Foretaste of Jubilee Week

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 100, 1 May 1935, Page 7

Foretaste of Jubilee Week

Crowds Throng London Streets to See Decorations

CHAIN OF 750 BEACONS * (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 29. Loudon had a foretaste during the week-end of tho great crowds to be expected during Jubilco Week. Hundreds of thousands of people in cars and on foot paraded through the streets to sec the decorations and to watch the floodlighting rehearsals. So great was the crush that special police reinforcements were required to direct the traffic.

It is estimated that London’s Juiiiioe visitors will exceed 500,000, these including n great number of people from the British Dominions, as well as many from the United States and Europe. All the Dominion and other Prime Ministers in London for the Jubilee will drive in procession to St. Paul’s Cathedral for next Monday’s Thanksgiving Service.

Tho latest Dominion Prime Minister to arrive is General Ilcrtzog, who reached Southampton from Cape Town this morning. In a brief statement he conveyed cordial greetings from the people of South Africa to those of Great Britain, ending with sincere congratulations on “the great and happy event which is shortly to be commemorated throughout the Commonwealth, and which to them, no less than to you, will constitute an occasion of deep-felt joy and gratitude.’’

A chain of 750 beacons, to bo lit on Jubilee night throughout tho country, has been completed by Boy Scouts. About 10,000 tons of timber, together with tar barrels and anything else guaranteed to blaze, has been used in building these beacons. Over 3000 men, women, and boys arc taking part in relays in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, carrying Jubilee messages of loyalty to the King.

.Postal and Telegraph Concessions Announced JUBILEE PRECEDENT FOLLOWED. (British Official Wireless.) Received Tuesday, 7 p.m. RUGBY, April 29. A precedent of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, when important postal concessions took effect, will be followed on the occasion of the King’s SilverJubilee. The Postmaster-General announced in the House of Commons tiiat they will include, firstly, a reduction in the telegram charges to a new rate from May 31 of fid for nine words, with a penny for each additional word; secondly, a new parcels scale of fid for three pounds, with a penny for each additional pound up to nine pounds, and a flat rate of one shilling from nine to fifteen pounds; thirdly, an extension of tho telephone service, making the telephone by the end of 193fi as readily available in rural and remote parts of the country as in tho cities and towns, and involving the installation of an additional 1000 telephone call offices; and, finally, an improvement in Empire communications by the introduction on June 15 of an Imperial penny postcard rate, instead of three halfpence. As a special Jubilco concession between May 6 and May 31, the standard radio telephone rates between Britain and the Dominions and India will be reduced by one-half.

New Zealand to Homeland RADIO TELEPHONE CHARGES REDUCED. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, April 30. As a Silver .Jubilee concession during the period immediately following the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty the King, the Empire is l o be drawn closer together by very substantial reductions in the charges for radio telephone calls, state- the Postmaster-General (the Hon. Adam Hamilton). From the 6th to the 31st May. it has been decided by mutual arrangement between the administrations concerned to reduce the charges for radio tclegraplionc services between tho United Kingdom and 'low Zealand from £2 os to £1 2s Gd a minute, with a minimum charge of £3 7s Gd. Similar reductions are being c .cctcd in the case of calls between the United Kingdom and other parts of the Empire. Slight permanent reductions in charges for radiotelephone service between New Zealand and Ireland and between New Zealand and the Isle of Man are also being introduced. In the ease of Northern Ireland and tho Isle of Man, it is proposed as a permanent measure to reduce the basie charge from £2 7s to' £2 5s a minute, while in the case of the Irish Free State (Dublin only) the basic rate is being permanently reduced from £2 7s to £2 Gs a minute- During the Jubilee period these rates will be reduced by approximately 50 pier cent. Although the permanent charges for radio telephone service from New Zealand aro reasonable compared with those for similar services operating in other parts of the world, the Minister stated that they precluded the use of the radio telephone except for private and business conversations of the highest importance and the traffic had consequently been far below tho capacity of the available channels. No doubt during the Jubilee period much greater advantage would be taken ; of the service. Radio telephonic communication was first made available between Australia and England on the 30th April, 1930, and between Australia and New Zealand o'n the 25th November of the same year; while the complete radio link between New Zealand and tlie United Kingdom was made available on the* 23rd July, 1931; and

the service, while not used to anything like its full capacity, has been on occasions of very great value to the Government and the business community.