General News

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23248, 7 February 1941, Page 8

General News

Postage Delays “Our London people tell us that it takes anything up to seven days to get a letter from London to Birmingham and anything up to four days to get a telegram delivered anywhere in England,” said Mr V. E. Hamilton, at a meeting of the council of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last evening, when declaring that no protest should be made, in the circumstances, over delays in the deliveries of New Zealand cablegrams. “In view of what is going on in the Old Country and what they are going through, I do not feel that we should complain about slight delays here," he said. The council had a letter before it about delays in the receipt and delivery of cablegrams, but members were unanimous in their support of Mr Hamilton s views and no action was taken. London Distress Fund The sum of £IOO has been forwarded to headquarters for the Relief of Distress in London Fund. The money was raised by subscription bv members of the 3rd Battalion of the National Reserve. Slip on Railway Cleared ■, The slip which blocked the Rewanui line on Monday morning was cleared yesterday aftermoon and normal train services will be resumed this morning. This will enable the congestion of coal in the Liverpool State mine buns and in waggons at the Rewanui station to be cleared away and work will be available at the mine to-day. The central rail on the Revvanui line was damaged by the slip, but repairs were quickly made after the clearance of the slip. Town-Planning Scheme Tha>. objections to the Christchurch townplanning scheme would close on February 14 was pointed out by the president of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, Mr W. S. MacGibbon, Vu a meeting of the council of the chamber fast evening. Reporting on the chamber’s investigation of the city scheme, Mr MacGibboii said that a committee set up to consider thi* plan had, made considerable progress. Surnpunding local authorities had taken a keen interest in the investigation and it was likely that ! ( they would press for a townplanning survey of the entire metropolitan area. The objections to the scheme would, he understood, be heard soon after the closing date. -. Dunedin Mayoralty The nomination of Mr E. T. Cox for selection as the Labour candidate for the city mayoral election) in May, which was submitted to the Otago Labour Representation Committee some weeks Ago, has been accepted by that body. Two otheA nominees are Dr. D. G. McMillan and Mr Robert Walls, and the final ballot will be held in the( next few weeks to select the official candidate. Mr Cox was Mayor of Dunedin for two successive terms. He was defeated at the elections inf 1938 by the present Mayor, Mr A. H. Allen. \ No Knemy Agents Defence authorities in Napier received a number of telephone c alls last week to the effect that a Morse lamp was signalling from the summit of the Sugar Loaf hill at the back of Taradale. Inquiries revealed that the Hashes were not destined t|p be decoded by the enemy, but by Napier Honae Guard members, who were co-operating wftfh a group of the Taradale Home Guard in\ signalling manoeuvres. The opinion was expressed that in such an event the movements should be notified to the public, who acted property in reporting the matter to the correct quarters. Lost Property During the last 12 months the Dunedin police have found in the streets, or’Rave had handed to them, a wide assortment V»f articles that have been lost or mislaid by thieir owners. Indeed, the number and the variety of the unclaimed articles would suggest a s.omewhat remarkable aptitude on the part of many people for losing or' 1 forgetting their property. The collection contains unclaimed bicycles, various sums of money, and an assortment, of handbags, hats, watches, tools, articles of clothing, and jewellery. Persons who have lost property will be given until February 22 to identify and claim their belongings, after which thc> unclaimed articles will be sold at public auction. Shortage of Dog Collars A report that it was impossible to obtain sup J , plies of dog collars for the current year be- j cause of the loss of a shipment of buckles was made by the Town Clerk (Mr T. R. Congalton) at a meeting of the Mount Albert Borough Council. The contractor to the council was 26,000 collars in arrears, and was unable to indicate when supplies would be forthcoming. Surplus collars from previous years totalled 231, but were not sufficient for the council’s requirements. The Town Clerk was empowered to interview local bodies which were affected, and to make such representations as he considered necessary to the Internal Affairs Department.