General News

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21826, 4 July 1936, Page 14

General News

Eclipse of Moon There will be a partial eclipse of the moon, visible in New Zealand, to-morrow morning. The moon will enter the penumbra at 2.29 a.m. and the umbra at 3.57 a.m.; the middle of the eclipse will be reached at 4.55 a.ra.; the moon will leave the umbra at 5.54 a.m. and the penumbra at 7.21 a.m. At the middle of the eclipse about one-fourth of the moon’s disc will be obscured. Exhibition of Library Posters Entries for a recent poster competition conducted by the New Zealand Library Association will be exhibited at the Canterbury Public Library from September 14 to September 19. The posters are designed to promote' interest in libraries. They are being exhibited in the main towns, and after being shown in Christchurch will be sent to Timaru. Referendum Opposed A referendum on the tunnel road or estuary harbour would not be a solution of the Lyttelton harbour problem, as few of the electors had the necessary knowledge of such intricate and special undertakings to enable them to decide how to cast their votes, said the chairman of the Ashburton County Council (Mr F. Frampton) at a council meeting yesterday. He said the council was not opposed to any works whicfi would give access to the wharves at Lyttelton or to the provision of access to the sea from the city of Christchurch, provided that the districts which would derive the benefit were prepared to bear the cost. For the council, he had notified the Government that in its opinion no good purpose would be served by a referendum as suggested. Technical College Problem The serious and increasing shortage of technical college accommodation in Christchurch was remarked upon by the chairman of the Technical College Board, Mr T. West, at a meeting of the board last evening. “The school grows steadily every year, yet very little extra accommodation has been provided for 16 or 17 years past,” stated Mr West in a report. “This year we anticipate having a total roll number of 3500 students, yet we have added only six classrooms and four workshops since 1919, when the roll number was 1960. The new school at Papanui has given some relief to our day school, but in the evening school the pressure is maintained.” The report was adopted. A Southerly Storm The higher levels of Canterbury received their first heavy coating of snow yesterday morning', when a bitterly cold south-westerly storm swept over the province, accompanied by a wind which approached gale force. The mountainous country at the back of the province is now well covered with its winter coat of white, and two or three inches of snow have also been reported on most parts of the foothills. Lale yesterday afternoon there were 12 inches of snow at Arthur’s Pass, and at the settlement there was a coating of three inches. Other country centres, which reported falls of snow are Motunau, Omihi, Oxford, and Methven. Showery falls of rain and hail were reported from other districts nearer the coast. In the city there was a strong wind, accompanied by hail and rain squalls. No damage was done, although the tramway service was delayed early in the morn--IT}§ by a power surge from Lake Coleridge affecting the rotary converters of the Tramway Board’s plant. The clouds cleared during the morning and afternoon, and late last night the sky was clear and the weather cold, after a light fog. Southland Rugby Enthusiasm In anticipation of what promises to be an invasion of Dunedin on a major scale when the Ranfurly Shield match between Otago and Southland is played on August 1, arrangements are being made by the Railway Denartment for the running of five special trains from Invercargill, in addition to the usual expresses, and the Southland rolling stock is being supplemented by a loan of no fewer than 40 cars from Iht ? UJ ? edm the first time, Dunedin is to reap some of the SSfS? t advantages associated with the posS d. f . h o 3t ™P° rtant sporting trophy.The Press” Special Service. Memento of War Service The New Zealand Rifle Brigade reunion committee has decided to send the New Zealand ensign and pennant, bearing the New Zealand Rifle Brigade crest and name, to the caretaker of the model of the Messines sector of tne Western front, which is laid out in concrete at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, England, where the camp of the brigade was situated during the Great War. The New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association proposed to endeavour to arrange for the flags to be presented by the Earl of Liverpool, who formed the New Zealand Rifle Brigade when he was Governor-Gen-eral of New Zealand, and who is still in England. This would be arranged through the association’s representative on the Empire council of the British Empire Service League, Mr H. T. B. Drew, of the High Commissioner’s Office, London.—Press Association. Surf boat for Cook Islands Specially designed for use at two completely reef-bound islands in the Cook group, a surfboat has been built by Cbllings and Bell, of Auckland, and was loaded on the Waipiata for shipment from Wellington by the Makura on Tuesday. The boat was ordered by the Cook Islands Administration for use by the Resident • Commissioner. The surfboat is 28 feet in length and six feet in beam. It is rowed with five oars and steered by an 18ft steer oar. Emergency buoyancy tanks have been built in, and the keel and bilge have been protected, the nature of the boat’s work being taken into account by the use of gunmetal bands. In addition to its use for going out to meet ships outside the reefs of the two islands, the boat will also be used to make the sea passage once every two months between Mauke and Mitiaro a distance of about 60 miles.—“ The Press” Special Service. Political Tooth Extraction “Mr Savage keeps saying, ‘We are not going to hurt you,’ ” said the leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, when speaking at a complimentary luncheon tendered to him in Auckland. “That brings to mind the words that the dentist often uses. He knows very well he is going to hurt you, but he wants to make it easy for you before he starts. I think some little dentistry is going to take place when the House meets again, I think that may be called the tooth extraction part of the session, when they will have to put into operation means to secure the money that they have been spending . all along. Then people will realise what it costs to have a Labour Government. In every country Labour government is the most costly form of government.” Instructors, Not Inspectors “I want to get away from the term ‘inspector’ as applied to officers of my department and have them designated instructors,” said the Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, at Whangarei this week. “I do not want farmers to imagine when they sec an officer approaching that he is someone who is going to interfere with them,” added the Minister. “I want them to know that he is there to give advice and instruction on the problems which must occur from time to time. I am planning a forward move in agriculture and I hope to increase the staff of the department very considerably, and I am sure the Minister for Finance is sufficiently alive to the position of the primary producers to provide the necessary increase in the finance.” Railway Bus Record ■ A record has been established by Messrs M. Pettifer and A. Rowell, of Napier, who made the longest railway bus trip ever undertaken in New Zealand in driving buses which carried 25 Maoris each from Ruatoria, East Coast, to Waitara, Taranaki, and back for the unveiling of the memorial to Sir Maui Pomare. The trip took 13 days and covered nearly 1500 miles. “We slept in all sorts of queer places during the journey,” said one of the drivers. “One of them was the verandah of a Maori meetinghouse out of Dannevirke. We slept on bales of straw there. There was only one family living there, and they had to cater suddenly for 250 visitors at one time.’ In spite of the early hour of the morning and the large number of guests, a wonderful breakfast was served.” • 1