NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 274, 15 August 1936, Page 13

NEWS IN BRIEF

Town Hall Fully Booked It is a. long time since every seat in the Town Hall has been engaged two days before an oratorio performance. Such is the case, however, with the Royal Choral Union’s performance of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” this evening, to be conducted by Dr. Malcolm Sargent. of London. This is a fine tribute to the guest-conductor and to the management which brought about his advent in Wellington. It only now remains for those "'ho have booked to anticipate the time at which the concert will commence, so that there will be no scuffling for seats after 8 p.m.

Oriental Bay Bathing Pavilion. The detailed plans of the municipal bathing pavilion to be erected at Oriental Bay have been completed by tiie city engineer’s department. These are on the lines of the plans which have already been described in these columns. It is understood that tenders will be called for the erection of the pavilion before the end of the month.

Dunedin’s Building Trade. Activity in the building trade in Dunedin continued brisk during the month of July, when 67 permits, valued at £62.881. were issued by the city corporation. Erection of cottages is still proceeding apace, and in July no fewer than 27 new dwellings, ranging in price from £589 to £2400, were included in the permits granted.

Domestic Unionists Active. Recently a deputation representing the Wellington Domestic Workers’ Union waited on the Minister of Labour (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong). It was reported yesterday that arrangements are being made for another deputation to approach the Prime Minister and other members of the Cabinet in order to set out the union’s claims for legally defined wages and conditions.

Gift to Technical College. Mr. W. S. La Trobe, Superintendent of Technical Education, and formerly director of tiie Wellington Technical College, has presented to the college his library of engineering, mathematical and general works, totalling several hundred volumes. The books will increase the efficiency of the Technical College library very materially because they are almost all additional to and not duplicates of books already in the library.

New Paremata Bridge. The actual construction work of the new Paremata bridge will be completed within three or four weeks. In order to give a better approach, to the bridge and to increase the vision, a large portion of the hill on the main road at the Paremata end has to be removed. This work will commence next week. There is now only 50 feet of concrete decking to lay, together with the footway's and the bridge sides, and railings on this section. Work on this is proceeding rapidly, and it should be completed within a week.

Two Ways of Closing Road. It is possible for a local authority to close a road under two different Acts; the provisions of which differ materially. This was explained at a meeting of the Makara County Council yesterday, when consideration was being given to a proposal to close a road in the Ohariu riding. It was explained by the chairman, Mr. R. G. Mexted, that if it was intended to close a road under the Public Works Act it was necessary to advertise the proposal so as to give persons in the district concerned an opportunity to object. Under the Lands Act, however, it was possible to close a road without giving notification of the fact. Speed Limit Indicators. The erection of signs to indicate where the new 30 miles an hour speed limit Came into force was advocated by Mr. H. J. Butcher, at a meeting of the council of the Automobile Association (Auckland). The secretary. Mr. G. W. Hutchison, said that he had received advice that the Government, as an alternative, was shortly going to erect signs in city and borough areas that were to be exempted from the speed limit. These would be semirural and sparsely populated districts. The matter will be discussed at the coming meeting of the North Island Motor Union.

Power of the Tide. There is always the element of tidal waters to contend with when there is subterranean work to do on land reclaimed from the sea. Work on renewal of the main city sewer outside the Free Public Library in Wakefield Street has been occupying the attention of a gang of men for some weeks past. There one may see water flowing like a mill-race into the deeper part of the trench where the men are at work. This is water which seeps through the reclaimed land from the harbour a quarter of a mile away. In order to enable the work to be done the level of the water has to be kept in check by a powerful centrifugal pump, which draws the water up and discharges it into convenient sumps.