NEWS of the DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23399, 2 November 1950, Page 6

NEWS of the DAY

“Golden Fleece” Wool Festival Napier’s publicity office plans a “Golden Fleece Week,” a wool festival similar to the recent “Blossom Week” in Hastings. The festival has the city council’s approval, and it is intended to hold the celebrations next March. Australian Cargo Held tip The Wellington Chamber of Commerce is to make immediate representations to the shipping authorities in an endeavour to expedite the shifting of accumulated cargo in Australian ports to New Zealand consignees. “Lone Pine” Descendent A small pine tree, a descendent of the famed Gallipoli “Lone Pine,” will be planted at the Napier Soldiers’ Cemetery on Sunday, November 12. The Hawke's Bay Main Body Association will conduct the planting ceremony. Increase Costs

Questioned by Mr. B. Barrington at a sitting of the Licensing Control Commission in Hamilton, a Hamilton archisaid that building costs in the city had increased by about 25 per cent since January last.

Apricot Trees Die Death has stalked young trees in Hawke's Bay’s apricot orchards and to a lesser extent in peach areas this season. The blow is a bad one to the apricot-growing industry, which has just began to bloom in Hawke’s Bay with plantings now totalling about 50 acres.

“Fearfully Short”

Telegraph poles are “fearfully short” declared the Postmaster-General. Mr. W. Broadfoot in Hamilton. Every available pole in Australia and the State forest had been obtained and four months ago he had sent to Sweden for 12,000 creosoted larchwood poles. Only recently Cabinet had authorised the manufacture of 50,000 concrete poles. Loud Speakers Banned

The Napier City Council has refused the New Zealand Communist Party’s Napier branch permission to use loudspeakers in the forthcoming local-body elections It was recalled that a similar request to use loud-speakers had been refused the Salvation Army, and the council considered the same ban should apply in the Communist Party’s case. “Real Sized Headache”

“The telephone situation has become a real sized headache, so telephoneminded has the country's population become,” said the Postmaster-General Mr. W. J. Broadfoot, in Hamilton He said that last year the department had started with 50,000 telephones short. A total of 18,000 had been added, so that at present they were only 56,000 short. New Zealand Day The New Zealand Founders’ Society after many delays has at last been successful in waiting as a deputation on the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr W. A. Bodkin, in connection with the society’s proposal to obtain official recognition of “Waitangi Day,” February 6, as “New Zealand Day” says the society’s annual report. The deputation received an encouraging reception from the Minister.

New Band Wants £3OOO The newly-constituted New Plymouth City Band, which has succeeded the former Taranaki Regimental-New Plymouth Muncipal Band is planning to raise £3OOO for new band equipment Danger of Slips The Limited Express from Auckland arrived at Wellington at 10.29 a.m. yesterday, an hour late. Owing to the danger of slips on the line over the Spiral the train was held back at National Park while the line was being inspected.—P.A. No Demand For Hotel Licences. Three reasons have been given to the Licensing Control Commission for the lack of applicants for, the four aavilable publicans’ licences in Hamilton. The National Council of the Licensed Trade submitted them as follows: The high capital cost Involved, the limiting of the prescribed areas and the granting of four licences at one time stultifying the object, solving the accommodation problem.

Grassland Production The twelfth annual conference of the New Zealand Grassland Association opened yesterday in Invercargill before 300 visitors from all parts of New Zealand. The president. Mr. P. W. Smallfield, said that by bringing together farmers, technical experts, and commercial interests the association hopes [o bring benefits to the primary industry of grassland production and consequently the community in general.— P. A.

Awatere’s Full Load Every seat was occupied when the Solent flying-boat Awatere touched down at Evans Bay from Sydney at 7.15 a.m. yesterday. It is the first time one of the flying-boats has arrived with a full complement of passengers. Besides carrying a full load, Awatere also crossed the Tasman in the fastest time made since the Sydney-Wellington service was opened last month. She completed the flight in six hours 17 minutes —2l minutes faster than the previous best. —P.A.

Church Behind Iron Curtain The sum of £2,500 has been allocated by the National Council of Churches to various projects for the assistance of churches and church leaders in Europe, particularly behind the Iron Curtain, states a message from the council. The money, which is drawn from the council's inter-church aid fund, will be used to provide standard libraries of theological and other books fbr pastors in East Germany and Austria, to assist in the training of lav church workers in East Germany and Hungary, and to provide equipment for a Greek Orthodox Society which serves about 2,500 children as well as men and women. Problem For Tramways Staff \ tramcar jumped the rails and. embedding itself (irmly in the roadway, presented a problem for the New Plymouth tramways staff yesterday afternoon It blocked two sets of rails and for about half a hour passengers had to be transhipped. Normally when a tramcar leaves the rails electric contact is restored by connecting a wire from the tram to the rail and the tramcar is rolled back to the line under its own power. This tramcar. however, had to be jacked up and have plates run under the wheels before it could be eased back and levered on to the rails.—P.A.