General News

Press, Volume C, Issue 29634, 3 October 1961, Page 14

General News

Takapuna City Takapuna has achieved city status. The Minister at Internal Affairs (Mr Gotz) informed the Mayor (Mr W. H. Henderson) that the proclamation was signed yesterday. The census this year gave Takapuna a population of 20,415. Takapuna becomes the 16th city in the Dominion.— (P-A.) Flowers Stolen A large bed of Iceland poppies in a garden in Bradnor road was stripped at its flowers on Sunday night. Several of the ptants were puled up and the thief or thieves made a mess of the garden. Bradnor road, which runs down to the W aka rape stream, is one of the show streets in Christchurch and many persons visit it to see the gardens. A resident, who described it as “a mean theft,” said it was a disappointing end to a lot of hard work. Spring Vegetables Spring vegetables were in good supply in city fruit shops yesterday. The demand was reasonable and prices were fairly steady. Asparagus was more plentiful and sold for 3s to 4g a bunch. New potatoes from Nelson sold for Is a lb, and local hothouse and Auckland tomatoes were 6s to 8s 6d a lb. Spring onions were 9d a bunch, cabbages were Is 6d to 3s each, celery was Is 6d to 2s 6d a bunch, and rhubarb sold for Is to Is 6d a bunch. Akaroa walnuts sold for 2s fid a lb. Health Stamps Health stamps to the value of £17,592 19s lOd were sold in the Christchurch postal district up to September 30. This compared with £16,899 2s up to the same date in last year’s campaign. During September, sales totalled £617 Ils lOd, of which £269 18s 8d were at the Chief Post Office. Within the chief office, the voluntary sellers in the special health stamp booth took £122 16s 2d. Tiny Recorder What is claimed to be the world’s smallest tape recorder is on sale in London. Made in Austria, it is not much bigger than a packet of cigarettes and weighs 11 ounces. It gives hours of playing time for each reel of tape and has its own builtin microphone and loudspeaker. It is powered by a tiny transistor battery and a pen light cell and will work anywhere. The price is 25gns.—(London, October 2.) Executive Yoyo An advertisement from a shop in Fifth avenue. New York, repeated in the “Dailv Telegraph,” suggests the following gift for company presidents and other senior executives: "A solid walnut yoyo, handrubbed to polished perfection, initialled in sterling silver with letters V.I.P. For very important persons of top executive standing, w.> see it as an important source of sprightly conversation. Useful in the office as a paper weight.”—(London, October 2.) Hot Spring Day The weather in the city yesterday was the hottest since April 24. North-west-erly conditions brought the warmth and between 12.30 p m. and 1 p.m. at the Botanic Gardens a temperature of 743 deg. was reached. On April 24 it reached 75.6 deg. The north-west wind, which averaged 25 knots, gusted to more than 40 knots during the afternoon. The Weather Office at Harewood recorded a maximum temperature of 73 deg. at 1 p.m. There was no cloud. More Fish Fish was in good supply in Christchurch fish shops yesterday because better weather conditions permitted the boats to leave port. Even better supplies are expected today. A few oysters from the last shipment of the season on Saturday were sold yesterday. Nearly 3001 b of West Coast whitebait was sold in the shops for 18s to 20s a lb. Fish prices were: groper, 4s 6d to 4s 9d a lb: blue cod, 4s a lb: tarakihi, 3s to 3s 8d a lb; soles, 3s to 4s a lb; gurnard, 2s 6d a lb; and ling. 2s a lb. Australian Oranges Nearly 4500 cases of Australian Valencia oranges for distribution in Christchurch will- arrive on the Tarawera at Lyttelton today. They will be sold in the markets at a fixed price of 46s 6d a case and in the shops for Is *d a pound tomorrow. Hawaiian pineapple*, bananas, and Niue Island kumaras are expected in the markets next week. sm. Houses Needed Five mil Hon new dwellings would have to be built in England and Wales to meet the demand for homes in the ne« ; 20years, Mr J. R. j ames . chief planner for the Ministry of Housing, stated at a meeting in London. Of these, two million would be needed to satisfy needs in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool “Anything less than this number would be socially undesirable ” said Mr “? y 1964 or 19& ’- 100.000 new houses yearly will be needed to meet demand from new families alone.”— (London. October 2.) Fish Grew Quickly The results of applied fisheries management became very apparent at Rotoiti on Sunday, when the lake fishing O|«®ed Three-inch fingerlings liberated in the take last September were l7ia P- 3. Burstah, assistant-conservator of wild life at Rotorua, said Uto wight of th# “’b wm 3} lb, with the heaviest up to 51b. Some 1500 iiberoted were *j*“* ht “-Ju 01 ® tast reaThe average weight then was only 21b.—(PA.)