General News

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21026, 30 November 1933, Page 8

General News

Tramway Weekly Passes. The general manager of the Tramway Board (Mr Frank Thompson) yesterday received a letter from the manager of the Brisbane tramways (Mr G. R. Steer) stating that he was very interested in the introduction cf the weekly passes by the Christchurch board, and that he was about to introduce similar passes in Brisbane as soon as he could obtain the consent of the Government. He promised to give Mr Thompson full details at a later date. Business Men's Relief Fund. The committee of Christchurch business men, the members of which, at the end of May, launched the scheme to raise £25,000 as a fund for the relief of distress caused by unemployment, is to meet on December 8 to receive a balancesheet of the fund and to consider matters relating to the fund. The latest figures show that the an»ount raised was £14,358. This does not represent contributions all in cash; there were many contributions of goods, produce, and so forth, and the value of these is included in the total. The greater proportion of the total given above represents cash contributions. Of the amounts promised there was only between £IOO and £2OO outstanding yesterday. Good Singing Appreciated. "I was very glad to hear you people sing the National Anthem prettily and so accurately," said the Gover-nor-General, Lord Bledisloe, when addressing the school children at Cheviot yesterday. There were few persons in the Dominion who heard the National Anthem sung so often as their Excellencies, Lord Bledisloe continued. Many times he and her Excellency had heard it sung out of tune, out of time, and often very nervously. At Cheviot it had been sung in good time, in tune, and with confidence, as though the children really believed that they had a great King and a great man ruling them. "You have.not only a great monarch, but one who has set a brilliant example to the Empire. Nor is there a woman who has set a nobler example to the women of the British race than her Majesty the Queen." Farmers' Confidence. An indication of the faith of the farmers of Canterbury in the future was given at Addington yesterday, when 18s 4d was paid for ewes and lambs, all counted, in the store sheep pens. The ewes were by no means outstanding in quality, but the price is the highest that has been paid for three years. All the store sheep offered sold remarkably well. Hoggets made 235, also the highest price for some time. Tram and Motor Traffic. The placing on a similar basis of tram and motor traffic in the city streets was advocated by Mr S. G. Holland, Citizens' Association candidate for the Tramway Board, in his address at St. Albans last evening. "It does not breed a healthy relationship between motorists and the trams when the trams are apparently given the right of way," he remarked, "and the rule forbidding a motor-car to pass a standing tram definitely causes traffic congestion." A Premature Vote. A boy who made a mistake when addressing a welcome to the Gover-nor-General, Lord Bledisloe, at a function at the Cheviot School yesterday, had his discomfiture considerably relieved when Lord Bledisloe turned the mistake to good account. The boy, a pupil at the school, intended to extend a hearty welcome to their Excellencies, but was overcome by the occasion and turned the phrase to one of thanks. When replying his Excellency expressed his appreciation of the premature vote of thanks, and ventured to hope that it would be deserved before he and Lady Bledisloe said good-bye to Cheviot.

Tramways of the Future

The time when electric trams would run without cither wires or rails was envisaged by Mr S. G. Holland, in his speech at the meeting held by Citizens' Association candidates in the tramways board election at St. Albans last evening. Mr Holland expressed the opinion that it would be unwise to develop the present tramway system on a 20-year basis, which was the smallest possible period on which, for example, it would be economical to extend the trolley-bus system. Diesel engine design was improving rapidly and, moreover, a certain amount of success was being achieved with the wireless transmission of power. He understood that it was possible to run a toy railway in the laboratory to-day at a distance of a chain from the source of power without any connecting wires. It might bo, therefore, that in a few years it would be possible to run trams without either rails or overhead wires. Ten Per Cent. Koading Loan. While in Wellington the Town Clerk of Christchurch (Mr J. S. Neville), in addition to giving evidence before the Local Bills Committee of the House on the Municipal Corporations Bill, will interview the Local Government Loans Board regarding the raising of a loan of £22,000, representing 10 per cent, of the Christchurch reading loan, 1928, of £220,000. If the Loans Board sanctions the loan, it is proposed to devote part of it to the cost of reconstructing Riccarton avenue and part to the reconstruction of that part of Ferry road from Madras street to Fitzgerald avenue, so that there will be a continuous stretch of concrete roadway from Cathedral square to Bamford street, Woolston. On October 31 there was a balance to credit of the 1928 roading loan of £3846, but this amount probably will be absorbed by the reconstruction of part of Manchester street which is not yet completed. Deer in Southland. The red deer are very plentiful at present and are coming quite close to civilisation in Southland. One morning recently Mr H. D. Norman, a farmer in the Tuatapere district, on the fringe of the fiordland national park, when coming from his cow-byre, was surprised to see six red deer calmly trotting round a paddock about 100 yards from his house. He immediately rent word to the neighbours, and a drive was organised, the stalkers being successful in securing three of the deer.

Ninety per cent, of those who use taxis are the workers, yet some of the M.P.'s are doing their best to make a law to raise the minimum taxi fares; this may mean double or treble the present, and the Gold Band Taxis are the only ones against it, so it is up to you to ride in Gold Band Taxis only. Lowest fare Is. Thank you. —2