General News

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24816, 5 March 1946, Page 4

General News

No Disinheritance Bill ‘‘Among the weird and wonderful issues which have been raised in the by-election has been the suggestion of a disinheritance bill,” said the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) in an address at Huntly last evening. “While in London I received a letter from a stranger asking me about this, and I replied that I had never heard of it. I did not take the letter seriously. Never at any time have I heard anyone in any way ever suggest that the Labour Government should introduce anything of the sort. It is nothing more than monstrous. ’’ — (P.A.) British Tobacco Supplies Tobacconists have been advised that British tobacco will be the first to arrive of the shipments to ease the supply position in New Zealand. Distribution is expected toward the end of this month. The Price Tribunal has approved one brand of cigarettes being sold at lOd for 11, another brand at 25 for 2s 6d, and pipe tobacco at 2oz for 3s 9d. Power Rationing With levels at both Lake Taupo and Lake Wcikaremoana exceptionally low and with a continuing shortage of coal, a_ n a a cold snap over most of the North Island, power rationing had a bad start yesterday morning. The Controller of Electricity (Mr F. T. M. Kissel), after mentioning the low levels of Lakes Taupo and Waikaremoana, said that conditions at Taupo yesterday were rough, and no precise measurements of the level could be taken. There had been brief heavy ram at Waikaremoana, but it was not sufficient to make any worthwhile difference.—(P.A.) Band Contest Winners Wanganui bands hold the honour of winning the greatest number of New Zealand band contests—ll in all. The Wanganui Garrison Band has won the title on nine occasions, and the Queen Alexandra’s Own Band from Wanganui has won twice. Wellington and Christchurch bands have each been successful on 10 occasions. The Woolston Band with nine successes shares the lead for individual bands with Wanganui Garrison. The Oamaru Garrison Band has won the title eight times, and other winning bands have been St. Kilda 4, Port Nicholson 3. Kaikorai 3, and Queen Alexandra’s Own 2. Invercargill Garrison, Christchurch Garrison, Redfern’s (Sydney). Malvern Tramways (Victoria) and Cairns (Queensland) have had one success each. The first contest was held in conjunction with the International Exhibition in Hagley Park in 1882. Rain in Drought Areas Most' parte of the North Island had fairly substantial falls of rain during the week-end, breaking a drought which in some districts has extended over many weeks. An official of the State Forest Service said yesterday that the rain had brought a considerable in the fire hazard position. There was still, however, some possibility that, if the weather cleared and the winds rose, smouldering logs might burst into flames again. Patrols would be continued until such* danger had passed. Practically the whole of the central and eastern districts of the North Island had half an inch of rain during the week-end. In some parts the fall was more than three inches. Tokaanu had slightly more than three inches on Saturday and Sunday, and Taupo had one and a half inches. Rain came to Marlborough and Nelson a day earlier than in the North Island. There were slight falls in sheltered parts of Marlborough.— (P.A.) Training for J Force The first draft of men from the Christchurch area to be trained for the Japan Occupation Force went into camp at Burnham yesterday. A total of 122 men paraded. Further medical examinations of volunteers will be held to-day and to-morrow, and if the men passed fit are available at short notiefe they will enter camp next Monday. University Classes “While no accurate figures on enrolments for 1946 classes at Victoria University College can be expected for some time, it seems that the total enrolments for this year will exceed those of last year, probably by a large number,” said the registrar of the college (Mr G. C. S. Robison) yesterday. Last year’s total enrolments were 1450, he said, and, as the college was built to accommodate 800 students, very many classes were uncomfortably crowded. The largest of the classrooms was fitted with a microphone and two loud-speakers, to enable everyone to hear. In the science classes the accommodation problem was perhaps more acute than in the others, and students had found difficulty in finding space to fit in the required number of hours for practical experimental work in laboratories.—(P.A.) Subsidised Training in Professions The Rehabilitation Board has decided on a subsidy scale which it is willing to apply to a group of professions with which it has been negotiating for some time. The professions provided for are law, accountancy, surveying, architecture and journalism. The scale decided on will be offered in individual cases where former servicemen seek assistance. For those with no professional training before entering the armed forces a subsidy may be paid for three years divided into six half-yearly periods. The commencing wage is £5 15s a week gross (the employer and board finding half each), rising to £6 in the last period (the employer finding £5 5s and the board 15s). Tasman Flight The Australian National Airways Skymaster Amana, which arrived at Whenuapai on Sunday on a special flight from Melbourne via Sydney, left yesterday morning for Ohakea. It will return to Whenuapai this afternoon and leave for Sydney and Melbourne with passengers at 8 o’clock on Wednesday. Advice has been received by the Auckland office of Pan American Airways that the aircraft making a third survey flight of the San Francisco-Auckland route has been delayed a day and is now due here on Thursday. The aircraft will remain at Whenuapai until Saturday.—(P.A.) Highways in Riccarton The Main Highways Board had intended to give attention during March to highways running through the borough, but because of a delay in the arrival of supplies of bitumen a delay was expected, said the Town Clerk (Mr R. Sarjeant) to the Riccarton Borough Council last evening. The roads were breaking up and if water once got into them the process would be accelerated, he said. Protection was essential before the winter. Power Failure at Auckland

Because of a failure of one of the generators at the Arapuni power station. about half of the Auckland Electric Power Board’s area was without electricity for about 45 minutes after 4.30 p.m. yesterday. Just before the close of a meeting of the board, which discussed measures which might be taken to reduce the Auckland load by 4500 kilowattfe as ordered by the Electricity Controller (Mr F. T. M. Kissel), advice was received that the generator had failed, and the board was asked to cut off 20.000 kilowatts from its supply immediately. Many of the suburban and rural areas of the board’s district were disconnected, but the tramways were not affected. — (P.A.) Lowe Street Crossing

Because of difficulty in seeing approaching trains, aggravated by the frequent shunting of trucks in the locality, the Riccarton Borough Council decided last evening to ask the Railway Department in install warning devices at the Lowe street level crossing at Addington. Breakdown of Rail-Car

The rail-car from Christchurch ’ to Greymouth yesterday morning arrived two and a half hours late. The delay wks caused when the car, which left at 2.20 a.m., broke down at Rolleston. The passengers and luggage had to be transferred to another rail-car which was brought from Christchurch.