General News

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28249, 10 April 1957, Page 12

General News

Probably the strangest sight to be seen in Christchurch at 10.30 p.m. yesterday was an art student working at his easel under a street lamp on the Montreal street bridge. A nearby shop which he was painting had interested him for some tim’e, he said. He was, however, apprehensive about the appearance his colours would assume under normal light. Wool Fleece Rot The grant of £lOOO a year to Dr. A. E. Henderson, senior lecturer in wool at Canterbury Agricultural College, for work on fleece rot has been extended for a further three years by the New Zealand Wool Board. “This ensures that the project on which encouraging progress has been made will continue,’’ the director (Dr. M. M. Burns) reported to yesterday’s meeting of the board. Sea Lion at Pines Beach A sea lion was lying on the Pines Beach, half-way between the Waimakariri river and the surf club pavilion, last evening. The sea lion, which must have come in on the previous high tide, appeared to be only halfgrown. Fruit Fly in Oranges The incidence of fruit fly in the orange-growing districts of Australia has been investigated by an officer of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture, said the acting-Minister of Agriculture (Mr S. W. Smith) in Wellington yesterday, and it is considered that application of the essential plant quarantine precautions in Australia will enable adequate supplies of oranges to be imported for the period when Australian oranges are normally available.— (P.A.) Rongotai Airport Rongotai airport is now scheduled to be finished by the end of March, 1959. This is 11 months later than the date announced before Mr M. B. Borgeson was engaged to report on the aerodrome. The chairman of the Wellington City Council’s airport committee (Cr. G. W. Nankervis) announced the new date yesterday. Cr. Nankervis said that the negotiations between the Government and the council on the apportionment of the cost of the aerodrome were continuing, and nothing could be announced yet. —(P.A.) Rangiora-Kaiapoi Problems

Representatives of the Rangiora County Council, the Kaiapoi Borough Council, and the Pines Beach Association met last night to debate aspects of responsibility for roading, fire protection, and other local services provided in their joint areas. The press was not admitted to the meeting held in the Borough Council Chambers, Kaiapoi. A spokesman called the meeting “almost a private affair to have a look at some problems which have been recently aired.’* Court Recording Equipment

A trial sitting was held in the upstairs courtroom of the Wellington Magistrate’s Court yesterday to demonstrate £7OO worth of newly - acquired recording equipment to the Attorney-Gene-ral (Mr J. R. Marshall). The Secretary of Justice (Mr S. T. Barnett) and the senior Wellington Magistrate (Mr J. S. Hanna) also examined the equipment. A microphone was placed over each counsel’s table, one on the bench, one on the dock, one on the witness box. The Magistrate presided at the bench while members of the Court staff acted as parties to the “proceedings.’’— (P.A.) Bread From New Wheat As evidence of the quality of the new type of wheat which it has released after years of breeding by the Crop Research Division of the D.5.1.R., the Wheat Research Committee yesterday ate bread freshly baked from the flour of the new grain. Like an earlier seed, Arawa, this variety has been named Aotea after one of the migrant Maori canoes. The sample of bread that was tabled for the committee’s morning tea yesterday was baked in the Wheat Research Institute’s ovens. Service to Agriculture The restriction in the regulations for the award of the Bledisloe Medal for outstanding service to agriculture in New Zealand was discussed by the board of governors of Canterbury Agricultural College yesterday. No award will be made this year, as in the opinion of a sub-committee, no outstanding former student of the college in New Zealand could be recommended. The names of two former students who had done distinguished work for agriculture overseas were mentioned. The board decided to obtain a report on the regulations, with a view to recommending changes in them to Lord Bledisloe to permit awards for services outside New Zealand. 500 Colour Slides “A colour camera should be everyone’s passport ticket to air travel,” said Mr Paul Pascoe, architect of the new Harewood air terminal, introducing “Architecture of the Air Age,” his address to the Canterbury University College Engineering Society. Mr Pascoe showed a selection of 500 colour slides taken during a nine-week tour of airport buildings throughout the world. The slides illustrated important features of airport buildings design, with particular regard to Harewood. Coal Mine Dispute Because of the insistence by the workers that they should work a short shift and leave the mine with the other “wet-time” employees, the hydraulic mining process of extracting coal at the Strongman State coal mine has been suspended. This decision has been made after a dispute between the union and the management. The management claimed that the “wet-time” provisions did not apply to hydraulic mining, and threatened to dismiss any men who left with the “wettime” workers. The hydraulic section was, however, closed yesterday. Hydraulic mining is not expected to be resumed until further negotiations between the union and the management have been held.—(F.O.O.R.) Streets Named After Editors

In acknowledgement of the work done for the city by two former editors, the Dunedin City Council has named two streets after them. One cul-de-sac has been named Fenwick street for Sir George Fenwick, a former editor of the “Otago Daily Times.” and another

cul-de-sac has been named Cohen street for Mr Mark Cohen, sf former editor of the “Evening Star.”