In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23682, 3 December 1938, Page 8

In Town And Out

Safety On Road And Water Residents of Invercargill will have the opportunity of enjoying some intensive instruction in self-preservation next week. Two campaigns—a road safety week and a learn-to-swim week

—will be under way at the same time. From Monday until Saturday, therefore, persons will be able to divide their time between acquiring a knowledge of how to behave on the roads, whether as a motorist or as a pedestrian, and learning, through swimming, another form of self-preservation. Brief Thunderstorm

A sharp drop in the temperature occurred after a brief thunderstorm in Invercargill yesterday afternoon. The morning and early afternoon were very hot. A change, no doubt welcomed by those who were finding the heat a little oppressive, came at 3.30 p.m., when distant thunder and a darkening sky presaged rain. Shoppers hurried for shelter as the first drops of rain fell, and soon a very heavy shower was beating down on the city. In a few minutes it was all over and a cooling southwesterly wind was blowing. At Gore yesterday 83 degrees were registered in the shade.

Sudden Change In the sweltering heat of early yesterday afternoon city policemen on duty gave an appearance of coolness by their white summer helmets, but they made a sudden dash to the police station when a shower of tropical intensity occurred about three o’clock. For the rest of the day the summer headgear was replaced by the more sombre blue better suited to a changeable climate. Shining Cuckoo Found

A good specimen of the pipiwharoroa, or shining cuckoo, was brought into The Southland Times yesterday for identification. It was found dead in a garden at Waikiwi. The pipiwharoroa is a native migratory bird which generally leaves New Zealand late in December, supposedly for New Caledonia, and returns about September.

Telegraphic Communication Interrupted Telegraphic communication between Invercargill and centres north of Edendale was interrupted at 12.30 o’clock yesterday afternoon. A tractor ran off the road near Edendale and (struck a telegraph pole, the impact breaking the wires. There was soon established a temporary circuit through Lumsden and Gore, and by 4.30 an uninterrupted service was available. It is hoped to have the lines repaired and the direct service operating this morning.

School Children And Swimming Because nearly 600 country school children have enrolled for tuition during Learn-to-Swim Week, which begins on Monday, an effort is to be made to have the instruction period continued in the following week. The staff of the municipal baths can cope with not more than 1000 attendances a day, and with the number of city school children who will be attending the various instruction sessions, as well as adult fion-swimmers, it would be impossible to cater also for the country children. It is hoped that the country children will be able to come in to Invercargill for instruction on two or three occasions, as one lesson, it is felt, would be insufficient. Tar Sealing At Edendale

“After the usual kind of letter the council gets it is refreshing to receive a letter like this,” remarked the chairman of the Southland County Council (Cr G. W. Whittingham) at yesterday’s meeting of the council when a letter was received from the Edendale Town Board thanking the council for the splendid job made of tar sealing the streets in the township. “The beneficial effects of the sealing were apparent during the recent high winds,” the letter added, “when the dust nuisance was conspicuous by its absence, and the business people have not been slow in expressing their approval of your action in having the sealing carried out so expeditiously.”

Learn-to-Swim Week Full arrangements have been made for Learn-to-Swim Week, which begins in Invercargill on Monday and will be continued until Saturday, and it is expected that the campaign will be an unqualified success. This statement was made yesterday by the superintendent of the municipal baths (Mr H. S. Baker). The Invercargill baths, he said, offered the best facilities in New Zealand z for those who wished to learn to swim and it was to be hoped that full advantage would be taken of them.

Secret Economic War There was a secret commercial and economic war on all the ‘time, said Mr E. V. Bevan, New Zealand representative of the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, Limited, in replying to the toast of the Mercantile Marine at a gathering of the Wellington South African War Veterans’ Association. British supremacy in commerce and on the sea was being challenged insidiously because the British had something that others wanted, and, if they were strong enough, would take. British shipping was being challenged everywhere, especially tramp shipping, by means of State subsidies, cheap shipbuilding labour and cheap money for ship construction. Minister of Peace

A resolution asking the Government to appoint a Minister of Peace, to coordinate peaceful relations with other countries, was passed at a meeting of the Peace Pledge Union of Christchurch recently. The opinion was expressed that New Zealand could lead the world in reform by the appointment of a Minister of Peace.

Refugees For Domestic Service The opinion that the freer admission to New Zealand of refugees from Europe would assist in solving the problem of providing domestic help was expressed by Miss M. G. Havelaar, president of the Christchurch branch of the National Council of Women, speaking in Christchurch in support of a proposal that the Government should be requested to facilitate the admission of European refugees into the Dominion. “We women all know that at present the demand far exceeds the supply, and those of us who are connected with the Women’s Employment Committee know that everyone who asks for work can be given a job,” she said. “Therefore I think there would be no danger in introducing a number of women to this country who would be willing to take up domestic service.”

London and New York “I think people travelling to America and England should see London before they visit New York if they want to avoid a feeling of disappointment at the first glimpse of the heart of Empire,” said Mrs Richard Hudson at a meeting of the Dunedin Travel Club. “New York was one of the cleanest cities I saw,” she said. “Its streets are washed down every night, and the beautifully modern buildings simply glisten in the sun with a clear, bright cleanliness, so different from the drabness and dirtiness which is so obvious at one’s first glimpse of London.”,

Mrs Hudson said that when she first arrived in London she was struck by the grey murkiness of so many of its streets and great buildings. The feeling persisted for two or three days, and then London captured her. After first impressions had faded there was no comparison between London and New York. One simply loved London, whereas she was simply amazed at New York. London with its traditions, its history, its quiet dignity, and its atmosphere of age was really indescribable, but it gripped the imagination in a way that New York never could, and one wondered afterwards how any thought of a comparison could ever arise.

Use for Gas Masks The immense number of gas masks which were recently issued to men, women and children in England have not all been placed aside safely for future use, according to a member of the ship’s company on the Akaroa, which arrived at Auckland from Southampton on Thursday. He said that before leaving England he had seen children in his neighbourhood being sent to shops with the gas masks for use as pails. Together with about 11 more of the crew, he had received a gas mask while the Akaroa was in London and he still had it with him. Several people of his acquaintance, he said, had received two masks in the rush to distribute them. .