General News

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27434, 21 August 1954, Page 6

General News

Power Cuts Today’s power cut will be between 6 pjn. ana 7 pjn. for the whole of the MJS.D. area except New Brighton, where it will be from 1 pjn. to 2 pjn. Tomorrow afternoon t_iere will be a general cut from -2 p.m. to 3 pjn. On Monday evening, two areas will be cut for one hour, from 6 pjn. They are area B—Upper Riccarton, Bryndwr, Fendalton, and Papanui—and area C—Halswell, Spreydon, Beckenham, and Sydenham. Warning rfot Heeded A branch of the Royal Bank of Canada received a telephoned warning three weeks ago that it would be held up. Yesterday two masked bandits brandising pistols robbed it of about £3400. Later the bank received another telephone call from one of the robbers who taunted it for not having taken precautions.—Vancouver, August 20. Driver Was Wrong In a corner of the driving cab of the new diesel-electric locomotive which made a trial run from Wellington to Palmerston North this week is an electric hot-plate for heating pies and making tea. “It will probably take some time to warm up, like other plates,” said Driver W. S. Rogers, putting a pork pie on the plate and flicking the switch. Three minutes later clouds of smoke and a blackened pie showed that he was wrong. Massive Work by Sculptor Henri Matisse, the 84-year-old painter and sculptor, is now putting the finishing touches to his most formidable ana massive piece of work—a two and a half ton ceramic sculpture, measuring 12ft by 9ft, of a woman’s face set on a floral background, says the Paris correspondent of the “Daily Mail.” Because of the artist’s extreme age and failing health, the design has been split into 16 separate panels, each weighing 4001 b.— London, August 20. Practical Experience Influenza is no respecter of persons —the Director-General of Health (Dr. J. Caimey) is himself suffering from an attack. Mention of this was made by Sir David Smith, Chancellor of the University of New Zealand, in explaining Dr. Cairney’s absence from the Senate meeting held at Massey Agricultural College. Street Lighting Street lighting in the Christchurch area accounts for .145 per cent, of the total load, according to figures supplied yesterday by the Municipal Electricity Department. The total load is about five watts a head of population. Units used by street lights amount to .87 per cent, of the total consumption for a year. Cail on Climber Professor Robert Milnes Walker, professor of surgery at the University of Bristol, called on Mr James McFarlane, at the Burwood Public Hospital yesterday afternoon. Mr McFarlane suffered severely from frostbite when he spent 18 hours down a crevasse on the Barun glacier in the Himalayas in April. The climbers’ step-mother, Mrs A. G. McFarlane, of Christchurch, is a first cousin of Professor Walker. Cat on Engine Trials The success of the new 1500 horsepower diesel-electric locomotive’s run from Wellington to Palmerston North this week could superstitiously be attributed to Peter, a black, 'fluffy toy cat, which has been taken on trial runs throughout the world since 1923. The property of Mr A. J. Jeffs, an electrical engineer in the Railways Department, he has been carried on all engines making trial runs on which Mr Jeffs has worked. Attached to Peter’s black fur is a tag enumerating the journeys he has made. Among them are Otira-Arthur’s Pass, 1923; British Columbia Electric Railways; MidlandScottish; Great Indian Peninsula; Hutt Valley, 1953. Control of Comics Control of comics and literature featuring brutality, sex, and racial discrimination is supported by the Christchurch Headmasters* Association and the North Canterbury branch of the New. Zealand Educational Institute. Letters from both bodies, which did not state reasons, were received by the Canterbury Education Board yesterday, and will be sent by the board to the Education Department and the Government. Mr R. R. Beauchamp said there was no need to give reasons or discuss the matter. The authorities must be aware of the evils of some comics and the difficulties about restrictions, but the teachers’ opinion would be helpful. No Strain on Lions Two lions—borrowed from a circus —will be seen on a vacant section in the heart of Auckland next week. The works committee of the Auckland City Council has granted the management of a, cinema organisation permission to display the as an advertisement. The committee chairman CMr K N. Buttle) said that consent had been given on the assurance that the lions would not be subject to any or Physical strain. The cage will be surrounded by a barricade to keep people at a distance. The lions will be on display two hours a day. Late Invitations Several members of the Waitara Borough Council received invitations to meet the_ Governor-General (Sir Willoughby Norrie) the day after the reception took place. The invitations were posted in time, but influenza so affected all the available staff of the Waitara Post Office that on the day when the invitations should have been delivered no deliveries were made. This explanation was made by the postmaster (Mr L C. Simmonds) in response to inquiries by the council. Early Flights of N.Z. Aircraft A film of the first flights made 42 years ago by an aircraft designed and made in New Zealand was screened in Wellington this week by the New Zealand division of the Royal .Aeronautical Society. The film showed the Fisher monoplane, designed and built by Mr D. P. Fisher, of Wellington, on its test flight over the Wairarapa. In the audience was the first pilot of the aircraft, Mr R. White. Few Defaulters Eighteen-year-old youths who registered for military training in 1953-54 totalled 13,434. comparea with 13,555 the previous year. These figures are given in the annual report of the Department of Labour and Employment. Non-Maori registrations totalled 12,122, and Maoris 1312 “These figures approximate the numbers estimated to be liable, and indicate that there is no serious default either on the part of Maoris or non-Maoris It is also apparent that the methods adopted for giving publicity on the obligations imposed by the act are adequate.”