General News

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25269, 22 August 1947, Page 6

General News

Building Permits “I would like to tell the House that the ‘blackout’ on building permits was lifted to-day,” said the Minister of Lands. Mr C. F. Skinner, replying for the Minister of Works (Mr R. Semple) in the House of Representatives yesterday, to a question asked jointly by Mr A. S. Sutherland (Opposition, Hauraki) end Mr W. Sullivan (Opposition, Bay of Plenty). They sought an indication when the “blackout” would be lifted. Opposition members greeted Mr Skinner’s verbal reply to the question with cries of “Hooray.”— (P.A.) Renaming of Streets The duplication and similarity of some street names in' Christchurch and surrounding districts were discussed yesterday by a conference of representatives of the City Council, the Riccarton Borough Council, the Waimairi and Heathcote County Councils, the Post and Telegraph Department, the Lands and Survey Department, and the Fire Brigade. The conference decided which local bodies should change the names of streets, and considered the rights of each street. The next step will be for the local bodies to reconsider the renaming of the streets agreed on. Alterations will be submitted to the Town Clerk (Mr H. S. Feast). who will check the list to avoid dny further duplication, and he will then confer with representatives of the Fire Brigade, the Post and Telegraph Department, and the Lands and Survey Department. Assessment of Beer Duty To correct an existing anomaly, the Government proposed ter make a minor adjustment in the method of assessing beer duty, said the Minister of Finance (Mr W. Nash) during his speech on the Budget in the House of Representatives last evening. It had been found that certain brewers had been more or less consistently brewing beer from worts substantially below the maximum specific gravity allowed, and as a result there had been a substantial loss of revenue to » the State without any commensurate gain to the consumer or the public in general. It was therefore proposed to abolish the provision whereby a reduction in duty was allowed for beer brewed below the specified maximum specific gravity. “It is- not expected that this proposal will result in any significant increase in the alcoholic strength of the beer, nor will the retail price be affected by this alteration,” added Mr Nash.— (F.0.P.R.)

Pedestrian Clears Street A sense of public duty was shown by an elderly woman pedestrian at a busy intersection in Christchurch yesterday afternoon. An empty bottle fell from the back of a passing truck and smashed on the road. Most pedestrians and cyclists carefully avoided the glass splinters, but the elderly woman paused and, using her walking stick and her feet, she shifted some of the glass out of' the way of traffic. Two or three men, having been set an example, stopped and helped her. and within a few minutes all the fragments were in the gutter. Higher Value for Meat Coupons An indication that there would be an alteration in the value of meat coupons as a result of the removal of subsidies was given by the Prime Minister (Mr P. Fraser) at the “Aid for Britain” conference in Wellington yesterday. Mr A. W. Croskery, president of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, said it seemed that subsidies amounting to £1,100,000 would be coming off meat, and that meant that there would be a rise in the price of meat a pound. The Prime Minister said the authorities were facing up to the fact that there must be an alteration in the value of the coupon.—(F.O.O.R.) Boy Scouts’ Bottle Drive A final drive for bottles in Christchurch will be held by the Boy Scouts’ Association on August 30. when approximately 200 scouts will take part. Earlier drives brought in approximately 10,200 dozen bottles, or which 2700 dozen have been distributed. At least 7500 dozen are still held in the dump pending sorting. Before the drives started interested members of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association agreed to purchase all the bottles collected in order to alleviate the present acute shortage in all types of industry. Sea Cadets’ Voyage on Carrier

Consent has been given for an officer and 12 cadets from the Wellington Sea Cadet Corps to make a trip from Wellington to Auckland in the light fleet carrier Theseus. It was not uncommon for sea cadets in Britain to make such trips, said the officer commanding the corps, but this was the first time that provision had been made for a New Zealand party. The object was to enable the cadets to gain further training and experience. British sea cadets had been aboard Vanguard on the Royal trip to Africa, which gave him the idea of making similar arrangements, which had now been approved by the Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) and the flag officer of the Theseus.—(P.A.) Mosquito Aircraft over City

Three Mosquito aircraft from the R.N.Z.A.F. station at Ohakea arrived at Christchurch yesterday. After flying in formation over the city they landed at Wigram in the morning and took off on the return trip about 3 o’clock. The aircraft were on a navigation exercise to several points in the South Island. “Jay-Walkers” Rebuked

Christchurch pedestrians should be more law-abiding after the end of the national road safety campaign arranged by the Junior Chambers of Commerce. An important part of the campaign is the co-operation given by the traffic department of the Christchurch City Council, and the department’s patrol car with loud-speaker has been active this week. Several “jay-walkers” at the Bank of New Zealand corner yesterday were rebuked by an officer over the loudspeaker, and the embarrassment caused should ensure that they are more careful in future. “That man in the brown suit. Can’t you see all the other people waiting for the green light? Safety pays and saves flowers.” This comment caused laughter among those waiting, and the erring pedestrian lost no time in disappearing in the crowd on the other side of the street. Nationalisation of Bank An item partly responsible last year for increases in New Zealand’s national debt had been the completion of purchases of shares in the Bank of New Zealand, said the Minister of Finance (Mr W. Nash) during his Budget speech in the House of Representatives last evening. “The major portion of the expenditure had come to charge the previous year,” said Mr Nash, ‘‘and what was dealt with last year was mainly the overseas holdings. All the shareholders overseas have accepted the Government’s offer except five on the Australian register and 42 on the London register. The State has thus acquired a valuable asset, from which dividends received into the Consolidated Fund last year totalled £375.979.”—(F.0.P.R.) Naturalised Citizens

Three full pages of the names of persons who have received certificates of naturalisation are included in the Gazette published last evening. The countries of birth include nearly all the European countries and some in the Near East and in the Far East. The United States and Russia are represented. During the war no naturalisation papers were issued.— (P.A.) Peanut Oil for N.Z.

. A cablegram from Washington says that the United States Department of Agriculture has announced that 2.200.0001 b of peanut oil has been allocated to New Zealand. Saving of Dollars

The New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association has broken off its negotiations for bringing an American professional coach to New Zealand next season, because of the dollar crisis. The association had intended to engage Mr W. C. Lufler, and the visit would have cost each of the major provincial associations about £250. Attempts are now being made to engage an Australian coach, and the secretary of the association said yesterday that there was some hope that they would be successful—(P.A.)