General News

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22459, 21 July 1938, Page 10

General News

Cost of Fire at 3ZB An item of £4900 for the replacement of furniture and, equipment and the reconstruction of studios damaged by the recent fire at 3ZB appears in the Financial Estimates. The loss is offset in the accounts by a credit-in-aid of £2900 on fire insurance cover.—Parliamentary Reporter. "Very Dangerous Practice" "It's a shocking thing," said Cr. H. Kitson, at last evening's meeting of the Waimairi County Council, referring to the practice of leaving unlighted trailers at the Burnside road terminus of the Fendalton tram terminus. It s a very dangerous practice," Cr. Kitson added. It was decided to write to the Tramway Board drawing its attention to the matter and also to the state of the road between and on either side of the tracks in Fendalton road. Rain Delays Vessel After threatening weather for some days, steady rain began to fall in Auckland yesterday. Work on the waterfront came to a standstill with the onset of rain. As a result, the departure of the Huddart-Parker liner Wanganella for Sydney and Melbourne was postponed from 10 o'clock to-night until 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. The Wanganella will now arrive at Sydney on Tuesday, a day late. Only three other large vessels were in port, and the other schedules will not be seriously affected. —Press Association. Girls Placed to Employment Girls placed in employment by the Christchurch Girls' Vocational Guidance and Employment Committee during the year ended on June 30 totalled 473, compared with 460 m the previous year. Following are details of the placings, figures for the 1936-37 period being given in parenthesis:—Clerical, 101 1129); shop assistants, 58 (44); sewing trades 43 (60 ; cake kitchen, 26 (14); domestic 166 (125); factory, 55 (86); professional, 24 (11). Ine magnitude of the committee's work may be gauged from the fact that 5780 persons were interviewed during" the year. The number for the previous year was 5672. Work Of. St. John Ambulance Tributes to the work done for the community by the St. John Ambulance Association were paid at last evening's meeting of the Waimairi County Council when an application for a grant was received. Crs. J. Liggins, W. P. Spencer, W. G. Chapman, and C. W. Moore spoke of the service given by the association's ambulances. Many people who used the ambulances were under the impression that the service was free, they said, and did not make contributions to help toward the cost of running them. The position would not be entirely satisfactory until the work was linked up with the hospitals and covered by a rate. It was decided to make a grant of £5 ss. Military Refresher Course All the regular military forces in New Zealand will attend a refresher course at Waiouru, 24 miles north of Taihape, this year. The site is particularly suited for tactical work and for the handling of motor transport. It is hoped that, before the course begins, the army transport will be augmented by the addition of extra modern vehicles, including machine-gun carriers. Forty Years' Travelling On his first visit to New Zealand in 40 years of travelling round the world he had been wonderfully impressed with the kindness and geniality of its people, Mr H. Capriles, of Leicester, England, said yesterday. He had met with the utmost consideration everywhere since he had landed in New Zealand, and particularly he had to pay a tribute to the newspapers which, in the interviews he had given to them, had shown him the utmost consideration. When he returns to England in September Mr Capriles will have completed 1,000,000 miles of travelling to different parts of the world. Trade With the East "Due consideration has been given to the report made available to the Government early this year on the possibilities of developing trade in the East," said the Minister for Marketing (the Hon. W. Nash) in the House of Representatitives yesterday in answer to a question from Mr H. M. Rushworth (Independent, Bay of Islands). Much information was already in possession of the Government on the subject, and no special action was considered necessary as a result of the report in question. "Close touch is being kept with the position, and the Government will take whatever steps are considered necessary and practicable to assist in the development of trade in those markets wherever opportunities for sale of the Dominion's products are found to exist," said the Minister.—Parliamentary Reporter. Territorials' Sunday Dinner Full justice to the Sunday dinner was done by territorials in camp at the Washdyke racecourse last week-end. "The keen air and the interesting schedule of training put an edge on the appetites of the trainees," states a report from the regiment, "and, with excellent cooking facilities at the course, a first-class dinner was provided. The menu consisted of soup, corned beef with potatoes and turnips, baked rice and stewed-fruit pastry squares." Judge Soothes a Child Witness Bewildered by the strangeness of her surroundings, a little girl, a witness in a case, cried in the Supreme Court. Auckland, yesterday morning. As the eight-year-old child came forward into the body of the Court she suddenly stopped, and looked about. "Has anyone told you it is wrong to tell a lie, and always to tell the truth?" Mr Justice Callan asked the child, who replied that she had been told. She then began to cry. "Leave her alone for a little while," directed his Honour. Then, as the child was still distressed, he ordered: "Bring her up here." At the same time, he removed his wig and turned his chair, and those in Court saw the unusual spectacle of a judge and a small girl talking together on the judge's sanctum. Taking courage from his tones, she stopped crying.—Press Association. Recruiting on the Increase In spite of discharges and postings to the reserve, the numbers of the territorial forces are showing a definite increase. The headquarters of the Southern Military District reports that 173 men offered their services to the district during June. Although the discharges and transfers make the actual increase in strength considerably less than this figure, the recruiting is an indication that modern methods of military training are proving attractive to the young men of the Dominion. "When it is realised that, in the old volunteer days, members of the forces often had to provide their own uniforms and pay a membership fee, the lot of the modern territorial, with his free uniform, free boots, pay, and motor transport, is a particularly happy one," states the district headquarters in a report. Urgent Inquiry for Seamen . With the steamer Canopus held up at Westport because it was three men short of a full crew, the State Placement Service was able to fill the vacancies in Christchurch within a few hours of the receipt of advice from the West Coast; and this on a Saturday afternoon when placement officers were not on duty. ' The Placement Officer at Westport sent an urgent telephone message to the officer at Christchurch at 1 p.m. on Saturday, stating that the Canopus, owned by the Westport Coal Company, required two firemen and one able seaman before it could leave port. When Lyttelton was communicated with, it was found that the officer in charge of the Employment Bureau there was spending the week-end at Diamond Harbour. He was located by the telephone exchange and returned to Lyttelton to find the necessary labour. One man was engaged, but two more, suitable for the jobs, were in Christchurch, and could not be engaged until they returned to port later in the afternoon. However, all three were got away to connect with the 7.35 p.m. train from Christchurch to Greymouth, the Railway Depart!..enf undertaking to make sure they were able to do so. The men arrived by bus at Westport early on Sunday morning, the Canopus sailing for the north later in the day with a full complement of men." ...