General News

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21760, 17 April 1936, Page 12

General News

A Paid Secretary? A proposal to dispense with the services of a paid secretary for the Canterbury branch of the Navy League will be submitted to the annual meeting by one of the members of the branch, Mrs J. Mowbray Tripp. Mrs Tripp has given notice to move the following motion:— “That the financial position of the Navy League of Canterbury does not justify the retention of a paid secretary .” New Court Room Carpenters are busy making alterations to the old Lands and Deeds Office, next door to the Provincial Council Chambers, to accommodate the new auxiliary Magistrate’s Court. The bench for the magistrate is already in position, and the public gallery is being partitioned off. It is expected that the new court will be ready for use half-way through next month. New Motor Registration Plates

The distinguishing marks for the new motor registration plates will be embossed black figures and letters on a golden-yellow ground, according to an intimation in last night’s Gazette.—Press Association. Trees at High School An avenue of trees along the short street that le’ads to the entrance gate of the Christchurch Boys’ High School is one of the dreams of the headmaster, Mr G. J. Lancaster, according to remarks he made at last evening's annual meeting of the Old Boys’ Association. He thanked old boys for their help in planting trees, and said that the Aroor Day ceremony at the school had been a success. An avenue of trees leading to the gates would lend to the dignity and beauty of the school building, he thought, and he appealed to old boys to assist in having a complete avenue of trees planted. Aeroplane For Long Flight • y An interesting aerial arrival at Rongotai aerodrome, Wellington, yesterday, was the Puss Moth monoplane in which F. C. Chichester, of Wellington, with F. D. Herrick, of Hawke’s Bay, is to fly from Sydney to London, via Japan, Siberia, and Russia. Mr Chichester bought the machine from Mr F. D. Mill, of the Air Survey and Transport Company, Auckland, and flew it to Hawke’s Bay on Wednesday. He expressed complete satisfaction with the machine, and was confident that it would meet all the demands made on the aerial tour to Europe. Mr Chichester will spend some time in Wellington preparing for the flight, and will then take the machine to Auckland, whence it will be shipped to Sydney.—Press Association. Product of Playing Fields “The soldiers of New Zealand were not a product of the parade ground or the drill hall, but rather a product of the playing fields, said Mr G. A. Maddison, Mayor of Hastings, when proposing a toast to the Pirate Football Club at the club’s jubilee reunion recently. He added that the Pirate Club had given 155 soldiers to the Great War. Station Decorating

Cream plaster covering is being placed on the concrete front of the new railway station in Wellington, and coloured tiles are being let into the spaces between the windows. Scaffolding has been erected for the workmen who will place the moulding in position round the big clock which is to surmount the pillars of the front entrance. With cream, blue, green, and white painting and tiling against the brickwork and red tiles on the roof there will be a touch of modernistic colouring to the'building when it is finished. It is estimated, however, that there is about a year’s work ahead yet. Old High School Masters

A suggestion that the portraits of old masters of the Christchurch Boys’ High School should be placed in the school library until an assembly hall was built was reported by the headmaster (Mr G. J. Lancaster) to last evening’s annual meeting of the Old Boys’ Association. At present only the names of the masters were inscribed beneath the photograph, and there was a need of more information, which, Mr Lancaster proposed, might be supplied by the researches of old boys in the old school magazines. These data might be “written up by old boys, and an inscription might be made under the portraits by the present masters. The names of these old masters were household words to old boys, but to the present generation they were little more than names, and the action suggested might bring them more closely into touch with present pupils. All former masters who were now dead were represented in the collection of portraits, he said. “Whirlwind Tours”

Regret that by reason of the present whirlwind system of conducting tourists through New Zealand he had been unable to obtain more than a most fleeting glimpse of many spots of undoubted scenic charm was expressed by Mr C. J. Hyder, an Irish visitor to the Dominion, who is staying at Lower Hutt, Wellington. “You are always talking about bringing people to visit your lakes, mountains, and bush scenery,” Mr Hyder said, “but under the present system of transport you give people no time at all to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of their surroundings. The service cars by which I travelled over a large part of the South Island are undoubtedly excellent for getting from one place to another, and I have no fault to find with the drivers, but one cannot form any conception of the beauty of the bush and the mountain scenery when it flashes past the windows of a car travelling af 35 miles an hour. I might as well have stood in front of a map—l saw practically nothing at all. I realise, of course, that it is not the fault of the drivers; they are carrying the mails and have to keep to a strict schedule. What is wanted, in my opinion, is a service of cars for tourists, independent of the mails, which will travel at a reasonable pace so as to give tourists the opportunity of seeing something of the nature of the plant and forest growth, • Naturally, it would be more costly, but the tourists, I am sure, would gladly pay the extra charge in view of the improvement which would be effected.” “Cheap Fencing Material” That a man in Gisborne had received 81b of good staples collected off the roads by the Main Highways Board’s magnetic truck was mentioned by Mr A. Grayson, president of the Auckland Automobile Association at a meeting of the council. “It is a good way of getting cheap fencing material,” he remarked. The board advised that as the cost of the magnetic truck was about £IOOO a year it did not feel justified in acquiring another truck. The council decided to ask the board to have the truck brought to Auckland at an early opportunity, as many gravel roads were in need of sweeping. Destruction of Pests More than 14,700 pairs of hawks’ feet and 6036 stoats’ and weasels’ tails had been sent in at a cost to the society in bonuses of £.368 and £ 150 respectively, according to the annual report of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society. It was stated that it was an open question how many of these pests would be killed if no bonus was given by the society. Sportsmen and many farmers killed them on sight without much thought of reward, and some vermin paid for undoubtedly came from beyond the society’s border and it would be wise to consider the lifting of the bonus. During the last five years £1440 had been spent for 26,187 stoat and weasel tails. Dog Found on Mountain Members of a party that climbed Mount Egmont recently were surprised near the summit when they were joined by an obviously hungry and tired little dog that had previously been seen wandering rather aimlessly about on the high scoria slopes. Obviously determined not to be lost again, it kept close to the heels of the party on the return trip. At the hostel it was identified as Judy, the property of the Murphy family, of the Dawson Falls house, from which it had been missing for some time. Apparently it followed a party of climbers from the south side, but lost them near the summit—and then found that mountains can be tricky for. small .dogs well as fob human