General News

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26264, 8 November 1950, Page 6

General News

Melbourne Cup Dream An eve of Melbourne Cup story concerns a passenger on the Forbes mail train in Australia who dreamed he was Darby Munro riding Playboy in the great event. He became bo excited at the finish that he jumped up in his sleep, pulled the communication cord and stopped the train. Irate passengers tumbled from their sleeping berths and confronted him. Only then aid he awake to explain to the conductor that he was, fighting out a desperate finish with Dark Marne and King Comedy when he tugged on the communication cord thinking it was Playboy’s rein. There was general fury when it was realised that the conductor had arrived about three lengths too soon.—Sydney, November 6. Overweight Buses

The Tramway Board has been advised by the works committee of the City Council that no objection would be made to the use ot overweight omnibuses on roads and bridges, except the Dallington bridge. “The Transport Act is being amended to increase the gross weight from 10 to 12 tons, so* that we could hardly refuse in the meantime,” the committee reported to the City Council last evening. The Tramway Board had six buses 23001 b over the restricted weight of 10 tons.

Killing Flies By Sound Herman Wolf, an engineer of Hamburg, pressed a button and—he says—all the flies in his basement workshop fell dead. He was testing his “supersonic death ray.” He said he hoped to sell the ray device for 9000 marks (about £80), next summer. He claimed that it would kill insects, but not men, with high frequency sound waves inaudible to human ears. The device looks like a small radio set.—London, November 7.

Side Channel Covering The covering of side channels ini many localities in the central part of Christchurch was desirable, but it was not able to undertake all the work required at present, the works committee reported last evening to the City Council. Cr. J. N. Clarke said that if the council gave him 30 slabs he could lay them himself at Maling’s corner. He protested emphatically against the delay in covering the channel, which was 18 inches deep and a menace, to those passing along. Cr. G. Manning: What buildings are near, Jim? — (Laughter.) f Broadcasting of Parliament “Members of the House of Commons to whom I spoke look with horror on the idea of broadcasting Parliament, because they think it would tend to spoil the traditional form of debate,” said the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Mr M. H. Oram) on his return from Britain yesterday. Mr Oram said that although there was no time limit on speeches in the House of Commons they were generally much shorter than those in New Zealand. I British Parliamentarians felt that members would just tend to speak to'their constituents if Parliament were broadcast. and that increasing use would be made of set speeches instead of the traditional cut and thrust of debate.—(P.A.)

Inclusion in City Sought “Under the provisions of the Local Government Commission Act, 1946, any proposals concerning the adjustment of local authority boundaries must be referred to the Local Government Commission for consideration, and no action may be taken pursuant to any other enactment unless the commission so recommends,” said a letter from the Under-Secretary of Internal Affairs to the finance committee of the City Council, which was included in the committee’s report before the council last evening. The letter was referring to petitions from two business firms asking that a certain area of land be excluded from the County of Waimairi apd included in the city. “While it is appreciated that the petitioners are anxious to have their properties included in the city as soon as possible, I regret that it is not practicable at this stage to undertake the preliminary steps of dealing with the petition pursuant to section 136 of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1933,” the letter said. The chairman of the committee (Cr. J. E. Tait) said they had quite a lot of areas awaiting inclusion in the city. Walk Over Bridle Path

The Mayor of Lyttelton (Mr F. G. Briggs), who is chairman of the Lyttelton centennial committee, said at a meeting of the committee last evening that he wished to make it clear that the walk over the Bridle Path from Lyttelton would not take place on'December 16, the day of the reenactment. but ’ would be held on January 20. N.Z. Gift to Commons

The dispatch boxes which New Zealand presented to the new House of Commons have posed a problem for the authorities there. Beautifully male and bound in wonderfully chased brass they are likdly, because of their design, to cause serious’injury to speakers. Mr Oram, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, who returned to Wellington yesterday from London, where he saw the bo v es standing on either side of the table of the House, said that in the British House speakers from either side approached the boxes and rested their papers on them while they were addressing members. Sometimes speakers pounded the dispatch box before them, but if they did this with New Zealand’s gift boxes it was likely tlr.it they would cut themselves on the brass binding. Officers of the House of Commons were trying to find some method of safeguarding against such happenings. and it was possible that the top of the boxes would be covered with some, transparent plastic material.— (F.0.0.R.)