CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19836, 27 June 1934, Page 14

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

ITEMS FROM THE CITY Personal: Mr , H - p - Lawr y< S.M., who has been relieving in the Magistrate’s Court at Wellington, will return to Christchurch on Thursday. A motion of sympathy with the relatives of the late Mr R. E. English was passed at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Bowling Club last evening. Mr W. McHardy Forman, general manager in New Zealand for General Motors, Ltd., arrived from the north this morning. The Hon. Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, M.L.C., will leave for Wellington tomorrow night to be present at the opening of the Parliamentary session. Mr F. M. Martin, secretary to the Municipal Association, met with an accident in Wellington on Thursday evening. When crossing Jervois Quay he was struck by a motor-car, but no bones were broken. Suspension Lifted: The Canterbury Amateur Cycling Centre decided last evening, after a discussion lasting for two and a-half hours, that the suspension on the Avon Amateur Cycling Club be lifted, provided the club is prepared to adhere to the programme of races drawn up by the centre. Last week the club was suspended by the centre until the centre had inquired into charges against it that it had conducted a club race on a day set aside for an open race and that its members had canvassed for members among other clubs. Mr C. D. Doyle presided over an attendance of 12 members. Farmers’ Refresher Course: From points as far north as Gisborne and as far south as Invercargill have come farmers and prospective farmers to attend the short course at the Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln. The College is accommodating thirty-five of the fifty men, and the rest are staying in Christchurch, or nearer Lincoln. The course opened today with lectures from 9 a.m. till 4.15 p.m., and will conclude on Friday. July 6. All aspects of farming will be dealt with by the College lecturers. A public field day on Thursday, July 5, will mark the practical termination of the course. Free demonstrations on cattle, sheep, horses and pigs will be given by well-known Canterbury judges.

The Women Object: Women object to having to state, every time they take out driving licenses, what their age is, Cr. C. G. McKellar stated at the meeting of the Riccarton Borough Council last evening, when he urged that it was foolish to ask applicants to state their ages each year. The only persons who were any the wiser through the answers to the questions were a few local body clerks. The Transport Department’s regulations, it was stated, defined the procedure to be followed in granting licenses. Mr H. S. S. Kyle, M.P.. was asked to approach the Transport Department in Wellington in an effort to have the regulations altered, and the Town Clerk (Mr R. Serjeant) was instructed to ask future applicants for licenses only if they were above the minimum age. Restoring Wage Cuts: The Riccarton Borough Council last evening discussed briefly the question of restoring wages cuts or portion of the cuts, but deferred the matter till a report on the cost of such a step could be prepared. Cr. S. B. Kershaw advanced the question. Many local bodies had restored the cuts, he commented. The Mayor (Mr H. S. S. Kyle, M.P.): Well, we have already fixed our estimates, and this question would have a bearing on the estimates. The Mayor said some local bodies had restored 5 per cent, of the cuts and others 10 per cent. Cr. H. W. Wise suggested that the Town Clerk (Mr R. Serjeant) report on the cost to the council of the restoration of 5 per cent, of the cut to employees earning under £2OO, and this was adopted. Cr. T. M. Ford: I take it we cannot do anything this year? The Mayor: We will have to discuss that when the report comes down. The Mayor remarked that the question had been given some consideration in committee. Charges of Shoplifting: Two young women, whose names were suppressed, faced separate shoplifting charges in the Magistrate’s Court this morning. One girl, 20 years of age, stole goods worth 13/3, and the other, 17 years of age, stole a bag worth 8/6. Each of the accused was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within six months. A member of the Christchurch Women’s Unemployment Committee, in making a plea for the younger girl, said that she had been found employment by the committee. She cycled a long distance to work every day. Counsel for the elder girl said that she was earning 30/- to £2 a week, and was' helping to keep her sisters and brothers. Waterfront Busy at Kaiapoi: While several vessels remain idle at Lyttelton the port of Kaiapoi works at top pressure with no waterside disputes to hold up operations. With two vessels, the Foxton and the scow Ngahau, berthed near the bridge, the port to-day presented a busier scene than has been witnessed on the waterfront at Kaiapoi for many years. Both vessels are loading potatoes, bran, chaff and flour for Wellington, and it was expected that the Foxton would get away this afternoon. The Foxton arrived at Kaiapoi yesterday afternoon from Lyttelton, and no difficulty was experienced in getting over the bar and up the river. Two gangs were put on to load a cargo of about 150 tons, and operations continued this morning. The Ngahau arrived this morning and berthed alongside the Foxton and a start was made immediately with loading. She will probably get away to-morrow for Wellington. It is anticipated that both vessels will be kept busy for some time shipping potatoes to the North Island. “Narrow-minded” Members: The Labour members of the Christchurch Tramway Board were called “ungenerous and narrow-minded” at the meeting of the Riccarton Borough Council last evening, when their action at the board meeting yesterday when they refused to support a motion congratulating the Hon. W. Hayward on his appointment to the Legislative Council, was discussed briefly. Cr. R. G. Malcolmson referred to the excellent job that had been made of the work in Riccarton Road. He had thought of asking the council to send a letter of congratulation to the Tramway Board. “But after reading in the paper to-

night what an ungenerous and nar-row-minded lot most of the members are, it is not worth going on with,” he said. “You would have thought they would have been a little more generous in their outlook.” Cr. F. S. Wilding: Why do you not move a motion of congratulation? The Mayor (Mr H. S. S. Kyle, M.P.): Well, the man concerned has never been a member of this council, of course. Cr. Malcolmson said he thought it better to drop the whole subject. “After all, what they did was probably only what is to be expected of political aspirants of their type,” he said. “It was all political.” The Mayor asked if there were any further business, and. receiving no response, closed the discussion by declaring the council adjourned.