General News

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22804, 1 September 1939, Page 10

General News

Railway and Road It was. definitely the policy of the Railways Department to oppose all applications for the carriage of goods by road operators running parallel with railways, unless sworn testimony was given, other than that of the operator concerned, that the existing service was insufficient,. said Mr W. Rodgers, District Traffic Manager, at a sitting of the No. 3 Transport Licensing Authority yesterday. He was objecting formally to an application to carry stock by road from Little River to Christchurch—a route which, he mentioned, ran parallel with 36 miles of railway. One Magistrate—Two Courts An unusual occurrence the sitting of the Magistrate’s Court in Christchurch yesterday, when it was necessary for the Magistrate (Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M.) to adjourn the Court in order to preside over a sitting of the Civil Court in another room. This- was brought about by the absence of the two other local Magistrates. Mr H. A. Young was absent in the North Island as chairman of the Post and Telegraph Appeal Board, and Mr F F. Reid was away on circuit duty m the country. Mr F. D. Sargent, as counsel for the defence in g case in the Magistrate’s Court, said that the legal profession had hoped that the Government might do something to ease the shortage of Magistrates in Christchurch. ; Territorials to Attend Football Match Military uniforms will, be a prominent feature at Lancaster Park on September 9, when the Christchurch members of the Territorial Forces will attend the Canterbury-West Coast Rugby football match as the guests of the Canterbury Rugby Union. The territorials will march to the park. similar to this have been held in Dunedin and Invercargill, and have created a good deal of interest among the public in those centres. No Jamboree if War Comes The centennial scout jamboree planned to be held at Heretaunga from December to January will be cancelled, if war breaks out. The organiser (Commissioner J. E. F. Vogel) said there were three prmcipal reasons _ why the jamboree should not take place during a war in which New Zealand was a combatant. First, the young men on whom will fall the organisation and supervision of the camp would, in wartime, be serving their country in the field. Second, the organisation of transport and equipment for an encampment of 5000 boys would be out of the question in wartime; as, whatever facilities were available would be turned to the training of military forces and other purposes. Third, boys had a job to do elsewhere. The main tenet of the scout movement was to teach boys to be useful citizens in a national emergency. They should offer their services in any way in which they might be useful. If the manhood of the nation was called away there were many everyday jobs which a boy could t-.rry out.. —Press Association. Tramway Board Election “It has been found that Saturday is the best day of the week for holding elections,” said Mr R. M. Macfarlane (Government. Christchurch South) during the second reading of the Christchtirch Tramway District Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives yesterday. The bill, which alters the date of the Christchurch Tramway elections from- the last Thursday to the last Saturday in November in every third year, was put through, its remaining stages and passed. Mr Macfarlane received the customary applause accorded to a new member who successfully pilots his first bill through the House.—Parliamentary Reporter. * Young Londoners and Militia “It is pleasant to get the entirely dispassionate testimony of London hospital medicos to the spirit of our Cockney 20-year-olds,” says a London newspaper. “It seems that since Parliament in its tardy I wisdom 'enacted the new militia law, calling up for training in national service all fit men of 20 years, the hospitals have noted a sudden attendance as consulting out-patients of youngsters shortly due for service. These young men are usually suffering from some slight physical-trouble, sometimes nothing more serious than being slightly run down. They all have the same tale to tell the hospital staffs: they are looking forward to be-, ing called up, and are desperately keen on not being turned down on account of any physical disability. So they take time by the/ forelock, and, by getting hospital- treatment for any slight ailments, ensure that they will be taken as AI recruits when they are called before _a medical board under the Militia Act. This rather knocks some hoary polical cliches endways.” “Millstone” for the Church “No wonder the church has found it hard to survive,” said the Rev. J. K. Archer, amid laughter, at the centennial thanksgiving rally held by the Canterbury Auxiliary of the ,Bantist Union of New Zealand last evening when he mentioned that the first Baptist Church in Canterbury had been bound by 28 articles of faith. In those days every person who wished to join the church had to subscribe to the articles, he said. “If that was not a millstone about the neck of the church, what was?” he asked. Fire Hydrant Bursts A display which was' watched by crowds of passers-by was provided by a fire hydrant which' burst in front of the Wellington Town Hall about 10.30 a.m, yesterday. A dazzling column of water shot ■up as high as the top of the flagpole on the traffic office situated alongside the hall, and continued to play for a considerable time, flooding a portion of the adjacent streets-. UniorVmatelv, one of the windows on the top floor of the traffic office Was open, and the room received a considerable amount of -/ater. Two cars were parked a few feet away from the hydrant. One of them was a traffic inspector’s car, and he dashed through the flood to remove the vehicle. The other car was left standing in the roadwiy and was wellwashed.—“The Press” Special Service. Air Traffic in Westland The returns of Air Travel (N.Z.), Ltd., the company which operates in Westland,.for August show that the total number of flying hours for the month was 152. The number of flights was 328, and the number of passengers 216. Mail carried weighed 37611b and freight 21481b. Aeroplanes were, flown on 29 of the 31 days in the month. Meat Board and the Farmers ' A suggestion that there was room for closer contact between the rank arid file of ordinary farmers and the Meat Board, and that steps should be taken to improve the position, was iriade by Mr 'Hammond (West Coast district) at the annual meeting of the electoral committee of the board in Wellington yesterday. Mr Johnstone (South Canterbury) said that a remit passed on Wednesday by the electoral committee, if approved,- would 'help considerably in the matter. When the rank and file of farmers realised the work the board was doing there would, be no whispering campaign going on behind their backs. —Press Association, Price of Beer Because the Price Investigation Tribunal’s decision on the increase of beer prices had not been released, the meeting of members of the Canterbury Licensed Victuallers’ Association called for yesterday mornirig was cancelled. Shortage of Matches Although most Auckland shopkeepers still have some supplies of safety: matches, which were purchased some time ago, stocks held by wholesale merchants are now practically ex--hausted. Orders are being rationed to small quantities. One development of the shortage is that firms are now instructing their travellers to press the sale of wax matches.