hills and of the seaside took numbers out of town. Woi k on the reconstruction of Page's road in cement concrete is progressing favourably and the contractor, Mr T. Pheloung, expects to lay seven chains every working day except when the state of the weather interferes. Already 32 chains have been laid on the north side of the tramway tracks. The contract time for completion is December 24th, but if the present rate of progress is maintained the reconstructed road should be open for traffic in ten weeks Satisfactory results are being achieved by the running of goods trains through the Otira tunnel at night. The bulk of the freight now arrives at the Middleton marshalling yards for distribution before 8 a.m. each day. It is now possible for an empty waggon to leave Christchurch for Gfeymouth one day, and be back again, fully loaded, by the corresponding time the next. On several days of the week a waggon might leave' Ross, the southern terminus of the Westland railway system, in the morning, and reach Dunedin before noon on the following day. The beautification of Sydenham Park, which is to be taken in hand shortly, will involve the removal of the present iron fence on the Colombo street front the removal back from the street line of the public conveniences, and tho removal of the high iron fence alongside the public library Tho removal of the iron fence on the Colombo street front will be In the nature of an experiment, and if it proves successful it is probable that the fence on the Brougham street front a 1 so will be removed. A series of flower beds probably will be laid out on the Colombo street front. The provision of safer and better access to Sydenham from the City, a matter for which business men ia Sydenham have been agitating for many years past, is not likely to be accomplished for a few years yet, according to Cr. F. B. Cooke. Some tim« ago the City Council approached the Government on the question of providing a subway, btit it was stated then that they could not consider agreeing to undertake the work for some years. The necessity for a subway or a bridge becomes more urgent as time passes as the volume of traffic is increasing and delays, owing to trains with numerous trucks nassing over the crossing, are of frequent occurrence. It is probable that the industrial dispute affecting the freezing works in Canterbury may be made a Dominion dispute. As matters stand at present the Conciliation Commissioner (Mr W. H. Hagger) has arranged to hear the dispute at a meeting of the Concilation Council to be held on October 7th. The award expired on July 31st, and the freezing companies have taken proceedings for a new award. The employees' Union has filed counter-claims. No reduction of wages is asked for by the employers, who desire certain alterations in respect of conditions. The employees' Union is asking for a general revision of the award. The new bridge over the Ashburton river to replace the exsiting one on the Picton-Bluff main highway, for which tenders close on the 15th of next month, will consist of thirty-two 35ft reinforced concrete spans. At each end the abutment piers will be supported on six reinforced concrete piles.he bridge will be 1120 ft in length, and will have a 22ft carriageway and 6ft footway. The time for completion is eighteen months from the date of the acceptance of the tender. The Main Highways Board is providing 75 per cent, of the total cost, and the remainder is being found by the Ashburton County Council, the Ashburton Borough Council, and the Tinwald Town Board. There are three million McCorntick- j Deering Binders in use throughout the world. This huge total is an assurance that McCormick-Deering knows something about the grain business and its requirements The McCormick-Deering Harvester Thresher has proved a success in certain parts of the world, and this year it is to be tried out in New Zealand. A sample Harvester Thresher is now being set lip, and before very long it will be on show at the International Harvester Company of New ZeaLand, Ltd , showroom in Cashel street, Christchurch As there is yet some doubt as the efficiency of these machines under New Zealand climatic conditions, this machine is here for purelv experimental pumoses Such is the prestige of McCormick-Deering implements in New Zealand that, rather than prejudice it by the introduction of a machine untried locally, the International Harvester Co. of New Zea'and, Ltd do not intend marketing it until the results of searching and rigorous experiments which thev will be conducting in Canterbury are known. Thev consequently strongly recommend all interested to await their verdict, based on the outcome of these experiments. However, in the meantime. all farmers are cordially invited* to inspect this new addition to the McCormick-Deering Harvesting Line. —1 Your child is growing out of recollection. Preserve the memory of dimpled cheeks and saucy, laughing eyes by having Steffano Webb make a portrait now Stndio. 252 High street. —6 Maternity cases are specially catered for by the Gold Band Taxis, as we run a continuous service night and day, so 'phone 35-572 or 34-075 at any hour: only careful drivers employed. —2 Talk it over, over a cup of tea at Cooke's Business men's morning teas. 6d. at the Tudor and Cooke's Tea Rooms, High street. —6