NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 125, 30 May 1930, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Meeting of Parliament. A proclamation published in the '' Gazette issued last evening summons Parliament to meet on Thursday, 26th June, for the ■dispatch of business. ' A Novel Suggestion. A novel suggestion for the prevention of level crossing accidents was made to the Prime Minister (the- Hon. G. W. Forbes) by Mr. W. A. Abbott, of Poroti, near Wliangarci, states the "Bay of Plenty Times." It was that, on each side of railway crossings tho road should be laid for about three .chains in concrete with a corrugated surface. ■. Mr. Abbott said this would,provide a warning of the proximity of a crossing which the motorist could note fail to notice, even in the dark. It would compel him to slow down to above ftve miles .an hour. Mr. Forbes said the idea appeared to be quite a good one. He advised Mr. Abbott to submit it to the Minister of Railways. More Traffic Signal Lights. The City Council last evening decided upon two more sets of automatic traffic controls, similar to those at Courtenay place and the Bank of New Zealand corner. They will be erected at the Taranaki street-Courtenay place intersection and the corner of Willis and Bouleott streets. An Expensive Throw. Hammer throwing would appear to be an inexpensive sport, but when a champion, mis-directs a lengthy throw tie is liable^to find that the' amateur game does not pay. To the Board, of Governors of the Otago High Schools recently- the architect reported that the sum of £10 was the estimate for the repairing of damage to, the mullion work of the Pulton building. It transpired that a champion hammer thrower was practising on the Littlebourne Ground when his shot landed against the stone work. He frankly wrote admitting his blame, and, after hearing a member speak of the athlete's qualities, the board decided to ask him "to pay half the cost of the r« pairs. Constable Street Corner. For some years the City Council has discussed the necessity of improving the corner of Biddiford street and Constable street, but always has deferred tho matter on account of cost. Last night, however, a decision was made that the land required for widening should bo taken under tlie Public Works Act, subject to the existing leases. Regional Planning Area. The City Council has agreed that tho region comprising tho city and surrounding districts for regional planning purposes shall commence at the Waikanac River and shall include the Hutt and Makarn, Counties, Johnsonville, Upper . Hutt, Lower Hutt, Petone, Eastbourne, and the city. The chairman of tho Works Committee (Councillor R. A. Wright), the Town Clerk, the City .Engineer, and Solicitor will represent the council at the public inquiry to bo held on 4th June by the Town Planning Board to hear evidence regarding the determination of boundaries. New Street Names. Tho road along the foreshore at Ohirri Bay is to bo called Tawa street, that along the foreshore from Shelly Bay to Scorching Bay Massey road, and a proposed new road from Pembroke road, Northland to Wmlestown, Pachuia road. Raleigh street, Vogcltown, is to be vunanied Fortunntus street, as it, is really ! a continuation" of that street. New j roads in the Mornington estate are to ! l)c I;iiowu-;ls WontworMi' street, Beauj niont ■.street, and MAgway .Extension.

Grants to Ambulance and Red Cross. Tho**City Council last evening agreed to a renewal of its grants of £500 to the Ambulance and £50. to the Red Cross Society. The ' Deputy-Mayor (Councillor Luckie) explained .that the grant to the Ambulance Society had to be made by special order, and the council's vo'tn would bo conditional upon the Hospital Board granting £.1000 as it had done last year. The Moascar Cup. Tho future- of the Moascar Cup will be definitely decided at the next meeting of tho- Maliagement Committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union. A suggestion has been made that tho cup should bo held for competition between the present holders, the Palmerston North High School, and To Aute College, other secondary schools having the right to challenge if desirous of doing so. When this suggestion was, mentioned at last night's meeting of the Management Committee of the Union opinion was expressed by some members that to montion Palmerston North and To Auto specifically was to suggest a close corporation, and oil tho suggestion of the chairman (Mr. S. S. Dean) the whole matter was deferred untilthe next meeting. Evans Bay Reclamation. Councillor C. 11. Chapman asked at last eveuing's meeting of the City Council whether it was a fact that no reply had been sent to tho Harbour Board's letter regarding the Evans Bay reclamation, and, if so, what was the reason? The Deputy-Mayor (Councillor Luckie) said that the .matter had been referred to a special committee, of which the Mayor was chairman, and in his absence from Wellington the committee was not functioning. , In reply to Councillor Mitchell, Councillor Luckie said that the Engineer had prepared a set of plans as asked for by the council. Chamois and Himalayan Thar. A Gazette notice declares that chaomis and Himalayan thar are not now included in the second schedule of the Animals Protection and Game Act —that is, they cease to be imported