CHRISTCHURCH NEWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18538, 8 April 1930, Page 8

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) IN AND ABOUT THE CITY. CHRISTCHURCH, April 7. Little Rain. The weather has again cleared, and hopes of good rains have been disappointed. The position is already serious. and pastures are suffering severely through the unseasonable drought. The Parrot Scare. Twenty-five of the twenty-six Mexican green parrots sold in Christchurch since February are dead. The remaining parrot has not yet been traced. Dr. T. Fletcher Telford, Medical Officer of Health in Canterbury, stated that all the birds had died as a result of psittacosis, a parrot disease which may prove fatal to human beings. It is believed that birds contracted the disease on the voyage from America, probably through one of the birds infecting others. The birds were part of a consignment of 75 brought to Auckland on January 21st by a dealer. Many of the birds have died in the North Island. Eighteen of the dead parrots were incinerated, and the others were buried. Every precaution has been taken by the health authorities to prevent an outbreak of the disease locally. Most of the birds died a fortnight ago, and if no signs of an outbreak occur within the next ten days, the danger should have been passed. Freezing Works Trouble. To-day all the freezing works in Canterbury were reported to be working at full strength. Reports that stopwork meetings had been held to consider whether the slaughtermen would support the strike of the men down south were denied. The secretary of the New Zealand Freezing Workers’ Federation (Mr H. C. Revell) said that the slaughtermen in Canterbury had not advised him of their views regarding the question, and he did not know how the position stood. There would be a meeting of the executive to-morrow, and the matter would most likely be discussed then. Officials of the Canterbury Freezing Companies who were approached, stated that the Canterbury Companies would support the attitude of the South Otago Company. Late Mr Martin. Mr Frederick Martin, who died suddenly in Christchurch on Sunday, aged seventy-four years, came to New Zealand from England about 1878, and filled a position with Saunders and Mcßeth, Dunedin. He joined the staff of Kirkaldie and Laing, Wellington, and went back to Dunedin to join the D. He came to Christchurch, when that Company opened a branch in this city. Later he joined the staff of J. Ballantyne and Co. about 1888. He left that firm in 1910, and visited the old country. On returning to Christchurch, he engaged in private business. He was appointed manager of Ballantyne and Co.’s Timaru branch, retiring about 1924. Abnormally High Tide. An unusually high tide, accompanied by heavy seas, swept Sumner during the greater part of the week-end, scoured the beach near Scarborough, and severely testing the strength of the recently-constructed protective wall at the boat harbour. The tide was normal again to-day. At one stage the force of the tide carried the water into the Esplanade Road. It invaded the enclosure of the Surf Club’s pavilion and the area occupied by the children’s swings at Scarborough. A good deal of scouring also took place under the pier. The tide mark on Saturday was the highest recorded for many years. The surf at New Brighton also was very heavy. Long before daybreak, the noice of the breakers pounding the beach disturbed the sleep of residents along the waterfront. When the tide started to recede again, an ugly backwash set in. The heavy swell at Lyttelton on Saturday, in addition to parting some of the mooring lines of steamers at the wharves, also cast Mrs Cook’s houseboat at Diamond Harbour adrift. The boat got as far as the rocks, but was saved from damage and towed in to the jetty.