General News

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21792, 26 May 1936, Page 10

General News

Opening of New Library The public library at Opawa, the construction of which was commenced in March, will be officially opened on Saturday afternoon by the Mayor (Mr J. W. Beanland). The contract was let by the City Council to Mr N. McGillivray at a cost of about £9OO. The building is of brick, with a buff stucco exterior and u multi-coloured tiled roof, with modern Spanish influences in the design of the windows. It consists of three rooms—the circulating library, the reading-room, and' the librarian’s room, in which kitchen’ facilities are provided. On the; shelves in the circulating library 4000 books may be stacked, and provision has been made for accommodating an additional 1500 volumes. The architect was Mr V. R. J. Hean, of the City Engineer’s Department. Vivarium in Museum A vivarium for geckos, a species of lizard, has been made in the case formerly used for the special exhibit at the museum. There are two specimens in the case at present, one green with pink patches, and the other brown with a green pattern. The case contains moss and grass, with a branch for the geckos to climb, as well as water and flies. The specimens are from Kaituna. The acting-curator of the museum, Professor E. Percival, said that the exhibit had been placed there because many people brought soecimens to the museum, arm seemed afraid that they might be harmful. Actually they were harmless. The usual colouring of the geckos, brown with a greyishbrown pattern, made it difficult for them to be seen in the water, but the vivid colouring of the other specimens made it eqally difficult for them to be seen against green vegetation. Suburban Rivalry Speakers at yesterday’s sitting of the tramway electoral commission were convinced that Sumner and New Brighton have little in common beyond being seaside suburbs. Mr E. A. M. Leaver, who gave evidence as a Brighton resident, urged that New Brighton should be merged with Waimairi rather than Sumner in the tramway district. To the chairman (Mr Albert Freeman) he said there was little affinity between the two suburbs. “If I may suggest it, sir,” he said, “there is a friendly rivalry between these two places.” The chairman: Is there no affinity in the traffic going to the two suburbs? Mr Leaver: None at all. Later, Mr J. K. Archer, chairman of the Tramway Board, told Mr Freeman that in his opinion there was no affinity in the traffic travelling to Sumner and to New Brighton, except that the board charged excursion fares on both lines at certain times of the year. Lemons Grown at Opawa Proof that lemons can be grown in Christchurch as well as Waimate was furnished to a reporter of “The Press” yesterday by Captain Monro, of Opawa. Captain Monro exhibited a large lemon, of the thin-skinned variety, which he said was one of several on a lemon tree growing out in, the open at his residence. The tree was planted about six years ago and is at present bearing fruit in all stages of development. He also raised an orange tree from seed, but, although it carries prolific foliage, it has never yet flowered or even budded. Help for Domains Board The Riccarton Borough Council has increased its voluntary annual contribution to the revenue of the Christchui'ch Domains Board by £l9 Is 2d, the amount specified by the board in its request to the four bodies contributing voluntarily. A letter was received by the council from the board last evening, thanking it for its ready response. In its effort to augment its revenue by £ 500, the board has asked additional contributions from the City Council (£3Bl 7s Id), the Waimairi County Council (£75 8s lid), the Riccarton Borough Council (£l9 Is 2d), and the Heathcote County Council (£24 2s lOd). The Queen Mary Broadcasts The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced the revised schedule of broadcasts from the liner Queen Mary on its maiden voyage. The former time-table was altered because of an alteration of the ship’s sailing time. The first broadcast will begin immediately after the description of the Derby, or about 1.45 Thursday morning, New Zealand time. There will be an hour’s concert from the ship, and then a half-hour commentary of the sailing, from 2.45 to 3.15 a.m. At 6.45 a.m. on Saturday there will be a 45-minute feature programme from the liner two days out at sea, and some time Mondaj' or Tuesday next week there will be a description of its arrival at New York. All these programmes will be recorded and transmitted at times more suitable for New Zealand listeners—during the programmes in zone one. In addition to these programmes, there will be a relay each day for a few minutes during the news bulletin in zone five, which is given at ,12.10 n.m. New Zealand time. This bulletin is usually received reasonably well in Christchurch at this time of the year, unless the “roarer” or other intermittent interference, which is often bad at this hour, predominates.

A flitch in Time

The clock in the tower in Victoria street told the correct time at least twice on Sunday and once yesterday, for it stopped about 8.20. It may have caused some alarm or dismay to those who passed by about this hour in the morning and evening, but as the time passed the number of those deceived must have become fewer and fewer. Again yesterday morning it may have claimed a few victims, but its career of duplicity was cut short early yesterday afternoon when the hands were seen by an interested group of onlookers smartly catching up the hours that separate 8.20 from 2 o’clock. flight Type of School “I would commend Rotarians’ attention to this photograph, for it depicts the type of school that they have down south and which we should strive to have in this district,” commented Dr. D. A. Bathgate at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Hastings Rotary Club. The spe iier was referring to a photograph of the open-air school at Lmwood, Christchurch, which had been forwarded to the club by a former member, Mr D. T. McCormick, who early this year was transferred from the Hastings Central School to Linwood. Early Map of flawke’s Bay An interesting map of Hawke’s Bay province as it existed in 1874 is in the possession of Mr F. J. Dillon, Palmerston North. It shows the railway line from Napier (referred to as a tramway) ending at Takapau, and there is only a road Ashhurst. Woodville, and Takapau. Dannevirke is spelt “Danevirk,” and the map contains the names of surveyed townships that have never developed and are now country farms under other names. The township of Hampden figures prominently, but the district where it was located by survev only is now known as Tikokino. The most interesting feature of the map, however, is that it shows the subdivision of the province into big estates with the names of the owners recorded on each block. Among these names there are many still well known throughout Hawke’s Bay. Effect of Films in India The harmful effect of British and American melodramatic films on the attitude of Indians to Englishmen was mentioned by Dr. F. W. W. Dawson in an address to the Victoria League at New Plymouth. In the films Indians saw white men committing,murders and all manner of crimes, said Dr. Dawson. Western people did not take these films very seriously, but they were having a very definite deleterious effect in India because they were lowering the high standard of conduct set by British public servants and administrators. Aerodrome at Gore Some time ago a sum of £IOOO was placed on the public works estimates for improvements to the Gore aerodrome. Recognising the importance of Gore as a future airport, the Government agreed to undertake the work of levelling the aerodrome and bringing it up to the standard for first-class requirements A start has now been made. The Gore Aero’ Club is contributing £IOO towards the cost of this work, which should ultimately give the Gore aerodrome the best facilities for landin'* and taking off.