General News

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27096, 20 July 1953, Page 8

General News

Abstemious Mr Edward Brookes celebrated his one hundredth birthday at Mynydd Isa, North Wales, yesterday with an open-air party and plenty of food—but ate only bread and butter. “This is what has kept me going,” he said, holding up his fourth slice while his two sons, four daughters, 44 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and four ate jelly and fancy chkes.—London, July 19. Arthur's Pass Road Closed No traffic used the Arthur’s Pass road yesterday. The chief service officer •of the Automobile Association (Canterbury), Mr L. D. Pickles, said last evening that snow that had fallen during the day, especially on the West Coast side in the Otira gorge, had blocked the road for some hours. It was not known whether the road would be open today. Steel as Cheap as Timber Steel is said now to be competitive in price with locally-grown puriri stringers for bridge work. The Mangonui County Council has decided to order 10 tons of rolled steel joists for bridge work. It agreed to this on the recommendation of its engineer, Mr F. R. Parkinson, who said that the price of puriri was continually increasing and the quality was not always high. He said that a 30ft stringer,to give the 20 tons loading required for a bridge approved by the Ministry of Works would cost £42. A steel joist was competitive with this at £43 and upward, and the steel had the added advantage of being a permanent material.—(P.A.) National Insurance in Britain Britain’s national insurance scheme would lose £417,000,000 a year in 1977, J;he Ministry of National Insurance estimated in its annual report published yesterday. The expenditure of the huge scheme, from which nearly 9,000,000 persons benefited last year, would begin to outstrip its income by 1955. The report said that by 1967 the annual deficit would be £274,000.000 a year, and would increase.—London, July 20. Royal Visit to Waitangi

The Auckland and North Auckland Maori people want the Queen to spend half a day at Waitangi during the Royal visit. The Queen is scheduled to be there, it is believed, for an hour. The Maoris also want Her Majesty to arrive at the Bay of Islands by ship. The -Maoris could then man the big canoe at Waitangi and lead the ship in. These wishes have been stated in a letter to the Governor-General from the Tai Tokerau district council of Auckland and North Auckland tribal executives. The council hopes that the form of welcome will be sent to each district to ensure unity of voice and action, and that tribes from all over New Zealand will be represented at Waitangi.—(P.A.) Disease Among Cage Birds The council of the Royal Zoological Society of Australia has reported to the Department of Agriculture an unidentified disease that is spreading among Australia’s most popular cage birds, budgerigars. The disease has been reported in at least four Australian states, and even as far away as New Zealand. Experts fear that the disease may “go bush” among Australia’s wild birds, and attack even domestic poultry. The disease attacks birds beaks, which become pitted and broken edged.—Sydney, July 19. Loud-speakers for Churches

Four large horn loud-speakers with a range of seven miles, which used to announce the placings and times of riders on the Taita speedway, have now been found another role—that of summoning people to worship at two National Revivalist churches in Wellington. Last year an old organ was bought at a low price and a member of one congregation patiently wired up each reed and made an electric organ of it. He also built an amplifier. When the speedway wound up early this year, the loud-speakers were acquired and are now concealed in the louvres in the fronts of the churches from where they give out recordings of bell music. A simple switching arrangement enables the amplifier t 6 be used either for the organ or for a turntable on which the records are played. Recordings of the peals of famous churches and cathedrals, as well as carillon recordings, are used. The total cost of the installation was £23 for each church. Crash Helmets

The motor-cyclists of New Zealand have failed to reduce the number of casualties to the figure set by the Commissioner of Transport and there is little possibility that the compulsory wearing of crash helmets could be avoided. The Commisioner has suggested that the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union set up a small sub-com-mittee to confer with the department on types of helmets that would be suitable for general use,” said the Assistant Traffic Engineer to the Trans-' port Department (Mr B. C. Campbell) at the annual conference of the union in Palmerston North at the week-end. Mr Campbell told delegates that in view of the continuing high proportion of casualties to motor-cyclists the department was not prepared to recommend any further period of grace, and the Road Safety Council’s recommendation that crash helmets be made compulsory must now go before the Minister.—(P.A.) Waitomo Glow-worms Destroyed Floodwaters have destroyed glowworms in the demonstration chamber at Waitomo Cave, but the famous grotto, which Queen Elizabeth will see on New Year’s Eve, has not been harmqd. The glow-worms should be back again within three or four months. Some of the lower caverns at Waitomo, Aranui, and Ruakuri have also been flooded, and large quantities of silt have been deposited. The annual cleaning of the caves has started. Duck-walks are teing repaired, and the caves are being spruced for the Royal tour. A new landing jetty will be built in the Waitomo Cave. Metal will be laid on the paths to the caves when the weather clears. It is planned to repaper, repaint, and refurnish all the rooms in the hotel. The lounge will be enlarged and the bar lounge converted into a private dining-room for the Royal party. American Rugby League Team Two anonymous Brisbane Rugby Union players were “rung in” for the American Rugby League team’s match against Ipswich yesterday. Without them the Americans would not have been able to field a full team because of injuries. In one of the roughest matches seen in Queensland for a long time the Americans beat Ipswich. 16-15. This was their first win in Queensland.—Brisbane, July 19. Iris Grower Honoured An international honour has been accorded Mrs Jean Stevens, of Wanganui, with the award to her by the British Iris Society of the Foster Memorial Plaque—reserved for special and personal award to “those who have contributed materially to the advancement of the iris genus.” The award, which is the highest in world iris circles, is not necessarily given every year. Since its inception it has been given to eight Americans, three Frenchmen, 19 English growers, and one Canadian. Four previous winners have beeh women. The president of the British society (Mr Geoffrey L Pilkington) says in a letter: “It was felt that your work in blazing the iris trail in the Southern Hemisphere was most worthy of recognition.”—(P.A.)