In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23227, 16 June 1937, Page 6

In Town And Out

Attendances at Baths The attendances at the Municipal Baths during May had remained at a very steady average, the baths superintendent (Mr H. S. Baker) stated in his monthly report to the City Council last evening. It was estimated by Mr Baker that the daily admissions would be approximately from 50 to 70. Reduction in Electricity Charges A reduction of electricity charges for consumers was decided on at last night’s meeting of* the City Council. The Trading Committee recommended that the present system of adding a surcharge of 10 per cent, to electricity accounts be abolished and that a discount of 5 per cent, be approved as from the August meter readings.

Periodic Invasions by Ants One of the perplexing and recurring problems of some parts of suburban Auckland is a periodic invasion by apts, and in some homes the industrious insects make regular visits. They come and go in a mysterious way, and in some instances their appearance may be of only a temporary nature. Obviously in search of food, they come in battalions, and show a decided preference for anything that is sweet. Some houses in a street may entirely escape the visitations, while to others they come regularly.

Misguided Economy Speaking at the opening of the Training College assembly hall at Auckland, the .Minister of Education (the Hon. P. Fraser) had something to say on misguided economy that met with a warm response from his audience. “When I see some of our schools,” he said, “and the conditions under which thousands of our children are being taught, and the over-crowded classrooms and the deplorable nature of some of the teachers’ houses, I am driven quite frankly to say that the idea that you can build up a country by starving education is a very foolish one.” No Trams in Taihape The explanation that there were no tram-cars in Taihape was given by counsel in the Magistrate’s Court at Wellington the other day as the reason for his client, a motor salesman from Taihape, parking on a tram stop. “Theoretically, visitors are supposed to know the city by-laws,” said Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M., who presided. “A motor salesman, of all people, should know the motoring and parking by-laws,” said Sub-Inspector C. E. Roach, who prosecuted. “The public need to be protected from such ignorance.” The defendant was fined 5/- and costs.

Issue of Driving Licences The proposed assumption of the issuing of driving licences by the Post Office was mentioned by the South Island Motor Union at its meeting in Christchurch, but the executive agreed with its chairman, Mr W. R. Carey, that there was “too much meat in it to be digested at one sitting,” and a committee was appointed to prepare a report. Mr H. C. Harley declared that some local bodies had “a good thing in this.” “Some are receiving up to £lOOO from driving licences, and they are making a handsome profit by bagging what is left after paying the bare costs,” he said. “Of course, some are spending more than they receive.” Fourpence Halfpenny For Ten

Answering recent criticism of the fees paid to the directors at the annual meeting of the Southland Building Society last night, Mr R. J. Cumming, one of the directors, showed the shareholders that actually they were paying the directors only 4Jd a year a share for the whole 10 Erectors. “For 10 goodlooking able-bodipd young men,” he said amid laughter, “you pay 4|d per annum. Do you think that you are paying too much?” He added that it was the size of the institution that made the honorarium. Their institution was earning £69,000 a year- and the directors were not getting too much. There was not another institution anywhere that was run as economically as the Southland Building Society.

Consolidation of Unions Two conferences have already been held by representatives of the 11 timber workers’ unions in the Dominion to arrange for the consolidation of these unions, and another conference is to take place in Wellington on June 25. It is expected that this conference will complete the formation of a New Zealand Timber Workers’ National Union, with the present district unions as affiliated branches. If a national union is formed it will control all activities for securing awards or conducting disputes, and this, it is considered, will have the advantage of providing uniform wages and conditions, and of reducing the time spent by. conciliation commissioners and the Arbitration Court on timber workers’ disputes. Press and the Farmer A remit that all meetings of the Farmers’ Union be held in committee met with little support at "the annual conference of North Taranaki branches of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union at Inglewood. The remit was sponsored by the Toko branch. It was pointed out that criticism of the Press was not intended. Sometimes, however, things did get into the papers prematurely. Again, sometimes a matter got publicity at one meeting, while another meeting which expressed opposing views was not reported. The general reply was that the publicity given by the Press was invaluable. It served to keep members who did not attend meetings in touch with the workings of the union. Building Society Ballot Papers

The risk of ballot papers going astray was mentioned by Dr. J. Garfield Crawford at the annual meeting of the Southland Building Society last night. “It seems to me,” Dr Crawford said, “that the average shareholder on receiving a ballot paper must come to the conclusion that there is a distinct possibility of the paper not being received by a legitimate shareholder. I received mine in an open envelope and the paper was not marked in any way. There seems to be a weakness in that system.” He suggested that it would be safer if the directors were numbered and their numbers were placed on the ballot paper. The chairman (Mr A. S. Froggatt) said that they would think tire matter over. They would probably be able to devit e some means to make the system safer. Tennis Teams to Tour “We have sent away from this country teams of players of every other sport} but very few tennis teams nave gone abroad. This will be a great incentive to our players,” declared Mr J. Mercer, chairman of the management committee of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association, at the quarterly meeting of delegates, when commending the decision of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association to send _ a team, either of juniors or of Dominion representative players, to Australia each year. He said it was 10 or 12 years since a New Zealand representative team had visited Australia, and players had been neglected in this respect Recently, however, the management committee ip Wellington had decided to

send teams every year. This year a team of girls under 21 years would be sent and would compete in the New South Wales junior tournament.