General News.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20415, 9 December 1931, Page 10

General News.

The Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe), who will be in residence at Auckland during January, has expressed to Bear-Admiral Geoffrey Blake Ins wish to. sail in one of the competing yachts at the Anniversary Day regatta. Arrangements are being made accordingly. —Press Association. Members of the Christchurch Fire Brigade are at present carrying out the half-yearly inspection of fire appliances in public and private buildings. From November 7th to December 2nd the Christchurch Fire Brigade received 13 calls. Of these seven were for fares in propertv in the City; one was a gras& ftte, three were false a,ari being malicious, and two were to Fendalton. The estimated amount of jr iduring the period was £5/b, insurances on buildings » nd amounted to £1460 and the estimated value of property actually affected was £2052. A suggestion that a remit- be for warded to the Municipal Conference that members of tho City Councils the four centres be known as aldermen, and that the aldermen elect the Mayor as is done in Melbourne, was made by Cr. F. Meadowcroft at a meeting or the Wellington City Council on Monday, but received little countenance. After a brief discussion it was decided to take no action. —Press Association. "With the objoet of finding extra Christmas work for men engaged under the unemployment schemes, the Christchur&h branch of the Returned Soldiers Association has a project in hand for subsidising private employers 7s a. day for 7s, the work to consist of tidying up private gardens betweon now and Christmas. The Association aIBO hopes to place a number of men with local bodies for three or four days during the fortnight or three weeks. Homing pigeons are still \ised in eoino of the outlying parts of the Dominion, especially at election time. During: the 1928 Maori elections the returns from Motiti Island, in the Bay of Plenty, were sent to the returning officer at Gisborne by 1 a pair of "homers," and ou Tuesday of last week the returns were again received on the mainland by pigeon post. Motiti Island has a launch service in good weather, but the results were sent by carrier pigeons in cage the weather might cause delay in the ordinaryc communications. Good Friday next year falls on March 25th, and from the point of view of City ratepayers in arrears with the payment of their rates, Bad Wednesday Will be March 23rd, as on that date the 10 per cent, penalty will begin to operate. So far, the pnyment of City rates is practically the sain© in amount as it was this time last year, when allowance is made for tho fact that this year's levy is not so great, being in round figures £333,000, as cotnpiircd with £358.000 last year] The total amount received to date is £26,173, as compared with £28,979, the amount that had been received at this time last year, a difference of £2806. Regarding the extra allocation bv ! the Unemployment Board to permit of additional men in Christchurch being put on relief work in the period before Christmas, the Mayor (Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P.) expects to receive definite information from the Prime Minister, Mr Forbes, to-day. Yesterday Mr Forbes telegraphed that be •was conferring with the Minister in Charge of Unemployment, Mr Coatea, on the subject.

The applications for debentures in the Heathcote County Council's Cashmere sewerage loan of £3500, after having come m somewhat slowly, have increased within the past few days, with the result that debentures totalling £2BOO, bearing interest at 5J- per pent., have been sold. Tobacco' and cigarettes valued at about £3O were stolen by thieves, who broke into the shop of Mr (j. W. Weavers, at the corner of George street and Seaview road. New Brighton, early yesterday morning. Entry was gained by breaking open the irout door of the shop. Though the dry spell continues and City gardens are showing signs of the lack' of rain, the demands on the City water supply are not causing the municipal authorities much concern. The warnings advertised regarding the use of water for garden purposes unless a meter is installed,, appear to have had a good effect, and few complaints have been made regarding wastage. "Even in these times, I am of the opinion that it pays a boy or a girl to have two or three years at a secondary school," stated Mr E. A. Cockroft, headmaster of tho Ashburton High School, in his report to the School Board of Governors, yesterday. Continuing, he stated that it seemed quite certain that the numbers receiving their proficiency and competency certificates this year would be very many les3 than in previous years. It that was the case, they might look for a very much reduced entrance number at the beginning of 1932. The tendency to lower numbers would be counteracted, he thought, by the large number remaining at school. It is interesting to record some of the uses to which that portion of the Provincial Council Buildings known as Bellamy's, which the members of the Canterbury Pilgrims' Association hope to have placed at their disposal for a meeting place and a treasury for their relics, has been put during the past twenty-five or thirty years. In that period it has been used for sittings of the Police Court in the days when Justices of the Peace were seen oftener on the Bench than now is -the case. For a while it housed the Official Assignee in Bankruptcy and his staff,, and within its walls many meetings of creditors were held. While Bellamy's was in use for Police Court purposes, the Official Assignee occupied rooms almost directly overhead. At present Bellamy's accommodates a portion of tho staff of the Lands and Survey Department. One of the performing elephants belonging to Wirth Brqs.' circus was struck by the engine of a north-bound train at Oaniaru yesterday. When the signal bells sounded for the closing of the Thames street lovel-croßsing, tho elephant's keeper called a halt, and waited with the elephant a few yards from the line. The whistle of the engine as it approached the crossing may have startled the huge animal, for it tried to cross the lino in front of the train. The keeper avoided a direct impact by swinging the elepjiant round; but the engine struck it a glancing blow on the aide, inflicting a severe cut and toaring away «jue skin. Though badly shaken, animal seemed little the worse for the experience, and showed no loss of appetite when the time camo for ner mid-day meal. Messrs Wirth Bros, were unlucky in losing an elephant at Invercarg'ill, on Monday night at Palmerston one of the performing polar bears died, and last night another polar bear died at Oamaru.

