General News

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27047, 23 May 1953, Page 6

General News

A Coronation Drink Fifteen years to the hour after the Coronation people will be able to drink a unique brew of green or yellow Chartreuse which the monks of the Eleventh Century Carthusian Monastery near Grenoble are ‘ going to distil at the exact moment the Queen is crowned, says the "Daily Mail” It will be matured for 15 years before being sold in Britain. Chartreuse is distilled from an original 1605 recipe and only three monks have access to the ancient parchment scrolls that tell how to make it.— Lohdon, May 22. Short Sea Journey -Twelve waterside workers engaged in fixing beams in one of the nolds of the Sussex at 5.38 p.m. on Tuesday ceased their work for a few seconds to observe the phenomenon reported by a fellow worker, who said cranes were moving swiftly along the wharf. Upon looking up, however, they discovered that the cranes were stationary, but that the ship had left its berth and was leaving Lyttelton for Port Chalbers. Their presence was reported to the pilot, Cantain A. R. Champion, and they accompanied him in the pilot launch when he left the vessel a little later. They arrived back on the wharf at 6.10 p.m., a time which entitled them to payment to 7 p.m. Dredging on Westport Bar Some periodical dredging on the outer bar at Westport is to be resumed. The Minister of Marine (Mr W. S. Goosman) said in Wellington yesterday that it had been decided that, as the occasion warranted, work would be done on the bar, which had now moved further out. The work would not be continuous, but would be dictated by necessity, Mr Goosman said.— (F.0.0.R.)

Initiative in Amalgamation

Who will take the initiative in proposing a date on which to implement the recommendations of the Local Government Commission, the Town Clerk (Mr H. S. Feast) was asked yesterday. Mr Feast said he thought the City Council might be expected to make the first move. The commission’s findings would be formally presented to the by-laws committee on Monday, and future action would probably be considered. Picton Steamer Service The Union Steam Ship Company hopes to be able to maintain the Tamahine on the Wellington-Picton service for three or four years, provided operating costs are not too severe. The company made this announcement in a statement issued after a conference in Wellington on Wednesday, when representatives of the Blenheim and Picton Chambers of Commerce conferred with the head office of the company, and discussed the future of "the service.—(P.A.) Heavy Stationery Expenses Of a total expenditure of £5533 9s 5d for the year ended January 31, 1953, printing, stationery, duplicating and stamps cost the Lepers’ Trust Board a total of £2733 Is 3d. Of this amount, printing, stationery and duplicating cost £1922 Ils 4d—the highest single item of expenditure—and stamps, £BlO 9s Ud. Taking 3d as an average postage rate, the number of letters, circulars and packages sent out by the board for year would be 65,650. Dunedin City Finances With loan expenditure estimated at £1.397.956, the Dunedin City Council will spend £3,447,225 in the present financial year. Of this total, only £443,668 will be found from direct rates.—(P.A.) Recipe for Long life Mrs Susannah Cullen, of Camberwell, London, who celebrated her 102nd birthday today said that hard work and a contented mind were the reasons for her long life. She added: “I was still doing housework at 98.” —London, May 22. Notornis Film No further public showings of the Canterbury Museum's notornis film will be made until a copy of the film has been made. This was reported to the Museum Trust Board by the director of the museum (Dr, Roger Duff), who said that it was important to get the film copied before it was damaged. The film had been shown to five scientific audiences, and it was apparent that there was a large demand from the general public to see the film.

Police Inquiry on Capping Book The contents of this year’s capping magazine published by the Otago University Students’ Association are being perused by the Superintendent of the Dunedin Police District (Mr M. E. Lines), after a complaint from a member of the public. Mr Lines said recently that he had obtained a copy of the magazine, and he had read half of it without finding anything which would support a charge under the Indecent Publications Act. Further inquiries still had to be made, he said. Auckland Motor Accidents Although the number of motorvehicles in Auckland has more than doubled since 1939. accidents involving injuries in the city last year, at 457, were five fewer than in 1939. Commercial vehicles were involved in about 40 per cent, of the accidents, and 262 of the 656 drivers concerned did not own the vehicles they were driving. Eleven pedestrians, four motorcyclists, two passengers, and one cyclist were killed. Six of the 18 fatal accidents were at night.—(P.A.) Overtaking the Joneses Williams is now overhauling Jones as one of the most common names in the telephone directory, the Assistant Postmaster-General (Mr L. D. Gammans) told the House of Commons. “The most common name in the London telephone directory is Smith,” said Mr Gammans. “There are nearly 40 pages of them in the present book. In the new directory for the London postal area there are about 25 pages of Smiths and not more than five in any of the new outer London directories. And incidentally, the Williamses are now overhauling the Joneses as one of the most common names in the directory.” Mr E. E. Bullus (Conservative) asked what steps were being taken to try to arrest this Welsh invasion of the metropolis? Mr Gammans: Not all the Williamses come from Wales and it is certainly not part of my responsibility to suggest that Welshmen should stay in Wales.— London, May 21.

Fastest Shearer The claims made by Mr Godfrey Bowen, a partner in a North Island timber-milling concern, to be the world’s fastest shearer, have been debated with a good deal of heat in Australia, and to a lesser extent, New Zealand, in recent months. His claim to have shorn 456 sheep in a ninehour working day roused several Australian champions to question the size and breed of the sheep, but those who have seen him in action in New Zealand are not disposed to dispute his claims. He appears to have a gift for keeping sheep quiet while he is shearing them, a gift which most champion shearers have. What impresses the professional shearer most is his unorthodox technique. He has evolved a highly streamlined method of shearing which departs fairly widely from the traditional method. He is giving demonstrations in the south at present, but will give two exhibitions at the Addington Show Grounds next Wednesday. The demonstrations will be at 3 p.m. and at 8 p.m.* and he will shear three sheep in under four minutes. The evening exhibition will be floodlit. His fast pace does not absorb all his energies, and he keeps up a commentary on his work while .he is shearing. Proceeds from Wednesday’s demonstrations, which are sponsored by Federated Farmers. North Canterbury, will go to the Air Race funds. 2,500,000 Miles

By the end of this month the aggregate task mileage run by vehicles of No. 10 Transport Company, R.N.Z.A.S.C. during its term in Korea should exceed 2,500,000 says the New Zealand Information Service. By the end of April the mileage had exceeded 2,400,000 and the average monthly total now is something like 130,000. All this has been done in less than two years and excludes domestic mileage run by the company. Major J. M. Mabbett (Devonport), formerly the Officer Commanding the New Zealand Base Camp at Hiro in Japan recently took over command of No. 10 comCany from Major A. W. Cooper (Aahurton).—Korea, May 19.