General News

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27426, 12 August 1954, Page 10

General News

Power Cats The power cut in the M.E.D. area this evening will be in area B —Upper Riccarton, Bryndwr, Fendalton, and Papanui. Tomorrow’s cut in area C takes in areas in the south and southwest of the city. Flower Show Under Canvas As King Edward Barracks is not available, the national flower show of the Canterbury Horticultural Society will be held next February under canvas in the Woodlands area of the Botanic Gardens. The show will be held during the annual conferences of park superintendents and the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture. Identical Banknotes Two New Zealand £1 notes, each with the same serial number, have been found, although the odds against this occurring are said to be 300.000,000 to 1 against. The senior* assistant purser on the Dominion Monarch (Mr G. Reid) found the mistake when counting a bundle of 100 new £1 notes he had been handed at a Wellington bank. After counting 59 notes with the terminal numbers nought to 59, Mr Reid found that the next note ended in 59 also, but 79 was missing, making the total correct. Reserve bank officials confirmed that the note was genuine and took a photograph of it. They have written to the printers in London. The likely explanation, the Reserve Bank says, is a mutilated or imperfect note was taken out of the run in printing, and the mistake probably occurred when the replacement note was stamped. A similar mistake some years ago is recalled. The notes with identical numbers are framed and hanging in the bureau .of the • Dominion Monarch.— (P.A.)

Swimming Pool at Manila Springs A new swimming pool at Maruia Springs will be provided in the current financial year, at an estimated cost of £6OOO. This information, in a letter from the general manager of the Tourist and Publicity Department (Mr R. W. Marshall) to the Member of Parliament for Selwyn (Mr J. K. McAlpine), was read to the Canterbury Progress League last evening.The pool will be next to the hotel. Mixed Babies Two young mothers went home from a maternity hospital in Glasgow yesterday with the wrong babies, the ‘‘Daily Express” said today. Eight hours later the mistake was discovered and the mothers went back ro hospital and exchanged the children. Mrs Rachel Gallacher, aged 22, found she had the wrong baby boy only when he was being bathed at her home. Stuck on his back was a label bearing the name Whyte. She telephoned the hospital and was told to return. The other mother, still un-

aware that she had the Wrong child, was called back and the eight-day-old babies were exchanged. There will be an inquiry at the hospital.— London, August 11. “Progress”, United States manufacturers of cigarettes have brought the time taken to open a packet of cigarettes down to a new “low”—2 2-5 seconds. Previously, it was 8 3-5 seconds. “This is orogress.” said Mr David North, a Fulbright student and graduate of Princeton University, speaking in Wellington recently. The reduction in time was through a pull-tag opening.— (P.S.S.) Naval Patrols Off Korea Only one rating lost his life from July 3, 1950, to March, 1954, during which time the Royal New Zealand Navy maintained two frigates continuously as its contribution to the United Nations forces in the Korean area. In nearly 46 months the ships steamed 339,584 miles and fired 71,625 rounds of ammunition. 'Of 1350 men who were on active service, seven were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. The Navy contributed to the United Nations effort by intercepting pirate attacks on shipping, beating off invasion attempts, and making commando landings to take prisoners. Most of the time, however, was spent in arduous patrols off the coast bombard-

ing shore tarots. This information is contained in the 1953-54 report of the New Zealand Naval Board, which was tabled in the House of Representatives this week.— (F.0.P.R.) Printed in Prison Printed official documents issued through Parliament, Ministerial offices, or Government Department, usually carry the official imprint of the Government Printer, and there is a distinctive appearance about all these documents. This distinctive appearance was there in the case of the booklet on penal policy issued this week by the Department of Justice, but the imprint was far from the usual. It was: “This publication was printed at Mount Crawford Prison, Wellington.”

Gesture for Peace “I think this is one of the great factors for peace,” said Mrs C. C. Holland, reporting to the Canterbury School Committees’ Association last evening on the clothing collection for CORSO to be made in Christchurch and surrounding districts on September 11. Teachers and senior school pupils would be helping in the house-to-house collections, which had been very well organised, and trucks would lift material from corner depots. “We have no conception of the misery in under-privileged countries and it is excellent for our children to be able to help in this gesture,” Mrs Holland said. Mailing of Rate Demands Rate demands by the Christchurch City Council are now being mailed. All the demands have been calculated, and in the next few days 38,620 ratepayers will receive them. Wainoni State Houses A major State housing project at Wainoni is mentioned in the annual report of the Ministry of Works. Other “major projects” are at Ponrua. near Wellington, and at Otara, in Auckland. The projects are included in the 18,000 sections on subdivision plans in cities, boroughs, and rural localities throughout New Zealand. Final plans for 7210 house sections were prepared during the year ended March 31.

Auckland Honesty Boxes Pay “Honesty boxes” on Auckland trams brought the transport Board about £lOOO last year. Mr C. R. Gribble, manager of the board, said this week that the figures dropped every time a tram service was converted to buses, and for this reason the total would go down very substantially this year.