NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27387, 12 May 1950, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Beautification Of Highways An item of £225 for “the beautification of highways and highway depots,” on the estimates before the annual meeting of the No. 13 District Highways Council in Christchurch was explained by the chairman, Mr W. F. Young, as an introduction of the subject. Little thought had yet been given, he said, to what was actually going to be done. The Ashburton County was, however, a notable, example of what could be done, and he invited other local bodies to give a little thought to improving highways. Trees could be planted and approaches to streams cleared to give motorists better access to shelter and water. City Water Supply The water storage in the city reservoirs fell by 930,000 gallons in the 24 hours ended at 8 a.m. yesterday, leaving a total of 103,621,000 gallons. Power Saving For the first three days this week, the total allocation of electricity for Dunedin was exceeded by 3.72 per cent. Transport Licensing The sitting of the No. 4 Transport Licensing Authority started in Dunedin at 9.30 a.m. yesterday and finished soon after mid-day. The sitting was scheduled to continue today, but as all the business was completed yesterday, the authority has decided to return to Christchurch this morning. “ We Are Hard Up ” “The Railways Department is very hard up and we need all your traffic,” Mr J. D. McDonald said, amidst laughter, at a sitting of the No. 4 Transport Licensing Authority in Dunedin yesterday. He was opposing an application by Southern Fisheries, Ltd., for a licence to operate road transport instead of using the facilities provided by the Railways Department. Dear Coal Domestic coal prices in Christchurch were increased by 2s a bag on Wednesday by the North Canterbury Coal Merchants’ Association. The new prices range from 7s 9d a bag for slow coal to 8s 5d for the highest grade of fast coal. The president of the association, Mr A. O. Hahn, explained that the increase had been made to cover the higher mine prices, which came into effect on Monday, and also to meet the effects of the 33 1-3 per cent, increase in rail freight rates, which would operate from next Monday.

Oranje Back In Service Remembered by many New Zealand ex-servicemen in her role of hospital ship, the Dutch liner Oranje is now, for the first time, in service on the run she was orginally designed for, between the Netherlands and Indonesia. About to start on he r maiden voyage when war was declared, the Oranje did not see service as a passenger ship until comparatively recently. She is now back in her peacetime appointments, a feature of- which is the versatility tfff her public rooms and cabins. They have been designed to cope with the extreme range of climates met in voyages from the North Sea to the equator. Unusual features are the copper floor in the ballroom and alabaster plaques, some of them of Dutch Royalty, on the walls of some of the public rooms. Interest In Religion “ There are definite signs in England of a quickening of interest in religion,” said the Archdeacon of Manchester, the Ven. A. Selwyn Bean, in an interview in Christchurch. Archdeacon Bean will be the official representative of the Church of England at the centennial church congress which will be held in Christchurch later this month. One of the reasons for the reawakening of interest in religion was the important place given to church matters in BBC programmes, Archdeacon Bean considered. Through the broadcasting of services and religious talks the interest of people outside the churches had been quickened. The press was also sensing the increasing interest of people in religious matters and the big daily papers were now giving much more space to articles of a religious nature and to information on church matters.