General News

Press, Volume C, Issue 29680, 25 November 1961, Page 10

General News

Blameless After three speakers at the opening of the new post office at Tai Tapu yesterday had mentioned, “in passing,"’ that while a new building was being opened the branch railway line was to be closed shortly, the Minister of Railways (Mr McAlpine), who officially opened the post , offices and two telephone exchanges, said he felt constrained to reply. “I am not to blame for closing any railways. I do not close them; it is the people in the districts who are not using them who do that. If all the ■ goods being moved in this dis- | trict were sent by rail there would be no talk of closing the line,” Mr McAlpine said. New C.P.O. Sign As additional identification the Chief Post Office now has a large neon sign on the corner of the building in Cathedral square. The sign was erected on Thursday but was not switched on until last evening. Pulped Passionfruit About 25 tons of passionfruit will be processed in March and April of each year at Te Puke's new fruit pulp j factory. The owners intend ' marketing the passionfruit pulp and juice for national I sale. If the supply and demand factors are favourable, the manufacturing could later ' include other fruits. Teachers’ Degrees : “I hope to see the day when teachers will get their own degrees—degrees of teaching, not degrees that , they apply to teaching,” said Mr A. C. Arnesen, president of the North Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute, last I evening. He was speaking at a teachers’ graduation ceremony at the Civic Theatre where Mr H. W. Findlay, the senior inspector 'of schools, presented graduates with trained teachers’ certificates. Midge Killer The Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board was asked at its last meeting to “send I the Mangere midges to the electric chair.” A city busi- j ness man, Mr H. M. Kirk. I showed board members a ■ box-like machine which at-■ tracts insects with an ultra- i violet light and then kills j them. The board accepted Mr[ Kirk’s offer to demonstrate | the efficacy of the machine [ Lamb Sales i “An outstanding achievement” was how Mr C. Hilgenidorf, a member of the New ■ Zealand Meat Producers’ ‘Board, described the sale of : about 450,000 lambs in the j United States by the Meat ■ Export Development Company. Speaking at the North Canterbury district export lamb competition yesterday he said that this was not much more than sales in recent years, but it had been done at a time when prices jin America were lower than ■they had been in the recent jpast. “I think if we had not I had the Meat Export Devel- | opment Company not one [lamb would have been sold jin the United States market,” he said. I | Strawberry Prices j [ Good supplies of local and Waimate-grown strawberries were available in the produce markets yesterday They sold from 2s to 3s a punnet, and in shops from 3s 6d to 5s a punnet Local cultured mushrooms were 4s 6d a pound in the markets and 4s j6d a half pound in shops i Tomatoes sold from 2s 6d to 3s a pound in the markets, land in shops from 4s to 5s a [pound. Christmas Card ■ The Prime Minister (Mr j Holyoake) and Mrs Holyj oake have chosen for their [Christmas greetings card this [year a view of a springtime ! scene at Lake Hayes, Cen--1 tral Otago.—(PA.) Warm Day Oxford had its warmest day of the summe.- yesterday when a temperature of 92dev. was recorded. At noon the temperature was 80deg. and after rising to 92deg. it drop ped to 88deg. at 3 p.m. The previous highest temperature this summer was 86deg. on November 3. Fishing Rivers The Ashley and Selwyn rivers were reported by the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society to be clear and fishable at 9 a.tn yesterday The Halswell river was verv slightly discoloured through Catchment Board operations, and the Waiau, Hurunui, Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers were also slightly discoloured