In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 22992, 11 September 1936, Page 8

In Town And Out

Summer Time. A Gazette notice published last night contained an announcement that summer time will begin at two o’clock New Zealand standard time on the morning of Sunday, September 27, and will end at two o’clock on the morning of Sunday, April 25, 1937.—Press Association. Riverton Centenary. That interest in the forthcoming Riverton centenary is not confined to Southland was shown at a meeting of the Centenary Committee at Riverton last evening. Letters were received from former residents of Riverton in various parts of New Zealand. All asked for particulars about the form the celebrations were to take and expressed enthusiasm in the project to fittingly honour the town’s first “century.” Cargo by the Cape Horn. “This result can be put down to the efforts of the chamber,” commented Mr H. F. Drewe, chairman of the shipping committee of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce, when reporting to yesterday’s meeting on the cargo of the Cape Horn. This boat will bring 1051 tons of general cargo from the Pacific Coast ports of the United States to Bluff. The chairman (Mr J. H. Reed) said that the result was very gratifying, particularly as the steamer had started with only 300 tons for Bluff. Blaze at Riverton. Fire completely destroyed a large two-storeyed residence at Riverton last evening. The outbreak occurred shortly after 10 o’clock and in a few minutes was blazing fiercely. A bucket brigade concentrated its efforts on saving adjoining sheds, and the spread of the fire to nearby buildings. The house, a very old wooden building, was situated at the northern end of Palmerston street. It was owned and occupied by Mrs T. R. Winton. Nothing was saved. Five-Day Week. A working week of five days is to apply to all departments of the Christchurch City Council. This decision was made at a meeting on Tuesday of the departmental committee of the council, and will be put into effect immediately. Thus neither the _ City Council offices nor the Municipal Electricity Department’s offices will in future be open on Saturday mornings. The action of the committee will be reported to the next meeting of the council for confirmation, and this, it is believed, will be given, as the council a week ago decided that the Municipal Electricity Department should be closed on Saturday mornings.

The Milford Track. The Milford Track will this year again be popular with tourists, Mr J. A. Pickford, the officer-in-charge of the Invercargill branch of the New Zealand Tourist Department, told The Southland Times yesterday that the direct boat from Melbourne would be well patronized by Australian tourists. Many had already booked passages. The track was to be opened on November 14 and would close at the end of March. To ensure that the worldfamous tourist walk would maintain its reputation in the coming season, track hands would be employed long before the opening date in repairing any damage winter had left in its wake. Several improvements, which included the building of new bridges, had also been made since last season.

South Island Travel Association. An income of £5OOO per annum is the sum required by the South Islands Travel Association of New Zealand to enable that body to function properly. This information was conveyed by circular letter to the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Contributions and subscriptions to the association are to be entirely on a voluntary basis, with a special appeal to the private interests and organizations which benefit by and desire to develop tourist traffic and travel, as well as to local bodies. “The success or failure of the association now very largely depends on the financial support forthcoming immediately,” concluded the letter. The chamber decided to write to the other South Island chambers to see what attitude they were taking up on the question of a donation or subscription. Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm for athletic sports is not confined to the younger generation. This was made apparent by a letter received by the Riverton Centenary Committee last night from a Southlander who preferred to remain anonymous. “I see that you intend to hold various sporting contests,” the letter stated. “I hope that you have not overlooked an old-timers’ race. Such an event would, I am sure, arouse great interest. I would suggest a Southland championship race for men between 50 and 55 years of age, and I would be prepared to donate a guinea towards the prize money. And, of course, I would be a competitor—not to gain laurels of victory, but to see whether others are weathering the storm of life as well as I am.” It was decided that the. letter be referred to the sports committee. Te Anau Hatchery Praised. In reporting to the council of the Southland Acclimatization Society last night on a visit recently made to all the hatcheries between Te Anau and Christchurch, including the salmon hatchery of Hakataramea, the curator at Te Anau (Mr C. J. Evans) stated that he had gained much valuable information. One of the most outstanding points which he had observed was the conditions under which the Otago and Christchurch hatcheries had to operate. “In comparing the surroundings of those two hatcheries and those of the Te Anau hatchery, your society can congratulate itself on its choice of a suitable site in conjunction with ideal water,” said Mr Evans. “While the buildings are not pretentious the surroundings and conditions under which operations are carried out more than compensate for the lack of luxury and comfort.”

With Power to Act. “I will move that the matter be left in the hands of the secretary with power to act,” remarked the president of the Southland Acclimatization Society (Mr J. Robertson) amid laughter when at last night’s meeting of the council the secretary (Mr D. Cuthbertson) stated that he had received a voting paper relating to the disposal of the Southland Electric Power Board’s scheme to the Government. Circulars from both the Minister of Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) and the board were attached to the voting paper. “I presume it is a secret ballot?” said Mr Cuthbertson. The chairman’s suggestion was adopted. At a later stage in the meeting Mr Cuthbertson caused laughter again when he said that he was somewhat worried over the voting and suggested that he should exercise the vote under instructions from Messrs J. Gilkison and W. Grieve (members of the council). “And I’ll move that Messrs Meek and Smith be the referees, 1 ’ said Mr Eustace Russell. The chairman smilingly remarked that he would rule out of order all further motions other than a resolution that the matter be not reopened.

Avoiding Earthquake Dangers. The opinion that earthquakes throughout the world caused the deaths of about one-sixth as many persons as motor vehicles did was expressed by Mr H. F. Baird, of the staff of the Magnetic Observatory in Christchurch, in describing a new form of seismograph. Mr Baird said that the latest type of seismograph was not employed in New Zealand. The great advance of the Benioff seismograph was the method of obtaining magnifications up to 100,000 times the original. Previously there were few seismographs of which the magnification exceeded 1000. Corn, monly used instruments neither recorded nor traced smaller earthquakes, Mr Baird said. The new seismograph did both. Dr R. S. Allan said that since New Zealand was situated in a seismic zone it would always be subject to earthquakes. “I think it is our duty to press for the purchase of new instruments which will enable us in any way at all to combat the earthquake menace in New Zealand,”, he said.