General News.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20421, 16 December 1931, Page 10

General News.

. _—-t — At its pieeting lftst night the Cliristchureli Drainage Board decided to make its annual grant of £2O to the Boa.rd pf governors of the Christchurcb. Technical College. Believing that the Citizens' Relief Association's Contral Depot, will be faced with a difficult time immediately after the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Mayqr (Mr D. Q- MUVfin, has decided, to increase the allocation to the depot from his Relief of Pipt?esa Fund from £3O to £4O per week. The undying spirit of carnival which prevails at each Christnwtide forms the then*© for an interesting §4itorial in thp cufTfirt WISH®. 9f tfee Cashmere gauatariiim Magazine, |tem& pf |»ews eoriperning th© Of patients in the magaztoe, and Dr. I. (J. MaointXPe's third prtjple on tuberculosis contains instruction on treating the disease. So that the beauties of Christ church jnay be maintained. a general appeal to the citizens of Ghrietphnrch ior funds tQ help it in its wort Is to be made by the Clmgtchurch Beautifying Association. At a meeting of the executive of the Association yesterday, the secretary, Mr S. F. Marshall, told members that they must be cautious about sehejj?es involving the expenditure of any money, as the funds were lower than they had been for years. On the motion of Mr R. B. Owen jt was decided to make an appeal ior funds. It was announced at the meeting; of the Ohristphurcli City Council, hem on December 7th, that the officers ot the Council were being given tho option of deciding, in connexion witlj their superannuation payments, whether they will continue to pay- tneir contributions on their old salaries, or on their present reduced salaries-. By ap amendment of the National Provident Fund Act, provision is made tor adjusting contributions. Of the fifteen officers of the City Council, who aie affected, eleven have made their choice, ten having decided to continue their superannuation contributions on tho higher rate. "In times such as the pjcseiit, when the Government is up against it, sp°™ should bear its shore of the burden, said Mr C. 8. Thompson at the meeting of the Management Committee or the Canterbury Cricket Association last evening, a suggestion had beep made thnt the admißS?oh charges for the Christmas piuiiket Shield match at Lancaster Park should be reduced from 2s and Is (5d fpr the enclosure W embankment respectively to Is M jmd Is. thus obviating the necessity for the payment of amusement l f«Wf- Although it. was pointed out that the tion would probably profit aq a result of the larger afctendanpes q,t the tax-, free rate, the mating agreed Mr Thwapeop, agd the usu§l .fjksegw ww* «4h«red to*

