NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 228, 23 June 1936, Page 11

NEWS IN BRIEF

Wahine to be Docked

The Marama was brought off the Wellington floating dock yesterday afternoon after being cleaned and painted and departed last night for Lyttelton. The Wahine will be docked to-morrow for a survey of the damage, to her bow, and probably will bo refloated ou Thursday.

Cyclist Injured. Riding a bicycle with a child seated on the handlebars, R. J. Turnbull, confectioner, put his foot througn the spokes of a wheel, and was thrown off. Mr. Turnbull Injured both arms, and had to be taken to hospital by the Wellington Free Ambulance yesterday morning. The child was not badly hurt.

Prize-winning Posters. A selection of the posters submitted for the New Zealand Library Association poster prize competition is being shown at the D.I.C. Between 20 and 30 posters are exhibited and show a nigh order of merit. The treatment in two flat colours and a background has been very varied, but an extraordinary number of high-class posters were submitted and the judge’s task was anything but an easy one.

Technical College Buildings. “The excellent weatljer experienced during the last month has enabled the contractors to proceed speedily with the erection work of the new block,” stated the director, Mr. R. G. Ridling, in his report to the board of governors of the Wellington Technical College last night. “Work on the roof of the auditorium is well forward, and the slater is proceeding satisfactorily with the covering-in of the roof of the eastwest wing. Preparatoiy work for the laying-down of the floor in the auditorium is being carried on. Interior finishing work is being carried out by the plasterers in the practice laboratory and external work is being done on the walls of the auditorium,” Mr. Ridling added.

Corporation Workers. On the whole, the Wellington City Corporation treats its men rather well. For those who man the destructor and the rubbish vans there are in a.brick building on the Chaffers Street side of the yards five hot or cold showers, dressing-rooms and a drying-room, where the men can dry their clothes after coming off duty. As these rooms are’ unsuitable as luncheon or mess rooms, plans have been prepared for a substantial addition to the building. This will contain a spacious mess-room fitted with tables, forms and cupboards —just the very convenience these workers require in the winter-time.

Auckland’s Price. Fifty blankets, £5O in money, 20 pairs of trousers, 20 shirts, 10 waistcoats, 10 capes, four casks of tobacco, one box of pipes, 100 yards of gownpiece, 10 iron pots, one bag of sugar, one bag of flour and 20 hatchets—these comprised the purchase price awarded the Maoris when the deed qf sale of Auckland land was signed on October 20, 1840. This list, quoted from the deed, was read by Mr. L. Phillips at a meeting of the Auckland Historical Society. A translation in Maori was also given by Mr. George Graham. When the item “four casks of tobacco” was read, Mr. Graham remarked. in English: “There are only two casks in my copy.”

Expanding Woodblocks. It is 30 years since some of Wellington’s main streets were wood-blocked, and yet the power of their collective expansion is not yet exhausted. Yesterday a gang of corporation men was engaged in Featherston Street, opposite the Union Bank of Australia, taking out old kerbstones and replacing them with new ones. The lower part of the old concrete kerbs had suffered such pressure that they had canted over until the tops, instead of lying flat to the footpath, were at an angle of 45 degrees, and therefore dangerous to pedestrians. Some 15 years ago attention was given to the pressure-canted kerbstones in Courtenay Place, but today there are sections of kerbing out of plumb through the expansion of the woodblocks.

Canadian Art Collection. > One of the features of ■ the official Canadian Government display at the Empire Exhibition in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September, will be an exhibition of about 100 paintings by contemporary Canadian artists. After being shown at Johannesburg, the pictures will be taken to other important South African cities. Afterward the exhibition will go to Australia and New Zealand and will return to Canada about 18 months later. The Carnegie Corporation of New York is bearing all expenses in connection with the tour. The National Gallery of Canada has issued invitations to all the most notable Canadian artists to be represented in the exhibition. The. pictures will be selected at Ottawa by a committee of distinguished Canadian artists and critics.