CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19933, 18 October 1934, Page 4

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

ITEMS FROM THE CITY CHRISTCHURCH, October 17. Personal : The Deputy-Mayor of Christchurch (the Rev. J. K. Archer) returned from Wellington by the Maori to-day. Mr H. V. Thorne, of the South British Insurance Company, has been transferred to the firm’s Johannesburg branch. He will leave Christchurch on October 24. Mr D. C. Kidd has been re-elected unopposed as a member of the Canterbury Land Board, representing the Crown Tenants. Sympathy with the relatives of the late Mr H. Ruddenklau, of Waimate, was expressed at the annual meeting of the electoral committee of the United Wheatgrowers’ Association to-day. Influenza Epidemic: School attendances are still depleted, many city business houses are working with short staffs, and in some cases, whole families are m bed as the result of the wave of influenza which has swept over Christchurch in the past few weeks. Certainly, attendances at schools and colleges are in most cases better than they were a week or so ago; but on the other hand, it appears that the sickness is now affecting grown-ups more than children. “Although it is not quite so bad as it was at the end of the autumn, I have found that the amount of influenza r s increasing. There are a great many more cases now than there were about a week ago,” said one Christchurch doctor to a reporter. “It seems to go in waves over the town, and while some schools may not be so much affected now as they have been, I think that more grown-ups are suffering from the sickness.” Mortars for Infantry: The 3in Stokes mortars, with which a platoon in the support company of the Ist Battalion. Canterbury Regiment, is to be equipped, arrived in Christchurch to-day in time for the Labour week-end bivouac at Balcairn. These weapons, which are the most modern of their type in the Dominion, have a range of 900 yards and a rate of fire of 25 rounds a minute when manned by an efficient crew. One of the reasons for the introduction of these weapons into an infantry unit, Captain W. Murphy, M.C., told a reporter to-day, is to give the officcer in command of the infantry unit a weapon under his own direct control with which to meet any unexpected enemy opposition. The mortars will, to some extent, replace close support artillery, but the range and trajectory of the mortar will not permit of its use in barrage work.

Memorial to Mr J. McCombs: The Christchurch City Council’s commemoration of the work of the late Mr J. McCombs, for many years a member of the City Council and the House of Representatives, will be a memorial garden in Woolston Park. Work is now in hand in the preparing and planting of the area. The late Mr McCombs always took a great interest in the progress of the district and was held in high esteem by the residents, Cr. T. H. Butterfield, chairman of the Reserves Committee, said to-day, when explaining the reason for the choice of Woolston Park as the site for the memorial. The McCombs Memorial Garden would front Richardson Terrace, he said. The slope, which was practically waste ground before, was being terraced. A hedge was being planted across the top of the slope to separate the park grounds from the memorial garden.

The slope will be laid out in garden, divided in half by a path, which will lead to a flight of steps about halfway down. A memorial tablet, briefly inscribed, will be erected on the first terrace there.

The pathway will then lead down to Richardson Terrace, along which frontage a low stone wall is being built, similar to the one which has been built on the boundar- of the park on Ferry Road. Native shrubs and flowers will be planted on both sides of the central pathway. It is not yet certain when the formal dedication ceremony of the garden and tablet will be held.

Burglars in City House: Burglars broke into the residence of Mr R. B. Brown, 323, Cambridge Terrace, last evening, and stole a number of articles of jewellery, including a gold watch, pencil and a locket. The theft had the appearance of being the aftermath of a party as an empty whisky bottle was found on the back garden. A back window had been forced, and a good deal of disorder had been caused by the thieves in their search for valuables. Motor-Vehicle Registration: For the registration year which began last May, the total number of motor-vehicles registered in Christchurch is still ahead of the figure at the corresponding stage last year, though in the period from October 1 to October 15, registrations were fewer this year than last. Up to September 30 this year, registrations totalled 12,177. From October 1 to October 15, there were 564 further registrations, bringing the total up to 12.741. In the October 1-15 period last year. 597 motor-vehicles were registered. Unsettled Weather: The weather of yesterday and today has not been very encouraging. Yesterday there were occasional patches of sunshine, but at 5 o’clock in the afternoon the temperature began to fall, and a shower of rain fell about 7 o’clock. That was all the rain there was, O.Olin, but the temperature continued to fall until 5 o’clock this morning, when it was 46.7. At 9 o’clock, though, it was up to 64.2, but it has been falling steadily ever since. At 1.30 o’clock it was 57.6. The skies to-day were blacker than ever, the only bright patch being the north-west arch. Mission Fund Benefits: Under the will of Mr Samuel Farquhar, who died at the Styx on September 27 last, the Public Trustee is appointed executor and trustee. Subject to certain trusts affecting the income arising in the estate, the Methodist Church Foreign Mission Fund is bequeathed the residue of the income and a legacy of £IOOO.