At midnight recently a Nwlson business man was awakened by bis; telephone. ''Police here," were the first words he heard. Then "We found your shop open to-night"—and the shopkeeper feared the worst. But fear was turned to laughter when the policeman asked: "How do you get out of the shop? We'vp locked the door and now ejin't get out." Claims for refunds of the cost of sewer connexions exceeding 33ft. in the rbadway have been increasing in number, and the Christchurch Drainage Board, at its meeting last night, was, recommended by its Works Committee that no further refunds be made except in cases where the roadway is over one chain in width, or circumstances warranted special consideration being given. It was stated that the amount refunded in 1927-8 was £3 19s, in 1928-9 £45 Bs'6d, in 1929-30 £44 17s 6d, and in 1930-31 £32 18s 9d. The committee's recommendation was adopted. In reporting to the Christchurch Drainage Board's meeting last night that 25 extra men had been put on under the No. 5 Scheme, for the period prior to Christmas, Mr J. W. Beanland said that they did not have sufficient tools, but the Heathcote County Comieil had offered to lend some tools. In the event of there still being insufficient tools, he had authorised the engineer to obtain more if required. The engineer (Mr Jas. Cullens) said that the tools provided by the Heathcote County Council had been sufficient. Branches of the Railway Tradesmen's Association and the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants at the Hutt Workshops have passed a resolution calling on the Government to bring pressure on the Railways Board to refrain from further dismissals. "It is felt," says the resolution, "that plans should be devised to enable the latest lot of dismissal notices, numbering about forty, to be withdrawn. Many of the men are of long service, and all are highly qualified."—Press Association. The possibility of three Sydney yachts competing in tho Tasman vaeht race in .January is mentioned in a letter which has been received in Auckland from a yachtsman in Sydney. The Norwegian yacht Teddy, owned by Mr 13. Tambs, which is now on a cruise to the Islands, and the schooner Aorere, owned by Mr T. McGill, of Auckland, will bo definite competitors, and there is also a possibility of another Auckland boat competing. Following the policy observed last year, tho Marlborough County Council resolved that be permitted to cut any oqckgfoot on roads fronting their properties, Opinion was divided as to whether there was much cocksfoot this year suitable for seed, but it was held that there were fair quantities in some parts of the district. As to the question of letting the seed gathering rights or granting them to' the adjoining owners, the point was made by one speaker that property owners were required to keep their frontages free from noxious weeds and they therefore had a right to the grass seed. When counsel called attention, in the Arbitration Court yesterday, to tho difficulty that arose when an injured workman neglected to bring an action, liis Honour Mr Justice Frazor was prompted to remark that there waß a need for a specialist court to deal with medical cases. Counsel stated that there should be provision in tho Arbitration Act whereby, in such a case, the employer or the insurance company concerned could bring tlia action. "Thero not seem fo be. much possibility of an amendment in -the Act for some time," said liis Honour, "A specialist court would bo very desirable to deal with medical easos, free from Other work, and visitjng the centres at three months' intervals. Until tho economic situation improves, however, it is beyond the sphere of practical politics." Subscribers to the Christchurch Telephone Exchange were given notice pn Monday that all telephone connexions foj- which the half-yearly rental was outstanding at 6 p.m. yesterday would he disconnected without further notice. The District Telegraph Engineer (Mr J. C. Fairbairn) explained to » reporter yesterday thftt the order was not as isevere as seemed, since the individual subscribers were always given n few days' grace before the disconnexion was made, and were then given a further warning by telephone. Heavy, payments of rentals have been made during the Jast few days, and by the time these are cheesed no on the file? not many defaults are likely to be found. Mr Fairbairn said that' while a certain number pf connexions were always discontinued at the time for payment of half-yearly rentals, there was jilways a greater number of new subscribers. The total number of subscribers was thus always increasing. "Sunbathing" is not sun-burning," was the gist of a tabic of ndvico.to sunbnthovs forwarded by the Now Zealand Sunlight League to the Canterbury Centre of tho Royal Life Saving Society lpt evening. Hie nilcfs, winch 3re to be distributed in pester fprm by the League, set out that the eyes and the hack of tha head should be protected, fcluit 15 minutes —7% on each sufficient at first for dark-complexioned people, and a shorter sime for fair complexions, that this period should be increased by 5 or 10 minutes each day to two or three hours, that the best time is before 11 a.m. and after 3 p.m., as infra-red heat rays and not tho health-giving ultra-violet rays predominate in the middle of the day, and tbilt a pun-bath should result in a. sense of well-being, showing no ill effects. The idpal to he aimed »t, the poster states, "is a gradual tanning, without peeling or blistering." A member's comment was: That is all very well, but whmi a man gets only one day a week in the sun he doesn't worry about rules. The Railway Department advertises in this issue particulars of time-table alterations on the Lyttelton line and Methven branch. The Tramway Board has issued a challenge to the Gold Band Taxis by stopping the trams at a non-stopping place fit Cashmerq on Sundays. Watch this space closely as there is a big surprise coming to all concerned, but in the meantime 'phone 34-075 or for a Gold Band Taxi. Thank you. —6 John Johnston, Ltd., merchants, established 1863, Direct importers of British and American hardware and machinery. 'Phone 4. P.O. »ox 1. Rangiora. —1 The drill tests, held Lincoln College, 1930-31, showed that the two P. and D, Duncan Drills (one force feed and the other spoon feed) were both (superior to the Other four entries in evenness of discharge, the coulter percentage of variation in both dril'S being 1.7 only against 3.3. 3.6, 4.3. and 3.4, Tho yield per acre sjlgo showing the effect of even discharge being by i»ijr spgon drill 24.§ bushels per acid, find by our fprcn feet] 23.4. the others being* 17.7, '21.8, 2JJ and P. Pgnqftn. ktt},, Bos 121, Christ* church, and at AsblqUrton. —Q A challenge to the Gold Band Taxis) hap been itjsned by the Tramway Board, which will fee accepted shortly and will rqdijcc the Tramway revenue consider-! abljy-. Watch this space for big sun prises. Cheaper t«d rides ere in the air, but keep on 'phoning 34-075 or 35-572 for Gold Baud Taxis: lowest faro .Is 5 passengers and luggage, . ' ; u , i —6