General News.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19804, 17 December 1929, Page 12

General News.

Work, at the Poplar Crescent br.ni iotmi'ia is 'u-aritig completion. The finishing touches arc being given to the balustrade portion. Mr K. A. Amler-on, a prominent citizen of lnverenrgiii, ha« given to the town full equipment for a children's piaycround. Press Association.

The annual Christinas appeal of the Christchurch Rotary Club will he made on Friday, when a street collection will [.)•' made, and on Sunday afternoon, when a hand concert will be given in the Hospital grounds. It is anticipated that the award of the Arbitration Court affecting workers in the meat freezing industry will be issued before Christmas. The linal evidence in the dispute was taken by the Court in Auckland last week. Freezing works, in Canterbury at present are dealing with drafts of early lambs that are coining to hand. The works will shut down for the euMomary period for the Christmas and New Year holidays. The Canterbury branch of the Navy League, as has been the custom for some years past, is inviting the children of the various orphanages in and about the City to attend exhibitions of moving pictures in the League's hall prior to Christmas. The Hon. Mr Ransom, Minister for Public Works, in reply to the representations made by Mr 10. J. Howard,. M.P., regarding the intention not to pay workers on relief works till the middle of January, has telegraphed:—"Your telegram to hand. lam having the matter of wages draw looked into.'' The work of demolishing the brick building at the rear of the old .Fire Station in Chester street is in hand. This is being done prior to the alterations being made to the Fire Station building proper to adapt it for-the uses of the Plunket Society, and also for the purpose of the Women's Rest Room. The following sums have been received by the Canterbury and West Coast Centre of the St. John Ambulance Association from Dr. F. J. Borrie, acting assistant commissioner of the Brigade in the district : —£9o, proceeds from the Brigade bazaar; £5, from Miss A. Borrie; i'l, from Miss Mehaffey ; £5, from Mr H. An earthquake lasting for over a minute was experienced in Christchurch at 5.5 a.m. yesterday. The movement was gentle, and apparently the visitation was the outcome of the settling down which is taking place following upon the recent severe shocks. The earthquake had much the same character at Arthur's Pass as in Christchurch. The question of finding a week's work before Christmas for the City's unemployed is expected to come up at tonight's meeting of the City Council. Recently a deputation representing the unemployed waited on the Mayor (Mr J. K. Archer), who undertook to place the deputation's representations before the Finance Committee. This was done, and the Committee decided to refer the matter to the whole Council. But for the fact that the banks, insurance offices, some of the Government Departments, and the Municipal Offices were closed, and that many buildings in the City displayed bunting, there were few outward indications that yesterday was a holiday in celebration of the anniversary of the foundation of the pror vince of Canterbury. The shops were open, and most of the customary activities of the City went on as usual. Outstanding among productions of its kind, the 1929 issue of the Sacred Heart College (Auckland) magazine contains a wealth of interesting reading matter bearing on the many and varied phases of school life. The record of the year's activities is a very full one, being chronicled in no fewer than 106 pages with the assistance of numerous very attractive photographs. The successes and personal notes concerning old boys of the CoHege occupy a fair share of space, Hvliile a special editorial tribute is paid to the memory of the late Bishop Cleary and the late late Father Ryan, Rector of St. Patrick's College, Wellington. Two Moth aeroplanes from the Canterbury Aero Club, piloted by Captain J. C. Mercer and Air W. 11. Barlow, will fly to Dunedin early this morning. Sir Francis Boys, president of the Canterbury Club and Mr P. R. Climie, secretary, will go as passengers, and they will meet representatives of the Otago and Southland Aero Clubs and discuss with them matters pertaining to the aero club movement in the South Island. The journey is expected to take about two and a half hours. The party will return to-night if the weather is favourable. The police are anxious to find a motorist who collided with a motor-cyclist between Halswell and Tai Tapu on Monday, December 9th. The motorcyclist was badly hurt, suffering fractures of both wrists. It is alleged that the car, a threeseater Hupniobile of old pattern, was being driven on the wrong side of the road, without lights or number plates. The driver stopped, but he gave the motor-cyclist a fictitious name and address —A. Shirlaw, 82 Harper street, Sydenham. No trace of any person of that name can be found, and the address does not exist.

In paying a warm tribute to the ■work done by school committees in the administration of education the chairman of the Hawke's Bay Education Board, Mr J. Clark Thomson, remarked at the last meeting of that body:— "Complaint is made that school committees have now very little authority or power. There is some justification for this, but still membership of a school committee provides an opportunity for very valuable, if unostentatious, public service, and I wish to place on record my personal tribute to the efforts of all committeemen and to the loyal service they have rendered in the past year."

The suggested incorporation of the Anniversary Day holiday with the Christmas holidays met with some support when discussed yesterday with business men and others. The Chamber of Commerce has had the question of the Anniversary Day holiday before it on previous occasions but found that it was complicated by the rules governing bank holidays. Attempts have been made to get tfie banks to fall in with the wishes of the business community in respect of holidays generally. but so far they have not been successful. A retail merchant who discussed ths subject with a reporter said that a holiday on December 16th always had been Inconvenient and he believed that if it were decided to observe Anniversary Day on December 27th it would lead to much less dislocation of business than would be the case if a general holiday was observed on December 16tfi. For Twelve Friends—what better Christmas Greeting than a characteristic Steffano Webb study of yourself ? Studio, 252 High street. —6 Taxi fates to Brighton 5s 6d. Sumner Sfc, Governor's Bay 9a, Lyttelton 13s, Mount Pleasant Ss, Kairaki Beach 14=. Woodend Beach 20s, Waikuku Beach 235, Leithfield Beach 275, Sanatorium ss. Only if you engage a Gold Band Taxi. 'Phones 35-572 or 34-075. Thank You. —1 Cooke's Ice Cream novelties are simply delicious,try them—a new one every week at the Tudor and Cooke'» Tearooms, High street. —6