Although last session's legislation retpeeting the Government's subsidy on County and Road Board rates, which will permit County Councils and Road Boards to give ratepayers a discount of 12} per cent., makes provision for cases in which the total of this year'* rates, owing to a decrease in the levy, is a less amount than the average 1 of the previous three years, there is, apparently, no provision for the opposite state of things, where, for instance, owing to new loans having been raised, this year's total rate is higher than tho average Of the past three years. In this last mentioned contingency it is obvious that the local authority cannot out of tho Government subsidy give the 12} per cent, discount. Ono County t Council in the vicinity of Christchurch, where the total rates for 1931-32 are greater than the average of tho prsvious three years, has brought the matter under the notice of the Minister for Public Works in order to ascertain what is to be done in the circumstances. The value of advertising was questioned by many speakers at the meeting of Canterbuiy fruitgrowers, held last night to hoar an address by Mr H. E. Napier, manager of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation in explanation of the proposed Dominion mark scheme for fruit this season, and in future seasons. Mr Napier maintained that advertising was the soul of business and its possibilities were limitless. Mr F. \V. Cone and Mr G. E. Billson supported him, and thon Mr C. E. Pope, in reply to the criticism, produced concrete evidence of the value of small advertisements in the newspaper in bringing results. He said that up to 1918 the strawberry growers of Canterbury had not done any advertising, and did not do a largo business in selling strawberries for iammaking. Almost by accident advertising in a very small way had been instituted, and the results were amazing. They were best borne out by the fact thai to-day about £IOOO worth of the fruit was sold direct to the public by growers around Christchurch each season, as the result of snjall advertisements informing the public that strawberries were available. Mr Pope said that he himself advertised, and althbugh he had not taken an absolutely accurate check he was certain that advertising had extended business and ' provided most invaluable support to the adveitiser. Railway passengers, when you arrivo in Christchurch, please come straight across the rond to our garage for a Gold Band Taxi; don't take any other. Make sure it is a Gold Band Taxi, as you will save money by doing so, as our fares are half the price of others. jWest fare Is, 5 passengers and Luggage. Why nay more' 'Phonos 34-075 or 35-5/2. Thank yo^ John Johnston, Ltd., merchants established 1863. Direct importers of British and American hnrdware ana machinery. 'Phone 4. P.O. riox 1. Rangiora. • ~ J . The drill tests, held at Lincoln College. 1930-31, showed that the two i. and I). Duncan Drills (one force teea and the other spoon feed) were botn superior to tho other lour entries evenness of discharge, the coulter P®'* centage of variation in both clrius being 1.7 onlv against 3.3. 3.6, 4.3. and 3.4. The per acre also showing the effect of even discharge being by our spoon drill 24.8 bushels per acre, and bv our force feed 23.4. the others beinsr'l7.7, 21.8. 21.7 22.9—P. ami D. Duncan. Ltd.. Box 124. Christchurch. and at Ashburton. " Visitors to Sanatorium on Sundays please note that you can get a Gold Band Taxi right opposite the tram terminus by the petrol bowser at cheap rates and 6d a head right into town after closing time, 4 p.m., so why pay more, and make Bure it's a Gold Band Taxi. Thank you. —6