General News

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25305, 3 October 1947, Page 6

General News

Blue Slip Cleared The Blue Slip, on the Main North road beyond Kekerangu, was cleared for motor traffic late yesterday afternoon, according to advice received by the Automobile Association (Canterbury). The Blue Slip, which causes fairly frequent blockages in bad weather, closed the road for about a day this week.

Big Property Deal Approved Approval has been given by the Christchurch Urban Land Sales Com-, mittee to the sale of the New Zealand: Express Company building at the corner of Hereford and Manchester streets, Christchurch, at the contract price of £37,250. The sale was approved without a hearing. The building, which is claimed to be New Zea-v land’s tallest brick structure, has been sold by Mr C. G. McKellar, of Christchurch, to the Mutual Life and Citizens’ Assurance Company, Ltd. Of seven storeys; the building was erected in 1907 by the late Mr W. Bowen.

Pamir Awaits Favourable Wind The Pamir, which was to have sailed for London yesterday, is now expected to leave at 10 a.m. to-day if the wind is favourable. Late yesterday morning, with a light northerly blowing, it was decided to take the barque out, but win'ds were reported outside the heads and it was considered iaadvisible to leave port, because of the possibility of the Pamir being caught by strong winds with Palliser Bay as her lee shore. The ship has been waiting for a favourable wind for several days.—(P.A.) ( West Coast Funeral Custom Pall-bearers at the funeral of Mr James O’Brien at GreymoutH* yesterday observed the West Coast custom of “burying their dead.” When the service at the graveside was over they put the first shovelfuls of earth into the grave. The pall-b,earers were Cabinet Ministers (including Miss M. B. Howard) and the Leader of the Opposition "(Mr S. G. Holland).— (F.0.0.R.) “Spirit of Robin Hood” “A certain group which indulges in cargo thieving has decided to take only goods belonging to big firms,” said Mr W. A. Campbell, a member of the special pillaging committee, at a meeting of the council of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last evening, when cargo pillaging was being discussed. “Goods belonging to small traders will be immune,” added Mr Campbell. “Apparently the spirit of Robin Hood still survives. Anyone connected with small businesses can be fairly safe in future from this group.” In reply to a question Mr Campbell said that cargo pillaging was not decreasing, but the scale would have been greater if it was not for certain steps that had been taken, and indirect help that had been given by the pillaging committee. Standard Wage Case The Court of Arbitration was asked by th|p New Zealand Master Carriers’ Association at a sitting of the Court yesterday to review its decision to apply the full increase of 10s a week under the standard wage pronouncement to drivers covered by the New Zealand Motor and Horse Drivers’ Award. The employers claimed that the wage position of drivers under the award had been improved since the Court’s 1945 pronouncement and that they were not entitled to the full 10s. The Court reserved its decision.— (P.A.) Dominion Air Services A suggestion that it was high time the Government made a statement on air services was made by Mr L. K. Laugesen at a meeting of the council of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last evening. He said that the Government just seemed to be muddling along. The question of Rongotai had been postponed in the meai> time, and no definite statement bad been made as to whether the Government was going to fix up Rongotai or continue with Paraparaumu. There had also been no statement about Harewood, and whether the Government would allow another service to operate from Melbourne to the South Island.

Telephone Services Disrupted The heavy rain this week caused some faults to underground cables of the Post and Telegraph .Department in Christchurch,, and telephone services in Sydenham and Yaldhurst were interrupted. The fault at Yaldhurst has been repaired, and repair work in Sydenham Was almost completed yesterday. Mr Churchill Declines Debate A, debate with Communist Party representatives on the issue of the Soviet as a menace to world peace was declined by Mr Randolph Churchill when he addressed 2000 people in the Auckland Town Hall last evening. “In a long and varied experience of Communists I have found it a waste of time to have a debate with them because they do not speak the same language,” he said. “They speak Communism, which is a world of topsy turvy, the world of Alice Through the Looking Glass. They can make their own propaganda in their own way and I shall make mine in my way.”—(P.A.)

Carrot Rust Fly Several reports of the presence of the carrot rust fly (Psila rosae) in Canterbury have been received by the horticulture division of the Department of Agriculture in Christchurch, but the division has so far been unable to confirm them. The division has asked that any grower noticing the fly should report it to a field officer of the department. The fly should not be confused with the carrot aphis, which infests plant foliage. It is a serious pest in the Auckland district, and, besides carrots, will attack parsnips and celery to a lesser degree. Damage is caused by the maggot of the fly, which tunnels in the roots. The fly itself is a small, two-winged, shining-black, yellow-legged insect. The counter to it is horticultural naphthalene, sprinkled at the rate of 4oz to 20 feet along the rows of vegetables and six inches on either side. • Land Sales Transactions

Six hundred and thirty applications for approval of the sale of properties were received last month by the Christchurch Urban and Rural Land Sales Committees. A total of 601 applications were approved during the month; 205 were approved without a hearing or a valuation; 152 were granted after a valuation, but without a hearing; 11 were granted at the contract prices after a hearing; and in 70 cases the contract price was reduced after hearings. A total of 144 applications were passed by consent, and 19 others were withdrawn. To the end of last month, the committees had received 24,371 applications since October, 1943, when the Land Sales Act came into operation. On September 30, 668 applications remained to be dealt with.

‘ Substitutes” for Pennies Telephone users in Christchurch appear to be more honest than those in Wellington, as few of the miscellaneous articles found in the boxes in Wel- . n S|P n . slot telephones have been found Boxes opened in Wellington recently showed that persons nad .made various, attempts to avoid payment of a penny, but none worked. JLoe-caps, a milk token, nails, matches, hairpins, a tiddlywinks counter, and even an ice-cream spoon* were among the articles found in Wellington boxes. Few foreign coms are found in Christchurch, and even fewer are the pieces of metal and washers such as are found in Wellington. On the other hand, numbers of Christchurch people have put florins in the slot, and nearly always have discovered their mistake and reported it to the Post Office When any person puts silver coins in fho by mistake they will get them back after the box has been prov lS ed ? ey let the Post booSi ™ ow the Slte °f the telephone

Monowai Mementoes at Auckland The exploits of the passenger liner Monowai as an armed merchant cruiser and as an infantry landing ship are perpetuated in a model Maori canoe, a symbolic Maori crest, and a silver plaque which have been mounted in the library of H.M.N.Z.S. Philomel at Devonport They belonged to the Monowai throughout her commission as a warship. The canoe and the crest were presented to the Monowai by Princess Te Puea Herangi of Ngaruawahia. Mounted together they present a sft model of the Tainui canoe which brought the original members of the Waikato tribe to New Zealand, surmounted by the traditional twoheaded taniwha of the Waikato river.