In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23335, 20 October 1937, Page 6

In Town And Out

Unusual Auricula Flowers An unusual stalk of auricula flowers was brought t' the office of The Southland Times yesterday by Mrs R. Frazer of Gap Road. The stalk had a freak appearance and carried 75 welldeveloped blooms, many times the average number found on" a single stalk. Native Plant Garden A suggestion from the reserves committee that the word “museum” should be dropped from the name of the proposed memorial to Mr George Jaquiery and that the area should be known as the “Jaquiery Native Plant Garden,” was adopted by the City Council at its meeting last evening. Water Purification Scheme A further step in the decision to erect a water purification plant was taken by the City Council at its meeting last evening, when, acting on the recommendatiox. of the Works Committee, the council decided to call for tenders fox - the supply, erection and setting in motion of a plant. Not Pavement Artists Two men engaged in drawing chalk marks in the middle of the street in the Crescent yesterday afternoon attracted some attention from passersby. Inquiries, however, removed any doubt whether they were pavement artists. Theix- work was a preliminary to the marking of a parking area in the centre of the street. The lines are to be painted today. Drop in Tram Revenues “I notice that there is a further substantial drop, not only in the tramway revenues, but in the number of passengers carried,” said Cr J. R. Hanan at last night’s meeting of the City Council. He asked if the chairman of the transport committee could show what progress was being made in the transport question. It was stated by the Mayor (Mr John Miller) that a meeting would be held shortly when the question would be discussed. Amateur Athletics “Amateur athletics is firmly established in New Zealand as a sport,” said Mr W. E. Mclndoe, a vice-president of the St. Paul’s Harrier and Amateur Athletic Club, at the annual dinner of the club last evening. “This year the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association will celebrate its 50th year of existence. It is a remarkable fact that the Southland Boys’ High School held athletic sports late in the 19th century long before any controlling body came into being.” Street Lighting Power poles and arms are being erected in Tay and Dee streets for reorganization of the street lighting . rvice, stated a clause in the report of the city electrical engineer (Mr A. C. Carman) to last night’s meeting of the City Council. House services in Tweed street were reorganized because of poles being changed by the Telegraph Department. Seventeen new installations, and 103 extensions had been inspected, tested, and connected to the mains. Two installations had been disconnected, and 18 premises had been measured for floor space.

Bluff’s Midday Train The fact that the daily 12.40 p.m. train from Bluff to Invercargill reaches town about 12 minutes after the departure of the express for Dxmedin has been the cause of much adverse comment at the port. As it is, residents wishing to journey to Dunedin must travel to Invercargill by an earlier train and spend a couple of hours idling about the city. Acting on complaints from a nxxmber of people inconvenienced by the time-table, the Hon. T. F. Doyle, M.L.C., recently placed the facts before representatives of the Railways Department in Wellington and received the assurance that the position would be fully investigated. It is therefore possible that an alteration will be made to allow of connection between the midday train and the express.

New Parking Place Signs The City Council decided last evening to replace as early as possible all old traffic signs in the city, which were fitted on posts in 1928 to show parking places, with new signs which have been erected in parts of the city. This decision followed a suggestion made by the city traffic inspector (Mr E. Stopford) in his report, which stated that the old signs had become obliterated and were now of no use. “In the past.” the report continued, “it has been the custom to erect wooden signs which are serviceable for a time, but with the varying atmospheric conditions the wood shrinks, the boards open and before long they become useless. I suggest that in future a trial be made with steel signs.” It was decided that 100 modern signs, as suggested by the traffic inspector, be purchased.