General News

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21729, 11 March 1936, Page 10

General News

"The Press" Free Insurance Scheme Several cases have come under our notice of regular subscribers to "The Press" having met with accidents who did not get the benefit of our free insurance through failure to register. We would again impress on our readers who have not registered that they should at once do so. Reliability Trial Abandoned Because the recent rains have made the course which was chosen unfit for use for at least three months, the Automobile Association, Canterbury, has decided to abandon its mystery reliability trial to Hanmer. The trial was first arranged for Saturday, February 29, but because of bad weather in the preceding week, ft was postponed until next Saturday. Now S been abandoned altogether. The associ, ation is now waiting for the bridge over the wSmakariri river at the Bealey to> be completed. When this is done—probably early next year-it intends to hold a trial to the Franz Josef Glacier. A Biff Discrepancy A striking example of the big discrepancies which often occur between the production cost of an article and the price for which it is retailed was given by Professor J. Shelley during an address at a luncheon of the Christchurch Rotary Club yesterday. While he was m America some time ago, Professor Shelley said, he had been told of an article which, had cost only 11 cents to produce being sold in the retail stores for five dollars. In no circumstances could it be imagined that the cost of bringing the article to the store would be anything like the difference between the production cost and the retail price. Health Insurance Supported Rejecting a proposal that funds for hospital purposes should be raised by means of art unions, the Kairanga County Council yesterday decided by a majority vote to give wholehearted support to a national health insurance scheme financed by compulsory contributions from employers, employees, and subsidised by the Government.—Press Association. Bold Theft by Kitten It is common enough for a puppy to carry a slipper or a sock proudly into the back yard and there ruin it, but similar behaviour by a playful kitten is not the accepted thing. Nevertheless, there is a kitten in Christchurch which goes further than the theft of such commonplace articles, and the surprise of Mr J. Johnston, of 16 Avon street, when he saw his kitten, less than 12 months old, happily playing with a gold watch and chain in the back yard of his home, can well be imagined. A neighbour, Miss M. Beynon, had left her watch and chain on the arm of a chair three days earlier, and when she returned it was missing. The theory is that the kitten pulled the watch from the chair and carried or dragged it to the dividing thorn hedge, where the "haul" was left for a day or two. When discovered later the cat was toying with the watch as playfully as with a half-dead mouse.

Veterinary Scholarships Four out of five veterinary scholarships awarded recently were won by students from Canterbury Agricultural College, said a report presented to the College Board of Governors by the director, Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf, yesterday. The scholarships enable the winners to go to Sydney for further study.

Newspapers Praised Praise for the press of New Zealand was given by Mr M. G. C. McCaul in his presidential address to the annual meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last evening. He said: "To the press I feel some particular acknowledgment is due for the contribution • made by newspaper editors of this country to the stability of thought and sanity of action at a time when chaos appeared to be enveloping the world and utter ruin imminent to all. In the times of our exuberance in post-war prosperity they counselled caution, and when in the slough of despond of the great depression, they held out hope of better times, if we had but courage enough to profit by past mistakes and correct our faults, and faith enough to plod bravely forward. The press is an influence for great good or great evil. Its influence is always great. We are fortunate in that in this country the newspaper editors have set before themselves a high ideal of service to the community."—Press Association. No Insurance Payable

Insurance for the gate receipts was taken out by the New Zealand Cricket Council for the four games against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club team for the first and second days only of each match. As the weather was fine for the two opening days in every match the council did not collect any of the insurance money at all. Also, there was no insurance on* the third days of the games, so that the council has received no compensation for the breaks in the games owing to the weather. Eradication of Ragwort

Advice from the Farmers' Trading Company, Auckland, that it was prepared to give £IOO toward the cost of eradicating ragwort in the Auckland province has been received by the Minister for Agriculture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin), who has forwarded the offer to the Cawthron Institute, Nelson. It is believed that this sum should enable the institute to secure a large supply of ragwort parasite flies to carry out experiments in destroying the weed on a large scale.—Press Association. Matter For The Public The contest between Mr J. K. Archer and Mr J. W. Beanland at the polls to-day will involve more than the mayoralty. The successful candidate will be not only Mayor of Christchurch but patron of the Canterbury Football Association, It has become the custom for the Mayor to be elected patron of the association, and delegates-at the annual meeting last evening were quite content to accept either Mr Beanland or Mr Archer and leave it to the public to make the choice. A further problem arose when it was discovered that Mr Archer was already a vice-president. It may have been significant that .the meeting thought it unnecessary to re-elect him. A Football Film A report that the Canterbury Rugby Union had secured a moving-picture film called "Rugger," which would be shown at lectures given for players, was made by Mr F. A. Brittan at the annual meeting of the Albion Rugby Football Club last evening. Mr Brittan said that the film contained many "shots" of important tactical points in the game, and included scenes from several of the matches played by the All Blacks during their recent tour of England. It was the intention of the Rugby Union to show this film to as many players as possible, as it illustrated extremely well how the game should be played. An Accurate Forecast

The presence of swarms of cicadas this season was predicted nearly 12 months ago by Mr G. V. Hudson, of Karori, Wellington. Mr Hudson, who is well known for his work as an astronomer, is also a noted entomologist, and in an article dated March 27 last and published in the October issue of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, he said that because of last season's dry weather the cicada nymphs had been unable to force themselves to the surface of the hard ground, and that if these survived there should be an excess of the insects this season. A Supporters' Club A proposal to form a supporters' club for old members of the Albion Rugby Football Qlub was made at the annual meeting of the club last evening. It was stated that the object of the proposal was that the "old timers" would be able to meet each other and secure club rooms, where they could conduct social activities. It was proposed that a nominal subscription should be charged and any surplus be given to the club. A sub-committee was appointed to investigate the proposal and report back to the committee.