General News

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23493, 22 November 1941, Page 8

General News

The Fishing Rivers According to advice received yesterday by the secretary of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society the condition of the fish•ing rivers is as follows: —Hurunui, Rakaia, and Waimakariri, in flood; Ashley, slightly discoloured, otherwise fishable; Selwyn, clear and flshable. Damage to Road Signs “Destruction of signs in the county still goes on, and it is amazin i to think in these days that such wilful destruction is practised, said Mr A. J. Tait (traffic inspector) in his report to the Heathcote County Council last evening. “For the second time the 30-mile speed sign at the Kiwi has been torn down. At the request of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals we erected a sign on the causeway relative to throwing stones at the sea elephant. The life of this sign was 24 hours, for it was deliberately torn awry from the post and disappeared. Practical!; all the glass has been removed from the louvre in the conveniences at the Takahe, the result of which leaves the interior of the place wide open to the road. While the council endeavours to improve and beautify the river bank in Aynsley terrace, certain horse-owners regularly make use of it as a training track,” his report concluded. £3OOO Collected for Charity The sqm of more than £3OOO collected for charity entirely by his own efforts is the record of Mr Gordon Pirie, of Napier, who has come to live in retirement at Christchurch. After the Hawke’s Bay earthquake in 1931,, Mr Pirie collected £IOOO for the Napier Hospital, and the remainder of the £3OOO has been raised since then, most of it going, toward the patriotic funds. Mr Pirie has 47 testimonials from organisations for which he has collected money. Emperor’s Cup Some time ago, when a number of valuable articles belonging to the Emperor Haile Selassie were put up for sale, a Hull solicitor bought a beautiful silver cup, resolving that should the Emperor regain his throne the cup should be packed up and dispatched to Addis Ababa. The treasure is now on the way, and it is hoped will be safely delivered at the royal palace. Mishap to Dock Caisson When the suction-dredge Canterbury was being floated out of the graving dock at Lyttelton yesterday afternoon the caisson, which blocks the entrance to the dock, partly filled with water and sank, almost turning over at the same time. An attempt was made to pump it out, using the tug Lyttelton 11. One end was raised and made secure, and it is expected that the work will be completed on Monday. Farmers and Petrol ' The petrol situation is more serious at present than it has ever been previously, according to Mr A. P. O’Shea, Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, who stated in a letter received yesterday by the South Canterbury provincial executive that unless farmers kept strictly within their petrol allocations it would be necessary to place all licences on a monthly basis. Mr Q’Shea said that, to give flexibility to farmers, petrol licences had been granted, in many cases, on an annual basis instead of the usual monthly basis. Local oil fuel controllers had reported to him that some farmers were not regulating their usage of petrol to keep within their allotments, with the result that the purpose of the rationing was being defeated. Children’s Display for Governor-General Primary school children of the whole metropolitan district will give a display on December 15 in honour of-the Governor-General. It was reported to the Canterbury Education Board yesterday that a preliminary programme had been arranged. The function was planned in accordance with a wish expressed by his Excellency to meet the primary school children of Canterbury! First Funeral For Five Years The first funeral for about five years took place on Mokoia Island, in Lake Rotorua,' recently, when a member of the Ngati Whakaue section of the Arawa tribe was buried, states a Rotorua correspondent. The deceased was Ramari te Kowhai, aged, about 66. She was well known at Ohinemutu. The body was carried to the island by launch. The conveyance of the coffin from the wharf to the summit of the island was accomplished only after Maoris with slashers i and axes had cut a track through thick undergrowth, and even then the steepness of the ascent for some 600 feet made the task difficult. Although Mokoia is sometimes referred to as a sacred island because of the cerituries-old burial ground at the summit, burials there are now rare. Mental Clinics Advocated The establishment of a mental clinic in New Zealand in view of the prevalence of mental diseases and distresses w*s advocated at the annual Methodist Synod of the Wellington district. The position, it was stated, was being aggravated by cases of men repatriated home from overseas. It was decided to set up a committee to confer with other interested bodies and to investigate the position, was also suggesed that students should be encouraged to take up psychology and allied subjects in order to qualify for work in such a clinic. Old Brick Tunnel A large brick chamber or tunnel that has been uncovered under the footpath in Shortland street, Auckland, by Jean Batten place has been proving of great interest to passers by. Council workmen were engaged in lowering the level of a water main when they broke through ian arched brick roof and found this tunnel, about 10ft in depth and stretching back from the kerb to the corner of the foundation of the National Bank building. Inquiry shows that the original use of the tunnel was to convey telephone lines to the basement of the old Shortland Street Post Office. It is being filled in with rocks and rubble and concrete. Tulip with Six Blooms Attracting considerable attention in the garden of Mr H. Singleton, an amateur horticulturist, at Seacliff, is a tulip with six blooms on the one main stem. The plant is a healthy one, and the s J x heads are all large and perfect. Mr" Singleton has about 350 bulbs in flower this year, and he has grown tulips for many years. On several occasions he has had plants bearing two or more flowers, and instances have been known where as many as four heads have developed on the one stem, but for six to appear in this manner is considered to be unique in New Zealand, Change of Name For some time the Wellington Acclimatisation Society has been contemplating a change in its name bring it into line with the real sphere of its activities, and at a special general meeting this week a motion was adopted changing the name to the Wellington Wild Life Control and Acclimatisation Society. Moving the adoption of the new title, the president, Mr L. O. H. Tripp, said that he had been connected with the society for 40 years, and he was glad that the name had been changed. In its early days the society had functioned as an acclimatisation body for the introduction of fish and bird life, but it had passed beyond that and had done a great deal of work in wild life control. He had always advocated the planting of berryproducing trees for native birds. Air Mail For Soldiers To expedite delivery on arrival in the Middle East of air mail letters to soldiers, the Chief Post Office, Christchurch, has introduced a more intensive form of sorting. A special room has been set aside in the remodelled part of the old post office for this sorting, a staff varying from one to five being engaged on the work. South Island correspondence of this type is sorted in the Christchurch office, the number of letters handled ranging up to 2000 daily. The letters are now sorted into extended alphabetical sequence, and not just into alphabet groups as before. Sorting into complete sequence will greatly facilitate handling at the Base Post Office, it is stated, and will avoid delay in checking and in delivery to soldiers, Christmas Railway Rush Nine trains from Auckland to Wellington are fully booked for the period between December 19 and December 28. Seven trains from Wellington to Auckland are also fully booked for the same period. The heavy rush of booking at the Auckland railway station is expected to be even larger than last Christmas, when a Dominion record was established. i