General News

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26857, 9 October 1952, Page 8

General News

£l3OB Conscience Money A person slipped unobtrusively into the customs office at Port Adelaide today and left a small'' paper parcel on the front counter. When customs officials opened the parcel they found £l3OB in notes which had been left as conscience money. The South Australian Collector of Customs (Mr J. Darcey) said he believed it was the biggest amount ever paid in Australia as conscience money.—Adelaide, October 8. Beer Prices Increases in the prices of draught and bottled beer from breweries have been authorised by the Price Tribunal. The New Zealand Brewers’ Association can now charge l|d a bulk gallon more for draught beer and 3d a dozen more for bottled beer. The present price of a five-gallon keg of beer from the brewery is £1 Us 6d and bottled beer costs £1 a dozen bottles. 'Die increases in prices were applied for to meet higher wage costs and other increases in overhead. Mr B. T. O’Connell, general manager of New Zealand Breweries, Ltd., said in Wellington last evening that the increased price would probably be handed on tb the consumer for bottled beer ,by the retailer, but would make no difference to the price of a glass of beer in the hotel. Man Chases Bears The police detained a man for mental examination yesterday after he had jumped into the bears’ cage at Vancouver’s Stanley Park Zoo and chased the animals into their dens. — Vancouver, October 8. White Swans for Wellington An application for the supply of two white swans has been received by the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society from the director of parks and reserves of the Wellington City Council. On the recommendation of the game committee, the council of the society decided last evening that, subject to the availability of the swans and the production of the necessary permit from the Department of Internal Affairs, the swans should be supplied at the price of £lO 10s the pair. The swans will come from Lake Ellesmere if they are available there, and are expected to be delivered next March or April. Holmburn in Storm A storm battered the small coastal steamer Holmburn on Monday on her voyage from the Campbell Islands to Dunedin, where she arrived yesterday afternoon. During the height of the storm, which came swiftly after a sharp drop in barometric pressure, huge waves smashed over the ship.. Both engines were out of action for a period on Tuesday and the ship was hove-to while repairs were made. The Holmburn brought back to Dunedin the party of men who went to the islands recently to install radio-telephone equipment. —(P.A.) Auckland Schoolgirls’ Hostels Three unpainted butter boxes, stacked to form a makeshift cupboard, stand in a dormitory at one of the Epsom Girls’ Grammar School hostels. In the same dormitory—no bigger than

the average lounge room—five girls ‘ sleep, work and spend much of their spare time. In such ramshackle, cramped quarters 68 Epsom boarders from 12 to 18 years are spending their * school life. The Auckland Grammar ; School Board is keenly aware that the hostels are unsuitable and has asked . the Minister of Education (Mr R. M. , Algie) for an assurance before Friday that a new hostel, promised some time ago, will be built. If the assurance is not given the board may close the . present hostels. } Air Race Raffle Many people outside Christchurch ; are showing interest in the raffle , ! organised by the Canterbury and ! Westland Retailers’ Association to ■ raise £5OOO for the funds of the interi national air race from England to < Christchurch in October next year. ; , Already the secretary of the associar • tion (Mr L. C. Kernahan) has received , requests for tickets from Dannevirke, : [ Westport, Inangahua, Culverden. ■ Cheviot, and Meth ven. - Scheme to Provide Hospital Comforts ’ Members of the Auckland Cargo > Workers’ Union have agreed that . about £lOOO a year of their mohey ’ should go to buying and distributing i comforts for all men in the .four Auckland public hospitals. An executive • member of the union visits union I members in hospital every week, and • all other male patients once a month. > Later, women patients may also bene- ’ fit under the scheme. When a cargo i gang was working short-handed, addi- • tional wages and bonus earnings were f formerly distributed among the men - working in the gang, but at a stop- • work meeting the men decided to J forgo such extra payments.—(P.A.) Loss of Milk Bottles Large numbers of milk bottles are - lost in Christchurch as well as in Auckland. Milk vendors have a lot of • trouble in getting bottles back from . customers as some are kept for months. More than 100,000 bottles of milk are • delivered each day in the metropolitan , area, and losses over a period have averaged 15 per cent. The secretary ! of the Canterbury Milk Vendors’ Asi sociation (Mr L. M. Hall) said yesterday that losses of bottles were rather serious for vendors. The treating I houses supplied the first set of bottles . and the vendors had to pay for losses after that. Another problem that ven1 dors had to face was dirty bottles. E There were still customers who put out dirty bottles for vendors to pick up. Double Parking of Trucks If employers do not agree to pay ’ fines for double parking, drivers of • delivery trucks and vans in Auckland will refuse to deliver goods where double parking is unavoidable. This > is the. effect of a resolution passed at [ a general meeting o f 50 members of the Auckland Drivers’ Union. It was r stated that drivers were still being : “harassed and hounded” by the City Council’s traffic department to such an 1 extent that it was interfering with r their work. j Steam Bores and Geysers r It is the intention of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Re1 search to sink a large bore in the 2 centre of. the Wairakei valley in an a effort? to secure geothermal power. - What effect this may have on the J thermal activities in the valley remains s to be seen, but the present bores, which are over half a mile away, are 3 said to have affected at least two j geysers. The Bridal Veil, which played about every 30 minutes, now - has 60-minute intervals, and the great 1 Wairakei geyser, which played every . 10 to 12 hours, now appears at intervals of up to 20 hours. —(P.S.S.) Bamboo from Burma - Bamboo poles from Burma, nut- - cracking machines from Britain, watches from Germany, and crystal1 lised cherries from France, are among , the goods which overseas firms wish to n sell in New Zealand. The latest trade inquiries received by the Canterbury 1 Chamber of Commerce show that one 1 German firm is not aware that New Zealand imports raw materials for the b making of brushware. It wishes to obs tain New Zealand pig bristles for i brushes. Trawler Sunk in Chatham Islands . The unattended trawler, Manuka. 1 used as a floating cool store by the r Chatham Fishing Company, was seen s on Saturday sunk at her moorings at Port Hutt in the Chatham Islands. The “ Manuka was- a composite minesweeper [. chartered from the Royal New Zealand Navy. She was built in Auckland from parts of ships from Wellington’s Rotten I Row. The cause of the sinking is not i known. The Manuka dragged her moorings in a gale three months ago ■* and possibly bumped rocks, causing" a - slow leak. She has not yet broken up. Six or eight feet of her masts are still visible. e Porter Wins Ballet Bursary II A hall porter and liftman at an J Auckland hotel, Mr Barrie Irwin, has won a Government bursary worth £360 enabling him to study ballet s for a year in England. He won the t bursary after competing against six other finalists—all girls—in Welling--1 ton last month. Mr Irwin danced e with the Australian National Ballet e Theatre for three years and left the company in New Zealand last 1 November. Since then he has been - working in factories, wool stores, and at his present job to save enough money to study ballet overseas. He r hopes now to be able to study with r the Sadler’s Wells Company in London and then join the company as a dancer.