General News

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23744, 16 September 1942, Page 4

General News

Inspection of Air-raid Shelters The complaint about conditions in air-raid shelters in the city made by members of the Christchurch Housewives’ Union and published in “The Press” yesterday was the subject of comment by an officer of police last evening./ “We have had no official complaints about the conditions in the shelters,” he said, “though of course there may be cause for complaint after heavy rain. The only official complaint we have received was about boys running across the tops of the shelters and breaking the walls down.” He said there was a periodic inspection of the shelters along the river banks and in the centre of the city by uniformed members of the force. Public Service and E.P.S. Representatives of the Canterbury section of the Public Service Association are to meet the Regional E.P.S. Commissioner (Colonel W. T. Churchward) to discuss the co-ordination of departmental E.P.S. schemes with the metropolitan organisation. Recently the section wrote to the New Zealand executive committee of the association expressing "concern at the apparent lack of co-ordination,” and asking that arrangements be made for the visit of a representative of the Public Service Commissioner to Christchurch to bring about co-ordination. The letter was referred to the Commissioner, who advised the section to confer with Colonel Churchward Tribute to N.Z. Division A tribute to the fighting qualities of the New Zealand Division in the Middle East was paid by the Mayor of Oamaru (Mr J. C. Kirkness), speaking at an entertainment for soldiers. “It has been said of the men of the New Zealand Division that they are the finest body of troops in the world.” said Mr Kirkness, "and in the present fighting in the Western Desert no one can read without a thrill of pride the reports of the achievements of the New Zealanders. They were brought in at a critical time, and if they did not save the Bth Army from defeat they certainly played a major part in the halting of the Axis forces.” Liability for Accidents The question of liability for accidents in which Army vehicles are involved was again discussed at this week’s meeting of the committee of the Automobile Association (South Canterbury). The chairman (Mr R. Wilson) said that apparently no one knew the true position. “The legislation covering such accidents was introduced practically before the introduction of motor-cars,” Mr Wilson said. A test case had been brought in Blenheim, but had been adjourned pending action by the War Cabinet. Whitebait on West Coast Small catches of whitebait continue to be made at the mouth of the Hokitika river, the high tides of the last few days tending to make them more plentiful. Whitebait should start to run consistently after the first spring flush in the river. The riverbed is very clean and favourable for whitebait fishing this season. There have been isolated catches of a pint and less at Greymouth and m the Taramakau river, but the cold snap is against any early improvement. Limited supplies were available in restaurants and hotels at Westport during the weekend, but as much as 5s and even 10s was being paid for a pint. Conflicting Reports A curious disparity in the accounts of one of last Saturday's Rugby matches—by the referee and a club coach —was disclosed at the meeting of the Canterbury Rugby Union last evening. A letter was received from the secretary to the Technical Club stating that his committee wished to know the outcome of the under 17 grade match between Technical and Athletic. The Technical team’s coach, stated the letter, reported that at 3 p.m., the starting time, 14 Technical players and seven Athletic players were in attendance, but the referee had failed to put in an appearance at 3.35, and the players drifted away ‘‘Curiously enough, the referee reports that the match was played and was won by Technical by 35 points to 0,” said the secretary, Mr E. G. Mitchell. The referee’s report stated that the teams had 14 and 10 players respectively. It was decided to send this information to the Technical Club. River Netting Boundaries A resurvey of the netting boundaries at the mouth of the Halswell river is now being made by officers of the Marine Department. The report of the rangers' committee presented at a meeting of the council of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society last evening stated that the attention of the Marine Department had been directed to complaints regarding the wrongly defined netting boundaries. It was expected that the boundaries would be correctly defined before the opening of the fishing season. Officers for Cricket Cricket clubs in Christchurch are having considerable difficulty in find-s ing enough members to fill official positions, according to reports made to the suburban association. Most members are working long hours, and in addition to home ties they have responsibilities in civilian war services. "We have appointed two secretaries and a stand-by,” said one delegate, commenting on the uncertain position of his club through members waiting to be called up. Sportsmanship in Junior Rugby “To promote good fellowship and sportsmanship among players and coaches, and to emphasise that football is played primarily for recreational purposes and healthy rivalry,” is defined as the first duty of members of the junior advisory board to be set up by the Canterbury Rugby Union, The second object is "to encourage honesty among players and officials, to check weights and ages, and to encourage clubs to place players in their correct grades and consider it a gross breach of sportsmanship for any player to be played in any but his correct grade. By emphasising this, protests and disputes could be eliminated from all junior grades.” Speed Limit for Army \ chicles Although Army vehicles, for obvious reasons, are excluded from the recent legislation aimed at conserving tyres and making it a civil offence to drive at a speed of more than 40 miles an hour, an Army instruction issued recently says that this exception applies only in the event of a national emergency, and Army vehicles must also observe the limit of 40 miles an hour except in an emergency.—(P.A.) Patriotic Fund Appeal A special effort sponsored by the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce with the Manufacturers’ Association and Employers' Association and a group of Christchurch citizens is being made to raise by personal approach to the larger firms and companies a substantial proportion of the amount still required to reach Canterbury’s quota in the patriotic fund appeal. Announcing this yesterday, the president of the chamber (Mr C. S. Hammond) said that the necessary arrangements were well in hand and the intention was to launch the appeal next week. In the meantime several firms had already promised liberal assistance. Sportsmen’s Reunion A reunion of former members of the Albion (Christchurch) Rugby football and cricket clubs in the Middle East was proposed in July. In the July 13 issue of the “N.Z.E.F. Times” Private J. D. Calder, of Headquarters of the 23rd Battalion, asked members to forward their names, as it was proposed to hold the reunion as soon as the roll was compiled. Opossum Season The open season for trapping opossums closed on September 1, and since then 5487 skins have been examined, compared with 4500 in 1941. This information was given in the report of the rangers’ committee, which was presented at a meeting of the council of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society last evening. One month is allowed for the examination and certification of skins.