General News

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27875, 25 January 1956, Page 12

General News

Heavy Toll Traffic Heavy demands before 9.30 ajn. yesterday caused congestion on toll circuits throughout New Zealand. The major bottlenecks, were at Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Masterton, Napier, Palmerston North, and Paraparaumu. At 11 a.m., Wellington had 315 toll calls waiting to be cleared. By 3.30 p.m.. this number had been reduced by only 100. Heavy traffic began again at 7 p.m.—(P.A.) Port of Lyttelton Busy The port of Lyttelton was unusually busy yesterday, but berths were provided for £ll vessels. Sufficient railway waggons were available for all ships to be worked till 9 p.m. The Kaitoke, from Sydney with general cargo, arrived in the afternoon. Three of the ships in port—the Kowhai, Kopua, and Pateke —are out of commission. The Kopua is in the graving dock, and the Pateke is under repair after the fire in her last month Ngauruhoe Quiet Ngauruhoe has quietened down. Yesterday, apart from a few puffs of steam at irregular intervals, there were no signs of activity. Even at the foot of the mountain, only a slight rumbling noise could be heard. The mountain clouded over at 5 p.m. and no glow was visible from the crater last evening.—(P.A.) Synthetic Fabric Market Mr G. H. Spilman, vice-chairman and managing-director of British Celanese. Ltd., said in Auckland yesterday that he was confident there was a substantial market in New Zealand for acetate and nylon fabrics. In New Zealand on a three weeks’ business trip, Mr Spilman yesterday visited the factory in Epsom where the manufacture of acetate and nylon fabrics for women’s and children’s wear is being undertaken by New Zealand Fabrics, Ltd., a subsidiary of his company. “I do not think synthetic fibres will restrict the sale of wool—on the contrary, thousands of millions of pounds of these fibres have been made without affecting wool. The advent of wool-synthetic mixtures has expanded the uses of wool,” said Mr Spilman. He will be visiting Wellington and Christchurch after a week in Auckland.—(P.A.) Gebbies Valley Fire Thanks to all those who assisted in fighting the outbreak of fire at Gebbies valley on Friday evening have.been expressed by the fire warden for the district (Mr W. C. Miller). “Without such a fine effort in the early stages, the fire could have easily swept right down* the valley,” said Mr Miller. “This would have been disastrous for the land owners in such a dry season. ’ He specially thanked all those who arrived on the scene in the early stages for the excellent save they made. The landowners have also expressed their appreciation to those who offered their services but who arrived when the fire was under control.