General News

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23131, 21 September 1940, Page 12

General News

The Wrong Colour . Disapproval of the colour selected for the painting of the five doors of the John Knox Presbyterian Church, Rangiora, was expressed at the annual congregational meeting on Thursday evening by the session clerk (Mr C. I. Jennings). The doors were recently, painted a bright green, and Mi* Jennings protested that it was a most inappropriate colour. He said that a number of persons had already remarked on the unsuitability of the colour: The protest will be considered ait the next meeting of the management committee. Valuable Mare Shot A charge of wilfully shooting a trotting mare valued at £2OO was brought against a 13-year-old boy at a sitting of the Children’s Court at Ashburton yesterday. It was said that the boy fired two bullets at the mare, which died of the injuries. The owner said that he would not claim compensation because the payments would fall on the boy’s parents. Admonishing the Magistrate (Mr H. Morgan, S.M.) said that if he came before the Court again he would be severely dealt with. Thefts from Gardens There is evidence that garden thieves have been at work in Christchurch recently. Last Thursday evening the’complete contents of. a plot of prize pansies were removed from the garden of Mr and Mrs H. F. Herbert, Bradnor street, Fendalton. The theft of plants from a garden in St'. Albans was also reported recently. Supplies of Japanese Oak A statement made in Auckland and published in “The Press” this week that the use of Japanese oak had been severely restricted by import difficulties and much higher landing costs was questioned last evening by Mr E. W. Archbold, one of the heads of a furnitux-e manufacturing firm in the city. Mr- Archbold said that no difficulty had been found in securing supplies, and that a shipment was now on the way. The statement that the price of Japanese oak had doubled since the war was not correct, he said; the price had risen only slightly. He did not agree that rimu had largely taken the place of oak. Daffodil Sunday To-morrow is Daffodil Sunday, and the curator of the Botanic Gardens (Mr J. A. McPherson) says that a better time for it could not have been chosen. “It is timed to the minute, and the blooms are at the height of their beauty,” he said. Evidence of the way the famous display has been appreciated during the last few days, is the fact that donations from visitors have already amounted to £7. Last year 6000 persons went to see the daffodils on Daffodil Sunday and arrangements are in hand to cope with twice as many to-morrow. The daffodils are upstream from the Public Hospital, towards Riccarton, and can be reached through the gardens or through the park from Riccarton avenue. Greetings to Soldiers Overseas The many soldiers who were entertained by the Christchurch Welcome Club while on leave from Burnham Camp will have memories of happy gatherings revived by cablegrams which were dispatched yesterday to the New Zealand forces overseas. Those present at the opening of the club’s new premises sent the following cablegram to the General Officer Commanding the New Zealand Forces, both in Egypt and in England;—“ Citizens assembled in Christchurch on occasion of opening Welcome Club’s new premises send greetings to New Zealand troops, particularly those who visited the Welcome Club. Would be grateful if greetings could be conveyed through routine orders.” / Southland Nurses “Looking round the room I see what a fine, robust type of nurse we have,” remarked the chairman of the Southland Hospital Board (Mr T. Golden) at the hospital on Thursday when medallions" were presented to nurses who were successful in the State examination taken at the end of the three-year training course. “I hope that they will stay on and be staff nurses and not be too hasty in getting married,” he added, when congratulating the successful candidates. School Flags The Education Department has had no flags in stock for many years, according to a letter read at a meeting of the Wellington Education Board from the department. The question of purchasing fresh supplies had recently been considered, it was stated, but having regard to the heavy calls on the country’s finances, the department had decided to take no action in the matter, feeling that the provision of flags might at the present time be safely left to local initiative. Launch’s Rough Trip A fast trip in squally weather was undertaken this week by a New Zealand Coastguard launch to bring a hospital case from Rotoroa Island to Auckland. The outward passage was accomplished in two and a half hours, the distance being about 25 miles. However, on the return journey, the launch had to go outside Waiheke Island to take advantage of the lee shore, the 30 miles involved taking about three hours to cover. / Mutual Discipline A tent competition among a company of the Ist Battalion, Wellington Regiment, in camp at Wanganui racecourse, has shown how the men impose discipline and a general spirit of orderliness on each other and on their own account. Points are allotted for the tidiest tents. A graph gives the daily position of the tent competition. One company arranged a njodel of its tent lines; a series of discs indicates the position and number of each tent and on the discs are inscribed the names of the occupants of each tent. Thus when a man is wanted he can be located promptly. . New Yacht Building One of the very few keel yachts being built in Auckland this year is under construction at St, Heliers Bay. It is a 34ft’ketch being built by Messrs M. E, Cross and R. Spencer in their spare time. It will have a beam of 10ft Sin and a draught of sft Sin, and the hull is now taking shape. The new vessel will carry masts of 45ft and 26ft.