game. On inquiry from the Department of Internal Affairs, it was learned that this notification means that protection is removed in respect to these animals; and anyone can shoot them at any time of the year, without a licence, subject, of course, to the consent of the owner of the property oil which. tho animals may be. ■ , ■ Censorship of Posters. It has been suggested that the City Council should undertake the_ censorship of posters, some of which have been complained of by citizens. It was decided by the council" last evening that there was no need of action on its part, as it was understood that the Government was bringing down regular tions for their control. ■ Otira Tunnel Traffic. When the Otira Tunnel was opened up, there woro many' who predicted an inglorious failure,'says the Christehurch "Press." How far these prophets of gloom wero out in their calculations has been proved by the enormous amount of traffic that has passed through that "five mile hole" during the past few years, and record after record has been broken in the amount of tonnage railed from tho Coast. Another record was broken on Wednesday, and it seems that this time tho record must stand, for the 4350 tons that passed through the tunnel from noon on Tuesday to .noon on Wednesday was approximately the maximum that tho.tunnel can handle in 24 hours. The loads were conveyed by seventeen trains from Otira to Arthur's Pass, and by fifteen trains from Arthur's Pass to Springfield,- from where they were worked to Middleton by a smaller number of trains. From 3 p.m. on Wednesday to 8 a.m. on Thursday a further 3500 tons passed throughl the tunnel. This, .record .is an illustra-, tio'n of the good effect of an ill wind, in this ease the condition of the Grey bar, where nine steamers are awaiting aii opportunity to sail. Owing to the uncertainty of the bar there is no shipping in sight for some time, and the Railway Department has been called upon to handle the traffic. ' > ' Motors and Cycles on Beaches. Tho Reserves Committee last.evening recommended to the City Council that a bylaw should be framed to prohibit bicycles, motors, and other vehicles from using city beaches. The chairman of the committee (Councillor B. G. H. Burn) said that several complaints had been received, including one from a lad,V who had becu iv .danger of her life. Tho Deputy-Mayor (Councillor Luckie) remarked that surely, the committee did not need to go past motor vehicles; there was no need to extend tho bylaw to bicycles. The clause was, however, passed without amendment. A Talk on Southern Whaling. ■ Three hundred youngsters from various city schools who mqt in the Newtown Children's Library hall to hear a talk by Captain jW. Stewart, the New Zealand Government's repres6ntative on tho Antarctic whaling grounds, had a wonderful two hours last evening. The hall provides seating • accommodation for very much fewer than 300, but that did not worry the children; they sat on the floor, tremendously interested. As. when other leeturettes have been given the real interest came when the straight talk was ended and question time came round. The questions are supposed; to occupy, say, quarter to half an hour,'but after the full hour last night there were a lot more coming, but they had to be disallowed. The boys wanted to know about boats, guns, bombs, how big is a big whale, and so on, and tho girls about whale food, whale mothers and babies, and! whale family affairs generally. The probability is that for the next fortnight or so there will be a tremendous ' run upon whaling books in tho children's libraries, which is as is intended, the idea of the addresses being to get the youngsters sufficiently interested in the subjects to. want to learn more about them. Statuary for Botanical Gardens. The Reserves Committee last evening reported to the City Council that under the will of the late Mr. M. J. Kilgour, a sum of £100 had been bequeathed for the x'urchase of a.piece of statuary for the Botanical Gardens. The Public Trusteo will advise tho council when the money is .available. The Deputy-Mayor (Councillor Luckie) and Councillor Chapman expressed warm approval of tho spirit which had prompted Mr. Kilgour, whose gift was also- a splendid example to other citizens. Carrying a Red Flag. "I remember, when a boy, haying seen in England a man with a red flag walking in front of a traction engine. Such was the political influence of the railways that what was known as the Red Flag Act was forced through Parliament. The Act made it necessary for a man to precede by some 100 feet any traction engine," stated Mr. F. J. Belton, engineer, when giving ovidenco at Christehurch before the Commission on Direct Access to the Sea (reports the "Christehurch Times"). The president (Sir Walter Stringer): "We had that in our own legislation here." Mr. Belton continued that in 1830 steamdriven road vehicles were carrying passengers between London, Birmingham, and Bristol at twenty miles an hour. This went on until the railways forced on tho country the Red Flag Act, and it Was not until about 1800 that such an Act, which had put back road transport in England by a century, was repealed. "Wo in New Zealand," Mi1. Belton said, "should remove all obstacles in (ho way of development, especially, in i'egard to transport. *'