In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23796, 19 April 1939, Page 6

In Town And Out

Better Street Lighting The extension of the mercury arc lighting in Dee street north from Victoria avenue to the Waihopai bridge and in Tay street east to the city boundary at a cost of £l7OO was recommended to the Invercargill City Council last night by the Trading Committee. The committee suggested that the District Public Trustee be asked to release from the electricity depreciation fund the cost of the new system. It also recommended that the number and sizes of lamps in Elies road between Gala and Herbert streets be increased to give suitable lighting for a secondary road at a cost of £l5O.

Applications for Pensions Eight hundred applications for pensions and allowances under the Social Security Act have been received in Southland since the operation of the Act. These are all applications _ for new benefits and do not include existing old-age, war and othei’ pensions. Buildings at Airport

“As soon as the Public Works Department has brought the airport to the requisite standard for both summer and winter flying, it will be necessary for the policy to be decided upon for the provision of the necessary buildings,” stated a report by the Mayor (Mr J. R. Hanan) and the town clerk (Mr W. F. Sturman) presented to the City Council last night. “One method is for the council to erect the buildings, and another is to grant leases at nominal rentals, when the clubs or individuals themselves would erect the buildings. This latter method is, however, not likely to be acceptable to air-line companies. While in Wellington we conferred with the officers of the Public Works Department in the best position to advise us on the matter, and we have information which we feel will be of considerable assistance when the time to define our policy arrives.” Sales of Poppies

The poppy week campaign, organized by the Invercargill Returned Soldiers’ Association, is now under way, and it is reported that sellers are meeting with a good response from the public. Friday is the concluding day of the campaign and the executive of the Returned Soldiers* Association is hopeful that the final returns will be quite as good as they were last year. Electrical Imports

Support for a protest by the Central Waikato Electric-power Board, complaining about the serious effect that the import restrictions would have on electrical appliances and equipment was given by the City Council last night. The letter asked that should the council consider that the restrictions would prove detrimental to its electricity department, the council co-operate in an endeavour to have the restrictions on British-made appliances and equipment lifted until such time as the New Zealand manufacturers could supply the demand. Free Use of Theatre

The Invercargill Returned Soldiers’ Association last evening made application to the City Council for the free use of the Civic Theatre for the holding of an afternoon service to commemorate Anzac Day on April 25 and for free use of the theatre for a concert in .the evening. The requests were granted, and permission w as also given to hold a street day on Friday for the sale of poppies. The City Council also decided to make a donation of £5 5/- to the Poppy Day appeal fund. No Restrictions on Books “Restrictions on the importation of books have been removed,” stated a clause in the report of the chief librarian (Mr H. B. Farnall) to the Invercargill City Council last night. The sending of books abroad for binding would come under the heading of imported books Tamatea’s Timetable Because of the big quantity of cased fish required to be shipped from Stewart Island to Bluff a't present, it has been found necessary to change the time of the Tamatea’s departure from Bluff on Mondays only. The vessel will now leave Bluff at 9 o’clock every Monday morning during the fishing season, although the usual schedule will be maintained for the rest of the week. The early sailing will allow more time to load the fish and will also enable the vessel to return to Bluff a little earlier. Revenue from Theatre Receipts from bookings of the Civic Theatre and Victoria Hall were greater for the year just closed than for the previous year, according to a report by the town clerk (Mr W. F. Sturman) presented to the Invercargill City Council last night. Rent of the theatre for pictures showed an increase of from £321 to £531 15/-, but other bookings fell from £707 to £690. The total revenue was £1613 14/1 compared with £l3Bl 12/9 for the previous year. Revenue from Victoria Hall was £l5B 2/6 compared with £154 18/6.

Dominion Dairy Conference Matters of lively interest to dairy farmers are to be discussed at the seventh Dominion Dairy Conference in Wellington today and tomorrow. The conference is to be opened by the Minister of Marketing (the Hon. W. Nash) and the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin) will also be present. The agenda contains 52 remits.— Press Association.

Tropical Travel “Patchwork of Tropic Travel” was the title of an address given by Mr G. J. Reed at the Invercargill Rotary Club’s luncheon yesterday. Mr Reed gave brief glimpses of the most notable features of tropical countries in the Pacific, taking his hearers on an imaginary cruise. In a few words he presented vivid pictures of the beautiful islands and countries in the tropics and held the interest of the members. A vote of thanks was moved by Dr A. T. McCaw.

City Council Congratulated Congratulations to the Invercargill City Council on its decision to improve facilities in Victoria Hall for concerts were extended last evening by the Invercargill Male Choir in a letter received at the council meeting. “We trust,” the letter added, “that when the improvements are completed, the expense involved will prove to be well justified.”

Petition to Council At the meeting of the City Council last night an application was received from Mr W. Black with a petition containing 110 signatures, asking for permission to erect a fruit, confectionery and grocery store, at 22 Exmouth street, North Invercargill. A report from the city engineer (Mr F. M. Corkill) stated that he had declined the application under a clause which prohibited the building of any other building in front of a dwelling. The question of zoning also arose, this being a special residential district. Cr A. Scott moved that the petition lie on the table and that the application be considered by the council representatives on the Town-

Planning Committee. The motion was i carried.

Miller Memorial Fund A contribution of £lO to the John Miller Memorial Fund was made by the Invercargill City Council last night Mixed or “Stag”? Whether the annual dinner of the Southland section of the New Zealand Alpine Club should be for men only or whether it should be open to both sexes was discussed at the annual meeting of the section last evening. The advantages of a “stag” dinner were argued but the advocates of a more decorous function with perhaps a male “get-together” later were successful when the question was put to the meeting. Pipe Band Carnival A meeting of supporters and friends of the Invercargill Pipe Band was held in the United Friendly Societies’ Hall. Mr T. M. Rankin, presided over a fair attendance. The recommendations of the executive committee, set up at a meeting held on April 3, were placed before the meeting and all were adopted. It was decided that the proposed carnival take the form of a district princess carnival in the three districts, north, south and central, the winning princess to be declared the carnival queen. Conveners for the three districts were appointed and sub-committees are to be formed in each district. The Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry) was written to for permission to hold an art union of a value of £2O. The sub-committees appointed in the three districts have been asked to appoint their own princesses.