General News

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22018, 16 February 1937, Page 10

General News

Recouping Epidemic Losses The infantile paralysis epidemic hM cost transportaulhoriUesmNcwZ ot poinds but ffflSls ofS Christchurch Tramway Board are hopeful that at least.some Jf the lost ground will, be recovered now that the epidemic is waning and the public J? much of its fear. Mr H. E. Jarman, general SaSger to the Christchurch Tra = Board, told a reporter of The Press V manj^applications were being made for trans port for school picnics and excursions, a great number of which had to be cancelled when the schools closed before their allotted time last year. Mr Jarman said that good weather for the remainder of the extended school bobdays would undoubtedly enable the board to recoup some of the losses on the seaside lines.

New War Memorial The Christchurch Returned Soldiers’ Association will approach the War Memorial Committee with the aim of coming to an arrangement for collaboration in the unveiling of the new memorial in the Cathedral grounds and_ the celebration of Anzac Day. At last evenings meeting of the executive of the association Mr W. E. Leadley said that he understood that the memorial would be completed by Anzac Day. The president (Mr B. O. Priddis) and the secretary (Mr E. F. Willcox) were appointed to approach the committee.

Support for New Hospital Strong support of the movement inaugurated by the Christchurch Rotary Club to have an up-to-date obstetrical hospital in Christchurch was expressed at a meeting of the executive of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers’ Association last evening. A circular was received from the Rotary Club putting forward the need, discussed fully by the club last year, of such a new hospital, and members were unanimous in supporting the proposal. Mr W. E. Leadley, who moved the resolution of support, said that all those who had served on the Patriotic Fund and the Hospital Board knew that the present St. Helens Hospital was out of date and inadequate. “Nothing is too good for the expectant mother,” said Mr A. L. Emmerson. “It is a blot on our city that a move was not made earlier.” Mr W. H. Darby referred to the need for the investigation of modern methods to prevent mortality among mothers.

Road Improvement in Canterbury A fairly extensive programme of road paving is being carried out in Canterbury this year, and much of the work is well forward. Mr P. Langbein, district engineer to the Public Works Department, mentioned yesterday that a second coat of bituminous sealing for a distance of eight miles 50 chains between Leithfield and the Waipara river had been completed and similar work between the Hurunui bridge and the Red Post on the road to Hanmer would shortly, be undertaken. A contract had been let for sealing two and three-quarter miles of the Upper Riccarton-Arthur’s Pass highway from West Melton westward to the boundary of the Malvern and Paparua counties. Tenders would be invited almost immediately for the sealing of approximately four miles of the Sockburn-Southbridge highway, in the Paparua county, from Prebbleton to the county boundary near Lincoln, and the Springs County Council had let a contract for the sealing of a further five miles of this road through Springston. Contracts for preparation work at both ends of the Rangitata deviation were also in hand.

Judging of Gardens A suggestion that gardens should be judged twice a year instead of only once was made by Mr F. G. Morgan, the winner of the Irving Sladen Cup for the most beautiful garden as seen from the street, at the meeting of the Christchurch Beautifying Association last night. Mr Morgan spoke after the chairman, Mr Sladen, had presented the cup to him. “There is a period when gardens are very drab,” he said. “The city could be much improved by gardens being judged in the autumn or winter.” There are prospects of a beautifying association being formed in Timaru, and the secretary was asked to send any necessary information to a person who wrote asking for the rules of the association. A motion was carried asking the City Council to give serious consideration to putting overhead wires underground while it was engaged in widening Oxford terrace and the Hereford street bridge, and at the same time replacing the poles with ornamental light standards.

Films For Library The director of the Imperial Institute at South Kensington recently appealed to the Dominion and Colonial Governments to make good the shortage of reels in the Empire Film Library, writes the London correspondent of “The Press,” and Canada has now presented the library with 68 copies of 12 different films dealing with life in the Dominion. New Zealand has made a gift of 10 new films. These additions to the library will be of great value, as the Imperial Institute is freouentlv called upon to provide films for more than 2500- educational and social organisations.

School Bungalow Proposed Novel features, the most outstanding being a full-sized bungalow in which children will be taught how to sweep floors and keep the house tidy and attractive, are proposed to be included by the Hawke’s Bay Education Board in the new intermediate school proposed at Gisborne. The board has submitted plans of the new school, estimated to cost about £34,000, to the Education Department for approval. If the plans are approved in their present state, the Gisborne intermediate school will have features which will be second .to none in New Zealand. The bungalow, it is hoped, will be built within the school grounds, solely for tuition in housecraft.

“A Lurid Old-Fashioned Tale” Reference to Mr J. A. Lee’s “The Hunted"' as a “strange, lurid, old-fashioned tale, but none the less, a tale of some made by a writer in “Iris,” an' Oxford publication. “It is old-fashioned because in treatment it bears resemblance to the works of some of the more popular social reformers of the last century,” says the writer. “It is important because although many of the incidents would seem more credible if they had been described less luridly, the author is a Labour member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and unlikely to spoil his case bv exaggeration or mis-statement. Mr Lee’s stvle is vivid, forceful, and original, and his description of the hounding down of the little runaway is a most moving piece of writing.” New Zealand Coffee

The coffee served in New Zealand hotels and restaurants is definitely poor, according to two coffee planters from Kenya, Messrs C. C. Kent and J. W. D. Pedley, who are visiting Christchurch. It might be imagined that coffee planters on holiday would be keen to drink anything but coffee; but it has become an essential part of- the daily life of coffee planters, and the absence of what they expected in New Zealand has been the visitors’ chief complaint during their tour. The coffee of Kenya is, they claim, among the finest coffees in the world, and at the recent Johannesburg exhibition it was much in demand. Although they are not offended about it, the visitors have been sadly disappointed to find that there is apparently none served in New Zealand.