General News

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22201, 18 September 1937, Page 14

General News

Condition of School Buses The desire of the Canterbury Education Board to see that buses used for the conveyance of children to schools were in good condition and efficiently run was praised by the Education Department in a letter received by the board at its meeting yesterday. The board asks the headmasters of schools to fill in each month a schedule dealing with the buses, and the department's letter dealt with changes in this schedule. It expressed appreciation of the board's efforts to see that the conveyance facilities were in proper condition. Mr C. S. Thompson said that the board had taken every precaution to bring about this desirable end. Huge Fish Stranded A huge fish, thought to be a sunfish, weighing about one ton and nine feet long. 10 feet wide, and three feet six inches through near the head, was washed up on the Foxton beach last week near the mouth of the Manawatu river. Death of Giant Tortoise The giant tortoise which was imported to the Auckland Zoo last January and which was one of the institution’s most popular exhibits has died. Auckland’s climate was too severe for this reptile from the tropical latitudes of Seychelles Islands. Although the age of the tortoise was not known, it was considered to be about 35 or 40 years. It was provided with specially heated quarters at night throughout the winter, but its health gradually failed, and no efforts by its keepers could bring about an improvement.—Press Association. “Tribal Psychology” “In the present state of tribal psychology in the world to-day the only thing that remains is the arbitrament of force,” said Mr Frank Milner in an address to the Canterbury Commercial Travellers’ and Warehousemen’s Association last evening. "Collective security has broken down, and there is likely to be an electric spark in Europe anywhere to-day. There have been 210 pacts signed in Europe in the last 16 years, and every one of them was broken before the ink was dry. As for international morality, it is a seething ocean of hypocrisy. We must look at deeds, not words, in these days. You have only to look at British rearmament, the house to house canvass for scrap iron, the supplying of gas masks. Britain has had to be realistic and to face the challenge of Fascism to democracy.” Traffic in Heathcote County A traffic census taken in the Heathcote County from September 6 to September 12 showed that 10.523 motor-cars passed over the Ferrymead bridge, 3077 cars using the bridge last Sunday. This was reported at a meeting last night of the Heathcote County Council by the County Clerk (Mr J. P. E. Veale). Mr Veale also said that 9752 of these cars had used the main road from the bridge leading to Sumner. There had been 2059 cars on the Dyer’s Pass road past the Sign of the Takahe during the week. The Page’s road tramway bridge had been used by 4906 coming from New Brighton and 3778 cars going towards New Brighton. Drinking at Football Matches Appreciation of the action of Mr H. W. Rogers, president of the Christchurch Suburban Cricket Association, in condemning the drinking of liquor on sports fields v/as expressed in a resolution passed at the South Canterbury District Convention of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union at Waimate. Moving the resolution, the president (Mrs W. H. Robinson) said it was pleasing that others were interesting themselves in temperance. It was also decided to draw the attention of the Government to the effect of drink at “important sports events, particularly football matches,” on the youth of the Dominion. School Swimming Baths The condition of many school baths round Christchurch was complained of by Mr J. J. Hurley at the meeting of the Canterbury Education Board yesterday. Last March the Education Department had been asked by the board to restore the grants for the maintenance of swimming baths, and a reply had been received in April that the matter was receiving careful consideration. Some of the baths were in a bad condition structurally and were insanitary. They should receive closer attention than the department was prepared to give them. He moved that the board should again apply to the department for the restoration of the maintenance grant and also for a grant for urgent repairs. Mr W. T. Langley said that some of the baths were certainly in a deplorable condition. The motion w'as carried, and it was also decided to apply to the department again for a grant to connect the Papanui swimming bath with the sewer. A Judge’s Labours Written in tiny script, a woman’s diary, whose entries recorded many incidents in her married life over a period of several years, have been the focal point in a divorce action which occupied the Hon. Mr Justice Callan and four lawyers two and a half days in the Supreme Court in Auckland. His Honour told counsel that he spent two and three-quarter hours yesterday morning examining the diary with a magnifying glass, to see if he could detect the introduction of entries made later than they seemed to have been. He said he found the process rather a trial upon his eyesight. Restriction for Flying Club? “There has been some talk of curtailment of the club’s flying activities at Rongotai,” said the president of the Wellington Aero Club, Mr T. C. A. Hislop, at the annual meeting in Wellington. Whether there would be any restriction depended entirely upon the development of commercial aviation. At the moment it was impossible to say what was going to happen to Rongotai, as no one knew what the commission at present inquiring into the development of the site would decide. It had been hoped to extend the ground to the rocks and to make other improvements, but these proposals were rejected by ratepayers. When the commission’s recommendations were made known, the money side of the development would arise as well as what part the Government was going to take. “We as individuals are keen on the development of aviation,'and we hope that when the commission’s recommendations do come down means will be found to form a sufficient and safe aerodrome for Wellington. We do hope that it will be a long time before the club has to think of shifting to other quarters. If that position does arise I feel confident that another site can be obtained.” A Curious Discovery An object hanging in the branches of a tall poplar tree in the Makirikiri district, near Wanganui, attracted the attention of a settler, who climbed the tree to see what it could be. He was greatly surprised to find that it was a police baton made of wood to which was attached a leather thong. On the baton were the remains of a crown, which had been painted in gold and red, and below this was certain lettering in the same colours, this having been almost completely obliterated by long exposure to the weather. It is believed the baton is one of those issued by the Government to the special police who were engaged during the maritime strike in 1913. The baton is now at the Wanganui Museum. Hawaiian Hospitality Going to Honolulu as emissary of the committee of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, Mr R. H. Nimmo told the Wellington Optimists’ Club that, provided one or two difficulties could be overcome, the Hawaiian Islands would be represented at the 1940 celebrations. Two difficulties were that the dates of a New York exhibition and the Golden Gate exposition at San Francisco in 1939 and New Zealand’s effort the following year clashed. He was given a most cordial reception in Honolulu. “The term ‘foreign’ now has a very much lesser significance in the Pacific than it did a few years ago,” he said. Rapid transport had improved national relations, “and the people of Honolulu look upon New Zealand as their next-door neighbour.” With the operation of the Pan-American Airways service relationships would undoubtedly become even