CHRISTCHURCH NEWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18583, 2 June 1930, Page 13

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS.

(Prom Our Own Correspondent.) IN AND ABOUT THE CITY. CHRISTCHURCH, June 1. Customs Revenue. The net Customs revenue collected in Christchurch in the past month was £86.379 2s 3d, a decrease of £3175 0s lid, compared with May last year, and £8026 18s 8d more than was collected in the month of April. The amount of beer duty collected was £6701 13s, being £ll7 9s 7d more than the total for May last year. There was a decrease of £5639 11s 7d in the amount of petrol tax collected, but the tyre duty collected showed an increase of £192 Is. Junior High School. That there will very shortly be a junior high school in Christchurch was the opinion expressed by Mr M. M’Leod, the retiring senior inspector of schools in Canterbury, at a farewell function given in his honour by the school teachers. Mr M’Leod said that in some things New Zealand led the world. In the education system New Zealand was far behind, but was catching up. Progress was being made in the education system, and he would watch the new movements which were instituted with a great deal of interest. Great progress had been made and greater progress would be made in the future. The junior high school had to come. He was a believer in the system. It would be cheaper, and there would be one set of apparatus. 1-Ie looked forward to the time when craft work would be compulsory. There should be separate work-rooms for boys and girls. The new junior high school, said Mr M’Leod, would be at Milne Street, in Spreydon. Five-Storey Building. Tendsrs are to be invited at an early? date for the erection of a five-storey * office building in Hereford Street, oposite the Union Bank, on a site having a frontage of 50ft. and a depth of 100 ft. The building is to be erected for a syndicate, and plans are now in course of preparation. Provision is to be made for a sixth storey if necessary. The old building now standing on the site will shortly be demolished. A big commercial firm in Christchurch will occupy ‘part of the ground floor, which will be elaborately fitted up. There will be two other suites of offices on the ground floor, while the upper floors will divide to suit the needs of tenants. By an unusual system of electric wiring it will be possible to switch the points round to suit any arrangement of offices or any number of tenants. The new building will be the first arc-welded steel frame structure to be erected in Christchurch, although this type of construction is now extensively adopted in other cities. The steel frame will be enclosed in concrete, and the building will be fireproof throughout. Central heating will be installed, the boiler having an automatic stoker which will maintain an even temperature.