In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23346, 2 November 1937, Page 8

In Town And Out

Water Purification Plant Although certain formalities have been completed for the issue of a requisition by the Department of Health on the Invercargill City Council for the installation of a water purification plant, the requisition itself has not yet been served. ‘ Until this is done no further steps can be taken. Request Declined The Bluff Harbour Board, in a letter to the town clerk of Invercargill (Mr W. F. Sturman) has declined a request for financial support for a centennial memorial for Southland. The board states that although it is sympathetic towards the proposal, it considers, that such a matter does not come within its province and has decided to take no action. Alteration of Boundaries A commission to inquire into the proposed alterations of boundaries in South Invercargill will open in Invercargill on November 10, when Mr W. H. Freeman, S.M., will preside. The proposals are to bring within the city boundary an area enclosed by Kew road to Elies road and then south along Elies road to half way down the centre of Vernon street, turning north again to the Seaward Bush railway. An Excellent Nucleus “I do not know of many districts as rich as Southland in historical interest,” said Mr R. A. Falla, curator of the Canterbury museum, in an address to the University Association of Southland last evening. “You have an excellent nucleus in the way of a collection in your museum,” he added. “Natural history has the strongest representation, but there are also some good exhibits of Maori life and of historical matter relating to Southland.”

Support for Museum “The idea of an association of representative supporters for a museum is not a new one,” said the Mayor (Mr John Miller) in an interview with The Southland Times yesterday, when referring to a letter published yesterday suggesting the formation of a Museum Trust. “1 understand that the Auckland Museum, in addition to a subsidy from the city, has a Museum , Association which consists of some 600 members, from which it receives about £6OO a year.” Sir Thomas Wilford

A number of requests that he stand for Parliament at the next general election have been declined by Sir Thomas Wilford. “I have had two deputations, one from the Wairarapa and one from the new Suburbs seat, which latter I represented for a number cf years when the present electorate of Hutt was known as Wellington Suburbs, and I have also had many requests from all sections of my old electorate of Hutt, but I have no desire to return to the arena of party politics,” said Sir Thomas to The Dominion, Wellington.

Training to Music Athletes training at Rugby Park last evening carried out their jogging and sprinting practice to music. It was not a novel training scheme that was responsible for this. The Battalion Band and the Caledonian Pipe Band of Invercargill were practising, there for a pipe and brass bands’ contest, which is shortly to be held in Dunedin. At one stage runners must have been put out of their stride. The Battalion Band, at full strength, was swinging along to a stirring march whenjthe shrill wail of bagpipes was heart? from behind the grandstand, where a lone piper was practising. The two forms of music did not blend.

Not a Shining Cuckoo A variation of the popular pastime of reporting to the newspapers the advent of the shining cuckoo was mentioned by Mr R. A. Falla, curator of the Canterbury Museum, to the University Association of Southland last evening. Mr Falla said that a woman had rung him up and told him that she had just seen one in her garden. “It looked like a thrush,” she said, “but it wasn’t because it definitely said ‘cuckoo’ twice.” “I reluctantly concluded that if it said ‘cuckoo’ twice it must have been a trush,” Mr Falla added, “because a shining cuckoo never says ‘cuckoo’.” He then whistled the notes of the shining cuckoo and those of the thrush to illustrate the difference.

Excavator Meets Obstacle An effective demonstration of the ruthless efficiency of modern machinery was interrupted yesterday morning when the excavator which is working in the Post Office square struck something it could not tear from the earth. It was a 600 “pair” telephone cable—containing 600 pairs of wires—of which the officials of the Post and Telegraph Department had no record. “Probably it was in use in the early telephone exchange,” the Chief Postmaster (Mr F. G. Nind) told The Southland Times. With this obstacle out of the way, however, the excavator went on to show what it could accomplish. At 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon it had made a hole about 27 feet square and 20 feet deep. The excavation work is preparing the way for strong rooms, boiler rooms and cable conduits.

“No Admittance” to Square A “No admittance” sign had to be erected outside the entrance to the Post Office square yesterday afternoon. Until this was done there was an almost continuous stream of people into the square to watch the excavator at work tearing up the ground for the foundations and cellars of the new Post Office. The efficient manner in which the machine went about the work which in former years would have occupied a small army of workmen for some weeks held a fascination for everyone. The gargantuan “bites” of the big shovel and the dexterous manner in which jt was manipulated kept the attention of spectators for as long as they could afford to linger, and when admittance to the square was forbidden there were still many who watched the machine from the opening in the hoarding. Others peered at awkward angles over the hoarding, while adventurous small boys sat on top of the wooden barricade.