Wheat Purchase Board: The retention of the Wheat Purchase Board is urged in a communication to the Prime Minister framed at a meeting of the electoral committee of the United Wheatgrowers’ Association (N.Z.) this morning. The communication is as follows: “That this meeting of the electoral committee of the United Wheatgrowers’ Association (N.Z.), elected by and representing all wheatgrowers, urges the Government to continue the operations of the Wheat Purchase Board for the following reasons: “Wheatgrowers are much perturbed at the present signs of a war among millers, and feel that without adequate facilities for the orderly marketing of their wheat in 1935 they are likely to suffer great loss on account of price fluctuations. “The Wheat Purchase Board is at present holding over 1,500,000 bushels

of surplus wheat, and growers believe that it is desirable that this should be held in New Zealand in case of a shortage in 1935. It is yet too early even to guess what the crop now sown will yield, but it is believed that the area sown is from 240,000 to 250,003 acres.

“Even in the event of a smaller crop than is necessary for New Zealand’s requirements, there is certain danger of a collapse in price during March, April and May, when growers are most anxious to turn their produce into cash and so flood the market. Even where there is a considerable shortage in total yield the fact is not generally known as it does not become apparent until after the heavy early deliveries have been disposed of and the grower is the loser through disorganised marketing. “The members of this committee are all closely in touch with local opinion in their own districts, and can say that the continuation of the Wheat Purchase Board is desired by wheat growers. In many cases recently were asked to attend meetings prior to coming to Christchurch on this occasion, and were instructed to urge for the continuation of the board." Taxi Fares: It is regarded as practically certain that a test case will be brought in the Magistrate’s Court at an early date as a result of the operation to-day t f the new scale of fares for taxi-cabs in the city. The City Council has drawn up a scale of fares which represents an increase on the fares that have been charged in the city in recent years, and the by-law provides that a licensed taxi-cab driver shall not demand or receive an amount other than the fare prescribed for the trip taken One large taxi-cab organisation is charging the old scale of fares for private hire cars, which are engaged by ringing a depot, and the new scale for other cabs engaged from stands in the city. It is understood that there is a likelihood that the City Council will challenge the firm’s right to charge the old scale of fares for private hire cabs. Though the operation of the new scale of fares meant that the public was called upon to pay more for taxi rides than had been customary, private taxi-cab owners said to-day that there seemed to be no resentment regarding the increases. They also stated that the amount of business done was much the same as usual. Answer to Critics: A reply to critics who had said that the Wheat Purchase Board had refused to take wheat of a standard that millers were prepared to accept was made to a meeting of growers’ delegates by Mr W. W. Mulholland to-day. The explanation was that the board had to put the wheat in bulk stock, and when the moisture content exceeded 15 per cent., it was taking a definite risk to put it in bulk stock. Such wheat could not be relied upon to keep and the board, in’taking it, would be exposing all growers to risk on behalf of the individual whose wheat was accepted. If the board had accepted such wheat, it would be regarded as a standard on which to base harvesting operations for next season.

Mr Mulholland added that the moisture content difficulty was particularly serious in Southland, where they had had a rotten season —“although I think that term could be applied pretty generally,” he added. Last season’s wheat went back in condition while standing in the stack, owing to the excessive moisture in the air. This was a most unusual state of affairs in Canterbury. The Wheat Crop:

An estimate that between 240.000 and 250,000 acres were sown in wheat this season throughout New Zealand was advanced by Mr W. W. Mulholland to a meeting of wheatgrowers delegates to-day. “This is a very awkward acreage from a marketing point of view,” Mr Mulholland said. It would be well on in the season before it would be clear whether the crops would be in excess of requirements or otherwise. This was a halcyon state of affairs for speculators, but it was unsatisfactory to growers, some of whom might be in the position of having to sell their wheat for less than it was worth.