General News

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25629, 19 October 1948, Page 4

General News

I Government Application Refused “The Government apparently wants | to set an example of untidiness in the ! city; it would be lamentable if wood■en additions to brick and concrete J buildings were permitted, in the brick and concrete part of the city,” said the Acting-Mayor of Wellington (Mr iR. L. Macslister) yesterday. He was : commenting on a recent application I from a Government authority to erect i an additional storey in timber on the ; Government departmental buildings in Stout street. The by-laws committee had recommended that the application be refused and its recommendation had been upheld by the full council, added Cr. Macalister.—(P.A.) Committee Business Divulged Certain business taken in committee at the last meeting of the Lyttelton Borough Council had been circulated round the town and persons affected by that business even knew of the attitude taken by the various councillors. said the Mayor of Lyttelton (Mr F. G. Briggs) at a meeting of the council last evening. “If this sort of thing goes on, then we might as well dissolve, and put someone on the council who will keep committee business confidential.” said Mr Briggs. He added that if he could find out who divulged the business, he would have something strong to say to him. Record limber Shipment A record timber shipment for the post-war period was taken from Greymouth by the Matthew Flinders, which sailed yesterday for Sydnev with 1,212,000 board feet, mainly of sawn rimu. although small consignments of white pine and silver beech were also included. The previous re- ? ord shipment to Australia was 1,300,000 feet taken by the Omana. Radio Research Station A radio research station to be operated and maintained by Auckland University College is to be established on the Manukau harbour. The main purpose of the station will be to conduct a radio research programme on the measurement of characteristics of long-distance short-wave radio signals. Secondary objects will be research involving field measurements and the undertaking of research by university and other students to assist them in their training. The staff will include a senior radio physicist, a radio physicist, an assistant radio physicist, and a radio technician. To"-enable the college to maintain the station an annual grant of £3200 will be paid by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, which has written to the college council explaining the project.—(P.A.) A “Bitter Pill” “This taxation is a serious matter, but surely there is a touch of humour in the spectacle of one State department squirming with a bitter pill administered by another,” said Mr H. R. Wilkinson in a report to the Ashburton Electric Power Board on the Electric Power Boards’ annual conference. It was interesting to note that tax was first levied on the State Hydro-electric Department in 1941 as a war emergency measure, he said. Up to March, 1947, the sum of £2,650,000 had been paid, while, of the increase of £324,000 now sought under the bulk power charges, £186,000 would be taken by the income tax department, Mr Wilkinson added. Crew for the Pamir “If the Pamir signs on a crew in New Zealand the terms find conditions under which they will sail will be determined by the New Zealand Seamen’s Union, not by Mr Liewendahl or the Finnish Government,” said the president of the union (Mr F. P. Walsh) at Wellington yesterday. Mr K. C. Liewendahl, formerly second officer of the Pamir, had said he was not sure whether the ship would sail under Finnish or New Zealand articles. Mr Walsh said that when the Pamir reached Finland the ship would hardly be recognisable, as she was taken over by the New Zealand Government - in a **hlthy and disreputable condition.” She now possessed the best crew accommodation on any sailing ship.—(P.A.) Kiwis Nesting-

Two kiwis are nesting in an old 02 n + O u W «r “L Okarito district, j U u Westland. They were discovered by a resident who has since.taken a photograph of them. There is one egg in the nest. Several persons have visited the nest without frightening the birds, and it appears that the male bird is doing more than its share of hatching. Public Service Salaries

Dissatisfaction that the review undertaken by the committee on margins and anomalies in the Public Service had not yet resulted in service salaries being' brought into line with rates outside the service was- expressed at a meeting of 300 public servants at Palmerston North yesterday. The national executive of the association was urged to press the Government to give immediate effect to the demand of the Wellington section that the automatic promotion for basic grade clerks be raised to £485 a year, with appropriate increases for other sections of the service, and to press the Government to give the service a system of arbitration by setting up a public service tribunal as requested by the 1947 aryl 1948 ences of the association.—(P.A 3 Paintings by Frances Hodgkins

Frances Hodgkins believed, in individualism—she was a creative artist and I think that the water-colour of the tin-mine is good,” said Miss Cora Wilding, addressing visitors at the Group Show last evening when six paintings by • Frances Hodgkins were exhibited for the benefit of members of the Canterbury Society of Arts There was a notice under the paintings requesting that there be no reference to them in newspaper notices of the Group Show. A petition was circulated later, in the evening stating that the citizens of Christchurch expressed their hope that one painting sent out by the British Council for examination might be bought for the city. Civil Aviation in N.Z. The Government will be urged by South Island chambers of commerce to give every encouragement and facility to civil aviation in New Zealand and particularly aero clubs, Mr J. R. Dench (Canterbury), moving a remit along these lines at the chambers’ conference at Oamaru yesterday, said it was becoming increasingly apparent that big advances in aviation had been made overseas, but New Zealand was not keeping pace with them. Several speakers claimed that the Government was not doing all it could for the aero club movement, which they said deserved every support.— (P.S.S.) Costs in Land Sales Cases The opinion that the Crown should be held responsible for costs if it failed to win a decision of the Land Sales Court when seeking possession of a farm under the Servicemen’s Settlement and Land Sales Act was expressed at a meeting of the Rotorua branch of Federated Farmers. It was stated that manj r farmers would not be able to bear the heavy cost of defending the Crown’s action. It was resolved to ask the Dominion executive to press for an amendment making this provision.