General News

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27405, 19 July 1954, Page 8

General News

Uniforms of Mud Lancaster Park oval has seldom been in worse condition for Rugby football than it was on Saturday, and play between Old Boys and Marist had not been long in progress before every forward appeared to be dressed alike in complete uniforms of black mud. Ambulance men and sometimes the referee were frequently called on to clear mud from the players’ eyes, and in a pool of water that had escaped the feet of the players an Old Boys back washed the mud from his face. When an injured player left the field spectators did not know from which side he had come until an immaculately dressed replacement came out in the Old Boys uniform of all white. When a young Marist forward got offside he must have done some quick thinking, for he immediately packed in the back of an Old Boys loose ruck. His ingenuity availed him little, for the referee, Mr S. Thor burn, blew his whistle, made a closer inspection -of the grinning forward, and awarded a free kick to Old Boys. • Anzac Day Observance

Fifteen. widely differing motions of ] Anzac Day observance will be dis- i cussed at the thirty-eighth annual Re- « turned Services’ League State Congress i to open in Perth tomorrow. Some sub- ( branches want Anzac Day to be a < “closed” holiday, with hotels closed and ( football and other sports banned. . Others want football, provided that the proceeds go to Legacy (a'war charity). . Some sub-branches proposed a closed : holiday until - noon, with hotels to open and sports meetings permitted (preferably with all or proportion of the proceeds given to Legacy or the j Aged Servicemen’s Fund) in the after- 1 noon. Others again would like the j § resent system retained—closed holiay all day with no hotels or race tracks open and no organised sport. • Cinemas and theatres at Perth have always been allowed to open after < noon and always get record attend- : ances.—Perth, July 18. Christchurch Drainage Problems The chairman of the North Shore Drainage Board (Mr C. F. Woodall), while visiting Christchurch recently, was invited to attend a meeting of the Christchurch Drainage Board to hear a verbal report on Christchurch drainage problems from members of the overseas panel which earlier visited Auckland. The meeting was in committee, but Mr Woodall said in Auckland yesterday that the Christchurch board was impressed with the panel’s report. The panel regarded the Christchurch drainage scheme as a good one, but said it was overloaded, said Mr Woodall. New proposals put forward by the panel guaranteed a 100 per cent, pure effluent. —(P.S.S.) 24 Horses by Airlift The Aga Khan, who at 76 years of age is cutting down on his racing activities, has arranged what is believed to be the biggest airlift yet of its kind to take 24 valuable racehorses from Europe to an auction at Saratoga Springs, California, by August 14. The horses will be flown to America next week in six planes—one from London airport, one from Paris and lour from Shannon in Ireland. The planes will be loaded with hay, blankets and pills in case the horses —for which the Aga Khan hopes to realise more than £loo,ooo—are airsick.—London, July 17. Study of N.Z. Aviation Needs Mr J. A. R. Kay, a director of A. V. Roe, Ltd., aircraft manufacturers, arrived in Auckland by air from Australia on Friday. He is on a world trip to study future aircraft needs of Commonwealth countries. “I am hoping to find out what aviation thinking 1 and planning is being done in New ! Zealand, particularly on military aircraft,” he said in Auckland on Satur--1 day. He would see the Minister of De- : fence (Mr T. L. Macdonald) in Wel- . lington today, and hoped to learn what • replacements the Government had in ■ mind lor the Vampire jet aircraft at present in service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force. “They can’t last • for ever and, considering the speed of . developments in aircraft design these ’ days, it is necessary to look years i ahead if up-to-date aircraft are , wanted,” Mr Kay said. He will leave ' Auckland on Wednesday for the r United States and Canada.—(P.A.) J “Miss New Zealand” Collapses Four of the entrants who are hop- ’ ing to become “Miss Universe” of 1954 s fainted yesterday during the strain of. f a long photographic session on the hot s sands at Long Beach, California. First - to collapse was Miss Moana Manley, , “Miss 4 New Zealand”; next to faint was , Martha Rocha. “Miss Brazil”; and s third to give way was Regina Ernest. 1 “Miss Germany,” who was followed )by Christine Mackaerts, “Miss Belgium.” After being carried " from the scene, the girls were treated 1 with cooling compresses and doctors were summoned. Miss Manley has been 1 ill ever since her arrival from New / Zealand, but the doctors said a little rest would restore her.—New York, 1 July 18. t Pennies on Collection Plate

The Rev. Wilfred Speakman, of Bolshover, Derbyshire, has aroused anger among his parishioners by telling them to keep the pennies they have been dropping in the Sunday collection plate, the “Daily Herald” reports. He wrote in his parish magazine: “The singing of the choirboys alone ought to melt a heart of stone. Please keep your pennies. I am able to manage fairly well without them. The sight of a few notes or halfcrowns would cheer me up a little more.” A member of the Vicar’s Church Council Finance Committee said: “The vicar has only been here since March. We may have to tell I him to take it easy.”—London, July 17.