General News

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27165, 8 October 1953, Page 10

General News

Street Lights Out Much of the central area of Christchurch south-west of the Square was without street lighting for several hours last evening because of a break in the switch gear at the Montreal street sub-station. The lights failed to operate when switched on, and they did not come on until about 11 p.m. The streets affected were those bounded by Moorhouse avenue west, Colombo street, Lichfield street, Oxford terrace, and Hagley avenue. Chatham Islands Radio-Telephone - The Chatham Islands radio-telephone service, inaugurated early this year, is obviously meeting a public need, according to the Postmaster-General (Mr W. J. Broadfoot). He has advised Mr H. R. Lake, member of Parliament for Lyttelton, that the average number of outward calls from the island is 45 a month, and inward calls average 10 a month. A demonstration of the emergency value of the service was given on two occasions >in August, when the medical officer in the islands spoke to members of the North Canterbury Hospital Board’s specialist medical and surgical staff to obtain advice about two patients, said Mr Broadfoot. Conditions on the circuit were generally good, but occasionally there were bad periods caused by sunspot activity, which affected radio conditions everywhere.—(F.O.P.R.) Flaw In Health Stamp

George Boraman, a pupil of St. Andrew’s College, Christchurch, believes he has found a flaw in a new health stamp purchased yesterday. In one of two separate 2d blue stamps he has noticed that the initials “N.2z” are reversed in the watermark. Suva Becomes City

The 72-year-old town of Suva became a city today when the Governor of Fiji (Sir Ronald Garvey) signed a proclamation made in the Queen’s name before a crowd estimated at more than 12,000. The crowd surrounded a dais outside the decorated Town Hall and jammed Victoria parade for nearly two blocks. Fijian Army trumpeters in scarlet tunics and white sulus sounded a fanfare after the proclamation. The Mayor of Suva (Mr Noel McFarlane) said: “Despite hurricanes and earthquakes, we haven’t lost faith. We are still building, and will continue to build.”—Suva, October 7. Air Race Address System Probably the largest network of mudspeakers ever assembled in New Zealand will bring progress reports on the air race to people in the public enclosure and in the car parks at Harewood this week-end. Visitors to the airport yesterday were astonished to find lines of amplifiers almost out to the Russley golf links corner and also out to the Wairakei road corner. Livestock must have been startled yesterday afternoon to hear music reverberating over the whole countryside. Precut Houses at Tamaki For the 30 precut houses the Government hopes to sell out of the 500 being built in the Tamaki State housing area, the State Advances Corporation has 27 prospective buyers. This is the number of home seekers who had applied to buy the houses from Britain when applications closed on September 30. House hunters and land agents said yesterday that the prices asked and the district in which the houses were being erected were the main reasons why they had not made a more popular appeal. For homes with three bedrooms the prices range from £3085 to £3250. For houses with two bedrooms the range is from £2835 to £2925.—(PLA.) Girls’ College in Quarantine Te Wai Pounamu Girls’ Collage took prompt action for the protection of others when one case of chicken pox was detected. For 10 days the pupils have been in voluntary quarantine. There have been no further cases and it is expected that the period of isolation will end on Friday. The quarantine prevented the girls giving their usual assistance at the annual Synod garden party at Bishopscourt. Assistance to HJM.N.Z.S. Kiwi

A letter from the commander of H.M.N.Z.S. Kiwi (Lieutenant-Com-mander B. L. Twomey) was received by the Lyttelton Harbour Board yesterday, thanking the board for services rendered when the Kiwi caught fire last week. Special mention was made in the letter in appreciation for the work of the harbourmaster (Captain A. R. Champion) and the crew of the tug, Lyttelton 11, for getting under way and standing by to give assistance. . Income Tax in Russia British and French newspaper correspondents accredited to the Soviet Union were exempted from the new Russian income tax regulations announced yesterday, but Americans will have to pay because Russian journalists in America are taxable. Handing out tax forms to the Americans, the Soviet press chief, Mr Ilyichev, said that whereas the United States taxed Soviet reporters at 23 per cent., Americans in Russia would only have to pay 10 to 13 per cent, on their taxable income.—Moscow, October 7. Public Enclosure For Air Race Regular visitors to the Christchurch airport who thought that they would be kept back to the usual line behind the Canterbury Aero Club’s aeroplane parking area during the air race this week-end have been surprised to find that the tubular steel barrier erected by the Army will allow them to get much closer to the finishing line than they expected. Although the taxiway m front of the overseas terminal is kept clear, the barrier makes a large bulge out on to the grass so that the public will be very close to the taxiway on which overseas aircraft usually come m from the airfield, and on which competitors will park. The front row will be almost in line with the control tower. Cargo Handled at Lyttelton A total of 103,105 tons of cargo was handled at Lyttelton last month, compared with 108,139 tons during September, 1952. Exports were 29,543 tons, compared with 24,789 tons in the same period last year, and imports were 73,562 tons, compared with 83,350 tons. Trading vessels using the port totalled 109 (195,286 tons net register). Last year’s figure was 80 vessels (164,794 tons net). The Lyttelton Harbour Board’s tug, Lyttelton 11, assisted 15 vessels into port, 16 out of port, shifted one vessel, and docked another.