General News

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25272, 26 August 1947, Page 6

General News

Shunting at Middleton A Settlement of the dispute between the shunters and the Railway Department over the week-end closing of the marshalling yards at Middleton has been reached. After a conference in Christchurch, attended by the transportation superintendent (Mr C. G. Erowett), the Department decided to keep the Middleton yards open at the week-ends, although the staff of shunters will be reduced. Lord Nathan’s Aircraft Delayed Two aircraft which were to have flown from Sydney to Auckland yesterday were delayed. The Lancastrian of Qantas Airways bringing the British Minister of Civil Aviation (Lord Nathan) and his party was held in Sydney for 24 hours because of the weather and is now scheduled to make the crossing to-day. The second aircraft delayed was Tasman Empire Air-, ways’ Aotearoa, in which a mechanical defect developed. The flying-boat New Zealand flew from Sydney to Auckland yesterday.—(P.A.) Imports of Washing Machines No provision for imports of washing machines was made in the import licensing schedule for 1948, but the Customs Department has now decided to consider applications from regular importers for licences to import washing machines from Britain. These applications. however, must be supported by definite evidence that a specified number of machines is available for reasonably prompt shipment. Temporary Home Brought With Them Among the immigrants who arrived at Auckland on the Rangitata were Mr and Mrs H. Wrather, of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and their five children, aged from four months to 14 years. They brought with them a caravan 17ft 6in long, and they will make their home in it until they can find more suitable accommodation. Mr Wrather is a tool maker.—(P.S.S.). High Price for Goodwill

Where shop premises were leased for less than two years, so that the transaction did not have to go before the. Land Sales Court, very high goodwills were paid for businesses, said Mr John Jackson, secretary of the Canterbury Master Grocers’ As-sociation,-when giving evidence in the Supreme Court yesterday. Sometimes up to 50 per cent, of the gross turnover was paid. In one case where the net profit for the year was £634 the owner of the business was offered £5OO for the goodwill on a lease of two years, said Mr Jackson. “And as far as I know he got it,” he added. Immigrants Going to Ashburton

Friends at Ashburton are providing accommodation for Mr A. Cunnington, formerly of the Royal Marines, his wife, and their two children, who arrived at Auckland on the Rangitata on Saturday to begin a new life in New Zealand. Mr Cunnington, whose old home was at Wigmore, Kent, intends to take up mixed farming. “I wanted somewhere to settle and be my own master,” he said in an interview at Auckland, “and so I have come here.” —(P.S.S.) Great Britain’s Past ,

“All nations of the past which have risen to the top have finally toppled over and gone down except one,” said Rev. J. F. Feron, speaking on the subject “This Britain of Ours” at a luncheon meeting of the Canterbury Chapter of the New Zealand Institute of Secretaries yesterday. Britain had remained a leading world empire longer than the others and was the only one not to obey the rule of eventual degeneration. The belief that Britons came from savages was entirely wrong, and leading ethnologists and other experts to-day were agreed that Great Britain’s culture m the early days was superior to that of both Greece and Rome. Her heritage was the purest of all races on the earth. Gifts to • University

The following gifts were acknowledged by the Canterbury University College Council yesterday afternoon:— British Council, gramophone records and music to the music department; anonymous, £6O to the music department to pay the cost of the concert given by the Kathleen Sturdy string quartet (Boyd Neel Orchestra); Professor P. H. Powell, books and journals to the college library; Mr J. F. Davies, £25 to the school of engineering. Do or Die While waiting for the Takapuna ferry in Auckland, soon after arrival in New Zealand, a young Scot recently heard a splash and saw a 'girl in the water jn difficulties. He removed his coat and, being only a moderate swimmer, he then decided also to dispense with his trousers. “I was prepared to do or die when a man swam from the other side of the jetty and made the rescue. The people who had watched the incident quickly turned their attention to me, while I resumed my clothes in confusion,” he said yesterday. New Shaw Savill Liner The Athenic, the second of four passenger and cargo liners to be built for the Shaw Savill and Albion line under its building programme for the replacement of tonnage lost during the war, is now on her maiden voyage to New Zealand. The Athenic was built by Harland and Wolff, Ltd., at Belfast, and she has accommodation for about 80 first-class passengers. Of the 55 rooms for passengers, 38 are single berth and 33 have private bathrooms. There is fluorescent lighting throughout the ship. Included in the ship’s cargo are 1300 British motorcars and tractors, and some 6000 tons of general merchandise. Among the machinery in the cargo is a quantity of Bailey bridging. The cargo capacity of the Athenic is 10,000 tons of general commodities or 7000 tons of meat, fruit, wool, and other primary produce. Radar navigational aids are fitted and the ship is wired with a comprehensive system of smoke deflectors. Trotting in Ashburton When he was first asked to become president of the Ashburton Trotting Club in 1905, he was informed that the club was £BO in debt and that the secretary had disappeared, said Mr H. F. Nicoll, at a complimentary dinner last evening on his retirement after 25 years as president of the New Zealand Trotting Conference. To-day the club had more than £30,000 in liquid assets. Warm Day in Wellington The temperature in Wellington early yesterday afternoon reached 65.3 degrees, according to a Press Association message. This is the highest temgerature for August since 1909, the lelburn weather office reports. On August 28 of that year the temperature reached 66 degrees. The maximum temperature in Christchurch yesterday was 63.3 degrees. The record temperature for August m Christchurch is 72.6 degrees, which was Reached on August 5 of this year. Maori Boys See Auckland

The hard footpaths of Auckland, unsympathetic to feet unused to boots, will be a painful memory for 40 pupils of the Te Kao Native District High School in the far north, who are making a holiday visit to the city. One of their first thoughts after the long bus drive from Te Kao was to rid themselves of pinching footwear, and hot foot baths are provided at the end of each day’s sight-seeing programme. Their school claims to be a pioneer in educational tours, because in 1914 12 boys walked from the North Cape to the Auckland Exhibition, paying their way by concerts along the road. The finance for this year’s trip was arranged from the proceeds of three functions in the settlement, which yielded £132.—(P.5.5.) Demand for Dried Apples The demand for dried apples produced at the Internal Marketing Division’s apple dehydration factory at Motueka greatly exceeds the supply, and the director of the division (Mr R. P. Fraser) says in his report for the six months ended September 30, 1946, that it will be necessary to allocate the product to wholesalers. During the six months under review 385,1941 b of dried apples were produced from 3,585,0381 b of raw fruit. The problem of using the peels and cores of the apples is being tackled, and when the required machinery comes to hand, apple juice will be extracted from the peels and cores, and outsize apples.