General News

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25247, 28 July 1947, Page 6

General News

Ship to go to Palestine The small Auckland motor-vessel Rosalie, which was purchased last month by Palestine interests from the War Assets Realisation Board, has completed her fitting-out, and will load this week at Auckland for Haifa. The master of the vessel will be Captain R. M. Beim, of Palestine, and the ship will fly the flag of Palestine. Her crew will be New Zealanders and other nationalities who have signed on for a one-way voyage at £25 a month. The preparations have been approved by the Marine Department. The Rosalie, which is 114 ft long, has a cargo capacity for 250 tons—(P. A.) 100 Tons of Bottles

More than 100 tons of bottles have now been collected by the Christchurch Boy Scouts in their bottle drive. About half this amount was collected on Saturday, when more than 250 scouts, cubs and rovers took part in the drive. The area covered was the St. Martins, Opawa, Woolston, Roimata, Linwood, Avonside south, Wainoni and Waltham districts. Some streets in central Linwood were not covered, but it is hoped that arrangements to cover this area will be made later. Residents in the area covered whose bottles were not collected are requested by the county secretary, Mr A. W. V. Reeve, to get in touch with Scout House. Money Recovered from Refuse

A Wellington man who had lost £4OO in notes and silver when the money became mixed with the contents of a refuse bin in a Wellington cake shop last, Tuesday recovered most of it from a refuse tip on Saturday morning. When the bin -had been removed from the cake shop, the money had not been noticed. After the rubbish had been emptied at the tip, a large load of waste coke was deposited on top of it and a roller drawn over it. Early on Saturday 20 volunteers, with the assistance of a bulldozer, dug and raked and shovelled, and from time to time a coin or a note was turned over. The bulldozer’s first sweep removed the surface of coke waste, and its second turned over miscellaneous refuse. Rakes and forks were then used, and before long the money began to appear.—(P.A.) Communists and Indonesia A resolution calling upon the Government to declare itself in favour oi an immediate cessation of hostilities in Indonesia was passed at a meeting of the Canterbury district committee of the New Zealand Communist Party last evening. Wellington to Auckland Buses Something new in travel in New Zealand will be introduced next year, when a daylight luxury bus service between Wellington and Auckland will start. Authority to run the service has been received by a Wellington man from the No. 2 Licensing i Authority (Mr P. O. Skoglund), and he hopes to have special vehicles of the tractor-trailer type available in March. Each bus will carry 24 passengers, and will have a road hostess who will serve hot refreshments during the journey. The service will run each way three times a week, and the fare will be £4 10s.-—(P.A.) * Royalties for Whales When in the 14th century, whaling became an important industry in England, said Mr G. W. Southgate at a meeting of the Christchurch Cultural Society on Saturday night, the King was created an honorary harpooner and received a royalty from the head of every whale captured, while the Queen received a royalty from the tail. Bus Catches Fire V A Railways Road Services’ bus, filled with passengers, caught fire while it was on the middle of the Hutt Pipe Bridge on Friday evening. Flames entered the driver’s cab, but the passengers, using both exits, escaped quickly. The fire, which is believed to have been started by a back-fire, caused considerable damage to the cab, bonnet, and engine of the bus, although it was stated that the damage was not beyond repair. The driver of the bus used a chemical extinguisher to keep the flames under control until the arrival of an engine from the Lower Hutt fire brigade. Motor traffic over the bridge was delayed for about 20 minutes. Level of Lake Coleridge There was a further slight rise in the level of Lake Coleridge during the week-end, the level on Saturday being 1664.62 ft, an increase of about three inches on its level a week earlier. The flow of the Waitaki river on Saturday was 5350 cusecs, compared with 5300 cusecs the previous day. The weather at the lake was mild. Persistent Hiccoughs All routine treatments have been tried without success in the case of a young man at Napier who has suffered an .attack of hiccoughs for a week without a break. All the popular methods, such as holding the breath, taking a drink of wster, the administering of a shock, and holding the veins of both wrists, were tried without avail. Medical treatment included the holding down of the tongue with a spoon, and inhalations of amyl nitrate. Ski-ing at Arthur’s Pass Good ski-ing was obtained at Temple Basin in the Arthur’s Pass district during the week-end. A strong party of members of the Canterbury University College and Lincoln Agricultural College ski-ing clubs stayed in the Christchurch Ski Club’s hut for two days; and several other groups of ski-ers visited the basin on Saturday and Sunday. The weather on Saturday was misty, and the snow was soft, but by yesterday the surfaces on the lower slopes had hardened into perfect condition. ■*. New Ship Needed for Cook Islands “The Maui Pomare proved invaluable during the war years when there was no other vessel available for the Cook Islands service, but a faster and more modern ship, with greater carrying capacity and ability to maintain a more frequent service, is now required.” states the annual report oi the Cook Islands Administration. “The provision of adequate shipping facilities is undoubtedly the most serious problem confronting the group at the present time, but this is complicated by the seasonal nature of its trade. During the orange season large quantities of iruit are available for shipment, but for the remainder of the year payable cargoes of other fruit and of produce are not offering.” “Come to Britain” Posters A series of six full-colour posters with sport as the subject, each of which is the work of a well-known artist, is the latest addition to the British Travel Association’s “Come to Britain” literature. The posters are designed to illustrate the wide variety of entertainment Great Britain has to offer visitors from overseas. Subjects covered by this series are racing, fishing, motoring, yachting, hiking, and golf. The posters are to be circulated overseas, for prominent display in advance of the 1948 tourist season, and the displays will synchronise with the Olympic Games which are to be i held in the United Kingdom next year. About 5,000,000 pieces of tourist literature have already been circulated by the association. Health in Cook Islands General health throughout the Cook Islands last year was good, according to the annual report of the administration of that group. It states ’ that the outbreaks of poliomyelitis in [ Rarotonga, cerebro-spinal fever in, Atiu, and trachoma in Atiu, Mauke,! and Mitiaro mentioned in the last re- : port died down early in the year. In June and July, 1946, influenza became epidemic in Rarotonga, and there were also some cases Of chicken-pox and meningitis. A second wave of influenza occurred in August, and a third wave in October, but neither of these was as severe as the first wave. In Feb-; ruary and March, 1947, there was an epidemic of Bornholm disease or 1 epidemic pleurodynia. The number of cases is not known, but it was widespread. Fortunately there was no mortality. The report adds that tuberculosis continues to be the main problem in the region.