General News

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27148, 18 September 1953, Page 8

General News

A Lamb for Shield Winners Recently when Wellington won. the Ranfuriy Shield from Waikato, a group of residents of Hawera sent a cheese, the produce of the district, to the Wellington Union as a gesture of goodwill. A somewhat similar plan is envisaged by a group of Canterbury supporters attending the shield match at Wellington tomorrow. They intend to have a representative of Canterbury’s produce—a live lamb, complete with Canterbury’s colours —present at the match. It will be given to the winning team. A show of force is also planned by supporters. Those who are travelling to Wellington by the steamer-express this evening will be asked over the loudspeaker system to assemble at the gates of Athletic Park and enter the ground in a body.

Twin Monkeys Bom A bonnet monkey at the Wellington Zoo yesterday made zoo history when she gave birth to the first bonnet monkey twins ever born in captivity. The twins weigh 9oz and have the additional distinction of being the first monkey twins of any kind born in captivity since a double birth at the London Zoo in 1891. The curator of the zoo (Mr C. Cutler) says the twins have every chance of surviving. They are as big and strong as baby monkeys normally are at birth.—(P.A.) Road Closed Unnecessarily The North Canterbury Catchment Board har been advised of the regret of the Halswell County Council that the board “did not see fit” to advise of the completion of the bridge reconstruction on Rhodes road, Tai Tapu. The failure, the council said, had resulted in the road being closed for a week longer than was apparently necessary, with consequent inconvenience to the public. “Your co-opera-tion in these matters on any future occasion would be appreciated,” said the letter. . Machine to Aid Near-blind A machine which will help the nearblind to see has arrived in Auckland from America. It is called a mega•scope. Itk electrically magnifies print up to 25 times. It will assist persons of limited vision who are doing scholastic research. Unfortunately, it cannot be used immediately, because incidental equipment is still required from Anjerica. The machine has been imported by the New Zealand Institute for the Blind. The institute’s secretary-general (Mr E. W. Christiansen) said yesterday that a lack of exchange was retarding imports of other American contrivances. —(P.A.) Fenring of War Memorial Whfen the new highway bridge at Tai Tapu was built, the live fence surrounding the war memorial cenotaph was removed. The memorial committee proposes to build a concrete fence, costing £34, but has only £3l, collections from Anzac Day services, in hand. The committee yesterday applied to the Halswell County Council for assistance. “To ask the Ministry of Works for a grant would be like trying to draw teeth from a hen,” said the chairman (Mr James Mackenzie). The council decided that it had a moral responsibility to assist and agreed to make a grant of £lO, conditional on the Paparua County Council paying the same sum. Deputation About Museum Permit When the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr R. M. Macfarlane, M.P.) asked the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) to receive a deputation about the permit to start building the centennial wing at the Canterbury Museum. Mr Holland had promised to make a personal investigation and “advise whether the deputation was necessary,” the chairman (Mr J. L. Hay) told the Canterbury Museum Trust Board yesterday afternoon. lees for Motorists “I don’t want to ‘do’ the boy scouts out of a few shillings but you will remember the traffic problem on airport dedication day,” said Mr W. W. Laing, the chairman, when the Waimairi County Council last evening received an application by the Boy Scouts’ Association for permission to sell ice cream on Wairakei road on air race Saturday. Burnside road would be closed and most of the traffic would be using Wairakei road, said Mr Laing, who added: “We cannot have a hold-up of traffic to sell ice cream.” When the point was raised that the selling stall might not be in the county, the council left the matter in Mr Laing’s hands.

Kiwi for London Zoo An 11-months-old kiwi, a present from Whangarei, to the London Zoo, left Auckland by Pan American air liner yesterday afternoon. On its 13,000-mile flignt, the bird will make its first stop at Nandi, Fiji, where it will stay overnight before going on to Honolulu, San Francisco and the New York Zoo, the last stop before London. The kiwi’s diet for the journey will consist of New Zealand worms until it reaches New York. — (P.A.) Sunday Sport Sports on Sundays will be discussed at an Auckland meeting called for October 1 by the Town Clerk of Auckland (Mr T. W. M. Ashby). It will be attended by representatives of sports bodies and church organisations. “The wider aspect of Sunday sport has again been raised in the community, and the Mayor (Sir John Allum) has been asked to convene, a round-table discussion,” says Mr Ashby in a letter to various organisations. He says that the City Council’s general rule is that permission will not be granted for organised sport, but it has permitted the use of* sports grounds for house games.—(PA..) Imports of Handbags Objections to the proposed exemption of handbags, purses, trunks, and leather bags from import licensing control have been received by the Board of Trade. Because of these objections it has decided to postpone consideration of decontrol until the appropriate tariff duties have been reviewed. The tariff items covered by the objections are handbags or purses made wholly or principally of textile material, portmanteaux, trunks, bags of leather or leather cloth, attache cases, suitcases, and similar receptacles, and lined handbags. Cases made of basketware, wickerware, -or similar materials, and toilet set cases are not included in the list. Centenary of New Caledonia New Zealand will be represented at the centenary celebrations of New Caledonia by H.M.N.Z.S. Pukaki. which will leave Auckland on September 21 and arrive at Noumea on September 24. The vessel, which will provide passage for a New Zealand delegation consisting of Mr F. L. A. Gotz. MJP., and Mr E. T. Tlrikatene, MJ*., will leave Noumea on September 29 for Sydney, where she will carry out “working-up” exercises. Students’ Gift to Museum The Canter Wiry University Students’ Association has given £2OO to the fund for the extension of the Canterbury Museum. Reporting this to the Museum Board yesterday, the Director (Dr. Roger Duff) said that while the main proceeds of the students’ capping week had been given to aged peoples’ organisations, this gift was the profits from sales of the capping magazine. The board expressed special appreciation of the students’ gesture. Powers of Works Commissioners The delegation of greater authority to district commissioners of works for approving engineering proposals by local bodies could be expected soon, said the Minister of Works (Mr W. S. Goosman) in a letter to the Wallace County Council Mr Goosman said that it was expected that the present limits of £l5OO for bridge works and £3OOO for road works would be substantially increased soon. The council had complained to the Minister that delays occurred, when proposals had to be Wellington for approval—