General News

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25304, 2 October 1947, Page 6

General News

QjreymoiJth Crowded Greymouth is crowded with visitors fox’ the funeral of Mr J. Q Brien today. Hotel accommodation was so taxed that many of the official visitors slept in the sleeping ears of the special train which ran from Lyttelton to Greymouth yesterday.—(P.A>

Dried Bananas from Fiji Dried banapas and banana powder are to be produced for export to the United States, Canada, ana * Australia by a firm which is starting production near Suva this moptfi. Other tropical fruits will also be treated. The first instalment of £3OOO worth of dried bananas is being sent to New Zealand. The factory, which bps been’established in the area previously occupied py the New Zealand Army camp at Sanaa - bula, will employ 60 to 65 persons. It will start by treating 20,000 bananas a day, but will be able to handle 60,000 a day at the height of the season.

Wellington’s First Trolley-bus The first trolley-bus chassis for the Wellington City Council has arrived. There are seven more on the Karamea and Norfolk, the former due in Wellington on Monday and the latter on October 20. The balance of the first order of 10 chassis has left the United Kingdom. Though piuph preliminary work has been done with overhead equipment, on the first route and with preparing bodies it is unlikely that the service will be operating this •year. At least four completed • buses are needed to set it going.—(P.A.) Moorings at Diamond Harbour * Diamond Harbour had been cleared of snags, which consisted of cables, winch wheels, cylinders, concrete blocks, and dredge buckets left by yachtsmen, said the harbourmaster (Captain A. E. Chrisp) in his report presented to a meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board yesterday. The report added that yachting clubs would be notified that the practice of laying moorings must cease. Tasman Aircraft Turns Back Engine trouble forced the Tasman Empire Airways flying-boat Tasman to return to Sydney yesterday afternoon after covering more than 300 miles of the .flight to Auckland. The aircraft was carrying 28 passengers, among whom Were nine members of the Auckland Watersiders junior band. Two flying-boats will arrive from Sydney to-day, but' only one of the two scheduled to leave Auckland for Australia will be dispatched.—(P.A.) South Westland Whitebait The exploration of rivers south of Cascade Point in South Westland to determine the whitebait fishing prospects is planned on the West Coast this season. It is proposed to use the Westport fishing boat Diane, which has an insulated hold of five tons capacity. Last season the Cascade Point Stream was explored, good catches being obtained, and this season four or five fishermen are working there. They have to transport their catch- by packhorse 18 1 miles to the end of the Jackson’s Bay road, and from there the whitebait is taken by truck to the cannery at Okuru. Shipments are made twice a week, the whitebait being kept in what is known as a “live box” through which the water flows. Girl Tourists’ Reception

Two young Tasmanian girls. Miss Elaine Pearce and Miss Miriam Fraser, both of Hobart, walked unexpectedly into almost a civic reception at the General Post Office in Wellington yesterday morning, when the Mayor (Mr Will Appleton) and officials were launching the health stamp campaign. The girls, who are touring New Zealand on bicycles, were immediately surrounded by radjo broadcasters, reporters, and photographers. They were presented with first-day covers and invited to morning tea with the official guests. The girls, when they reached Wellington, followed their usual course of. collecting their Australian mail at the Post Office. They estimate that their journey through New Zealand will cost them £6O. Miss Pearce is a trained horticulturist and Miss Fraser is a mothercraft nin-se. Their trip from Auckland to Wellington, with a week at Rotorua, took 17 day?. —(P.A.)

Increase in Coal Prices The Christchurch- eoal merchants’ application to the Price Tribunal for an increase in the retail price of coal to offset the rise jn wages from yesterday and the present high of sacks, has been held over until wholesalers make known the increased cost of coal, The Coal Merchants’ Association will probably receive advice of the increased cost before the end of the week and will make its application then. Giving this information yesterday, the president of the association (Mr F. D. Rogers) said it was not known what the increase would be. It would, however, be over and above the increase of 3d a bag made last month to cover the rise in railway freight charges. Fishing Launch Disabled

When their launch broke down qff Gable End foreland, north of Gisborne, one of two fishermen swam half a mile to the shore to secure aid. With the boat laden with crayfish ,and the engine disabled, Mr Ken Callow battled for 35 minutes to the beach and walked to Whangaroa to telephone the harbour authorities at Gisborne, 15 miles, away. The harbourmaster enlisted the help of a National Airways aircraft, which spotted the launch, with Mr F. Hall aboard, 300 yards off the foreland- The report was relayed on a two-way radio-telephone. to the airfield and then to the Harbour Board launch Takitimu, which was sent to the rescue. The disabled launch was picked up among the off-shore reefs and towed to Gisborne.—(P.A.) No Court Sitting Yesterday Yesterday was the first week-day tffis year on which there has been no sitting of the Magistrate’s Court at Christchurch. Charges involving breaches of council by-laws, the rationing regulations, and other cases brought by Government departments are usually heard op Wednesdays, apd recently there have been some fairly long sessions.

Sales Tax on Buses The sales tax of 20 per cent, on public vehicles was a burden which users of the public transport services should not be called upon to bear; it was never intended to apply to essential services urgently needed for public benefit, stated a report presented to a meeting of the Canterbury Progress League Is st evening by the secretary (Mr P. CJimie). The traniway service in Christchurch was antiquated, but there were plans to bring the sygr tem more in line with modern re-: quirements. However, the crushing burden of sales tax on buses, superimposed on excessive costs of manufacture, freight charges, and customs duties, made the task of modernising the service too heavy to accomplish. Tramway authorities would have to modify their plans apd the people of Christehitrch would be the sufferers, stated the report. The league agreed to ask the Government to reconsider its attitude on sales tax, and to gain the support of similar organisations in New Zealand to protest abofft tljp tax.

Air Force Cup A gold cup valued at £5OO, which was presented by the Royal Air Force to the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a token of comradeship and esteem during the war, is now being displayed at R.N.Z.A.F. stations. The cup was sent from Britain and received by the then Governor General (Lord Newall) who presented'it to the then Chief of Air Staff* (Air Vice-Marshal Sir Leonard Isitt). It was stored for safe keeping at Weedons, and recently was sent to Woodbourne, and then on tp the North Island.

Shortage of School Clothing Concern at the shortage of clothing for secondary school children was ex?pressed at a meeting of the Auckland' Grammar School Board of Governors. It was explained that fiavy blue flannel shirts were particularly’ hard to obtain, and the stage had been reached when clothing could not be passed on from an elder member of a family to a younger child. Manufacturers contended that the margin of profit allowed Qn flannel shirts by the Price Tribunal did not warrant their making them. The board decided to ipahe representations to the Minister of Supply (Mr A. H. Nordmeyer) on the serious shortage of clothing, and to ask for the reason.—(P.A.)