General News

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21726, 7 March 1936, Page 16

General News

Repayment of City Loans The prospectus of the Christchurch City. Council conversion loan provided that the maturity dates of the new securities should be arranged so that the repayments of old loans Would be spread over a period of 20 years. The first of these repayments will be made at the end of this month, the amount involved being £43,970. By the time payment of the sum is r due all the money required will be in the hands of the city sinking fund commissioners. The money falls due locally, the loan having been raised here. Annual payments of sums ranging from £31,200 to £114,000 will fall due until 1955, when 4he total amount of the loan, £1,010,115, will have been repaid. An All Black’s Error A memory of their tour in Great Britain which members of the All Black football team recall with mixed feelings is that of an incident which occurred when some of the players were the guests of Lord Bledisloe at his estate, Lydney Park. They were invited to take part in some pheasant shooting, but the enthusiasm of one of them at least exceeded his knowledge of the rules of the sport, for it was only when he saw the look of horror on the face of the gamekeeper that he realised that it was a hen pheasant he had shot. —“The Press” Special Service. Quorum Not Obtained The meeting of the Domains Board which was to have been held yesterday afternoon lapsed for want of a quorum. The act requires that there shall be a quorum of eight members, and yesterday there was an attendance of only seven. Only two apologies had been received, and after waiting for a quarter of an hour after the time set down for the meeting the acting-chairman, Mr F. George, said that he would have to declare that the meeting had lapsed. Raid on Cyclists Traffic inspectors of the Christchurch City Council had a busy time last night. A search of the city was made for cyclists whose bicycles were not equipped with red reflectors and white mudguards, and it is stated that many names were taken. New Copy of Letter Sought When Lord Bledisloe laid, the foundation stone of the Technical College Old Boys’ Memorial Hall he sent a letter to the board praising the work of the college. The letter was written on both sides of the paper, and it was decided by the board last evening, on the motion of Mr McGregor Wright, to write to Lord Bledisloe asking him for a copy of the letter in a form which would allow of its being framed. It was also decided to ask Lord Bledisloe for a signed photograph, so that both could be hung in the hall. It was also hoped to secure a photograph of Lord Galway, who opened the hall. Nelson’s Harvest The harvesting of the apple, hop, and tobacco crops of the Nelson district is now in full swing, and in the Stoke, Belgrove, Moytere Hills, Mapua, Tasman, Motueka, Riwaka, and Motueka Valley districts about 10,000 men and women are engaged in the orchards, the hop gardens, and tobacco plantations. The Nelson province offers the unusual sight of tobacco and hops, on a commercial scale, growing side by side. A tour of inspection of the district through the apple lands to Motueka and Riwaka and up the Motueka River Valley, provides an interesting and enjoyable outing. The orchard trees are heavily laden with fruit and- they present a wonderful sight. In each shed on the route there are large staffs engaged in grading and packing, and in the orchards pickers strip the tfees and start the apples on their way from Nelson’s orchards to, . the United Kingdom markets. Destruction of Rabbits A repbrt that 756 rabbits had been destroyed ih< two weeks by a rabbiter employed in reserves of the Ashburton County Council at Cavendish and Lsfgmhor was made to the council meeting yesterday by the inspector (Mr E. N. Johnson). He said that applications for blocks to poison for the skins were being received, " and the council’s rabbiter had been suspended in the meantime. Rugby “Just a Game” “Much has been heard of ‘how referees are killing the game,’ and though we know that in reality this statement is not correct, we must admit that there is a tendency to stick too much to the book and forget that Rugby football is just a game,” said Mr A. C. Kitto, president of the Wellington Rugby Referees’ Association, in a report read at the annual meeting of the association. “The rule book is just a guide covering breaches in every phase of the game, and literally it should only be used when one side gets an unfair advantage over the other.” Comparison of Farming Costs The vast difference in farming costs between New Zealand and South Africa was the subject of comment by Mr John Fisher, principal of the School of Agriculture, Cedara, Natal, who is travelling with the touring Empire producers’ party. Labour in South Africa is purely native and, as is land, cheap. Land in New Zealand Mr Fisher regarded as expensive, and compared with South African standards labour costs were unduly high. This disparity, said Mr Fisher, was one which made comparisons between the two Dominions’ farming practices difficult. After seeing the lands between Auckland and New Plymouth given prolonged growth by unusual rainfall, Mr Fisher referred to the splendid pastures, grass plentiful to superfluity. In Natal the country received summer rains and dry winters, but New Zealand was fortunate in a more even distribution. Not a Precedent The rehearing of the enquiry Into the casualty to the Rangatira will not establish a precedent in New Zealand, as somewhat similar circumstances arose in the case of the Devon, which was wrecked at Wellington Heads on August 25, 1913, The Nautical Court set up to enquire into the mishap suspended the captain for three months. Counsel for the captain, now the Chief Justice, the Rt. Hon, Sir Michael Myers, applied for a rehearing, and this was granted by the Minister for Marine, who appointed Mr Justice Chapman and two nautical s assessors to conduct the enquiry. After the rehearing, ttye captain was exonerated and his ticktet was returned to him. Long-tailed Cuckoo “New Zealand is the only known riesting country of the long-tailed cuckoo,” says Mr L. W. McCaskill in an article in the “Forest and Bird” magazine. “In winter the specie's ‘. Is found in various islands of the South Pacific from the Solomons in the west to Tahiti in the east. The ancient Maori explained its annual disappearance by saying that the bird shed its feathers in the autumn, turned into a lizard, and crawled into a hole in the ground and spent the winter there. There is much to be learned of the migrations and nesting habits of the long-tailed cuckoo.”