General News

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28551, 2 April 1958, Page 12

General News

Disaster Averted A national disaster was narrowly averted in Edinburgh’s Waterloo Place late last night. The load shifted on a lorry carrying 12,000 bottles of Scotch whisky and bottles began smashing on the road. The precious stuff was trickling down the gutters as the lorry halted. The bulk of the whisky, on its way from Leith to Liverpool for export, was transferred safely to another lorry. Police controlled the crowd of anxious Scots who gathered quickly.—Edinburgh, April 1. Unfulfilled When a case which had been heard in part and adjourned four times came up for a further hearing in the Supreme Court yesterday, Mr Justice Adams remarked: “This is our fifth meeting, gentlemen, and I hope it will be the last.” Counsel expressed the same hope. At 5 p.m. the case was adjourned for the fifth time, and will be continued this morning. No More Wage Stamps Employers of small staffs who had to pay their workers up to Monday on the old system of deducting social security charge, and who were accustomed to buy wages stamps from the Post Office, found yesterday that the stamps had been withdrawn from sale on Monday. Civic Reception The civic reception to Sir Vivian Fuchs, leader of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and Lady Fuchs, will be held on the balcony of the United Service Hotel in Cathedral square tomorrow at 12.15 p.m. Sir Vivian and Lady Fuchs will arrive in Christchurch from Dunedin this evening, when they will be met by members of the City Council and representatives of the New Zealand Antarctic Society. They will visit three schools tomorrow morning. The Mayor (Mr R. M Macfarlane) has asked as many citizens as possible to be present in the Square for the reception tu give a suitable welcome to Sir Vivian and Lady Fuchs. Stoke And Nelson The population of the city of Nelson increased by more than 3000 yesterday, when 2755 acres of the Stoke riding of the Waimea county were transferred to the city. As a result of the transfer Nelson, for the first time, will have a population of more than 20,000. Normally a borough must have a population of 20.000 before it is granted city status, but Nelson was made a city by Royal Charter in 1858. Queue-Jumping Barred It will be an offence after May 6 for bus passengers in Auckland to ‘‘queue jump” or fail to keep within queue markings o» footpaths. The City Council has passed a new by-law to control the queues. “This by-law may be necessary, but it is quite a departure from the freedom when each citizen was allowed to use a footpath as part of the Queen’s highway without any let or hindrance.” said Cr. T. Bloodworth. “It may be all right confining queues to lines on fine days but what is going to happen on wet days when no-one wants to stand out in the rain?” The new bylaw makes it an offence for passangers not to keep to barrier rails or markings while waiting in a queue for public transport-trolley-buses, buses or taxis. If there is no rail or marking and there are six of more persons waiting, a queue must be formed near and parallel to the kerb. Ants Defeat Farmers Millions of flying ants in the high country are making it virtually impossible for farmers to inspect some of their crops. The pests are particularly bad in the Hakataramea Valley, near Kurow. Slugs and snails are other pests which are affecting farming, especially in North Otago, and fungus attacks have been prevalent in the area. A line of trees at Elderslie, 10 miles west of Oamaru, has been destroyed by fungus, and many trees over a widespread area have been attacked. Cost Of Efficiency It cost the Auckland City Council approximately £3OO in fees to its efficiency experts to appoint two new officers to the council staff. According to a memorandum from the Town Clerk. Mr F. J. Gwilliam, “it is anticipated that the sum of approximately £300" will be paid to its efficiency consultants. W. D. Scott and Company, “for interviewing applicants for the positions of personnel officer and organisation and methods officer.’’ Both posts were created after recommendations by the efficiency experts on “streamlining’’ the town hall organisation. House Sold For £2650 A five-roomed wooden bungalow on a section of a little more than 47 perches in Beckford road. Si Martins, was sold at auction in Christchurch yesterday for £2650. The house was offered on account of the estate of Mr A. W Bere. Bidding began at £2300 and rose by three bids of £lOO and one of £5O. About 12 persons attended. University Demand Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, will have more than doubled its size since 1950 when present work is completed. More than 350.000 square feet of permanent buildings have been added, and with the completion of a physics department the figure will be brought to 425,000 square feet, at a total cost of about £2 million. The number of students now enrolled at the university is nearly 2700. Wine Industry Hawke’s Bay winegrowers are already feeling the stimulus in demand for their products as a result of the severe restrictions on the importation of overseas liquors. Between 400 and 500 acres of vineyards provide grapes for five major firms making a wide variety of wines, liquers and cocktails. For most vineyards, the season has been an excellent one. with particularly heavy crops and no pests or diseases. Between 30 and 40 varieties of wine are made in Hawke’s Bay, most of them of a fairly high quality.