CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19957, 15 November 1934, Page 5

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

ITEMS FROM THE CITY CHRISTCHURCH, November 14. Personal: The Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. G, W. Forbes) has returned to Wellington. The Hon Adam Hamilton arrived from the north this morning. Mr J. M. A. Ilott, of Wellington, District Governor of Rotary in New Zealand, was the guest at luncheon of the Christchurch Rotary Club. Mr Ilott left to-day for Timaru, but will spend to-morrow in Christchurch, leaving the same evening for Wellington. The deaths of two members, Mr Charles Freeman and Mr Charles Bowley, were referred to at yesterday’s meeting of the general committee of the Canterbury Pilgrims and Early Settlers Association by the chairman, Mr E. R. Webb, who said that Mr Bowley would be remembered as an oldtim pedestrian. Motions of sympathy with the relatives were agreed to, members standing. Welcome to Aviators: Squadron Leader J. L. Findlay, with a Gloster Grebe, Flight Lieutenant V. J, Somerset Thomas, with a Hawker Tomtit, and Flying Officer J. J. Busch, with a Bristol Fighter, will represent the Royal New Zealand Air Force at the pageant organised by the Manawatu Aero Club as a welcome home to Squadron Leader M. C. McGregor and Mr H. C. Walker, the New Zealand pilots in the Melbourne Centerary Air Race. Increased Returns: Increases in revenue cargo and tonnage at the Port of Lyttelton during October, 1934. compared with the corresponding period in 1933, were reported by Mr C. H. Clibborn, secretary of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, at Its monthly meeting this morning. Revenue was up £2609/13/-, cargo handled had increased by 19,709 tons, and the increase in tons net register of vessels entering the port had totalled 33,572. Fire Brigade Calls: The number of calls received by the Christchurch Fire Brigade during the month ended November 3 was 26, reported superintendent C. C. Warner to a meeting of the Fire Board. Of these 10 were for actual fires in or on property in the city, four were chimney fires, five were hedge fires, three were false alarms from various causes, two were malicious false alarms, and two were for fires at Belfast and Fendalton respectively. New Presbyterian Church: A proposal to build a new church was discussed by a congregational meeting of St. David's Presbyterian Church, over which the Rev. N. H. Finch presided. It was decided to have plans prepared for a building to cost not more than £IOOO. A committee, comprising Mr Finch, Mrs C. Mclntosh and Messrs J. Smith and E. Kingbury undertook to inspect a number of new churches in the surrounding districts to obtain information regarding the design and appointments to be followed. Inquiry May be Held: Mr A. Clark, assistant district traffic manager of railways, stated this morning that the question of an inquiry into the accident at Avoca yesterday has not yet been decided. The department is at present making full investigations into the circumstances, and the result will determine whether or not an inquiry will be held. Firemen to Guard Duke's Hotel: A request that a fireman should be on night duty from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. while the Duke of Gloucester is is residence at Warner’s Hotel, Christchurch, on January 19 and 20 has been received from the inspector of Fire Brigades (Mr R. Girling-Butcher) by the Christchurch Fire Board. It was asked that the man be a junior officer or a senior fireman and, as the amount allocated by the Government for the Duke’s visit was very limited, it was desired that the service be given gratis. After a fairly length discussion a motion was passed stating that the ordinary charge for a senior fireman would be £2/2/- but that in the circumstances the board would provide the service and would be glad to forgo the payment. Rate May Not Be Necessary: Fears that it might prove necessary to levy a rate to cover the losses suffered by the Christchurch City Council on its workers’ dwellings undertaking, have been reduced, because the position so far this year has shown a promising improvement. Those of the houses which fell back on the Council’s hands through the inability of the original occupants to keep pace with their obligations have been let at satisfactory rentals, and many of the occupants of other houses, to whom the Council made concessions, are expected to be able to resume full payments before long. Without. this improvement, a rate would probably have been necessary, as the council was standing to lose thousands of pounds over the workers’ dwellings scheme. Australian Bands: Complete satisfaction with the performance of the Woolston Band in Australia was expressed to a reporter by Mr R. J. Estall, conductor of the band, and he added that as the result of the showing of the band at the recent Ballarat festival, the impression in Australia was that for general band work, Woolston could hold its own with any of the combinations over there. The opinion of Mr Estall is that there are at least four bands in the Dominion capable of putting up as good a showing as any of the bands in Australia. Standard of Church Music: The views expressed by Dr. Sydney H. Nicholson, director of the School of English Church Music, who has just completed a tour of the Dominion, that boys’ voices were needed in New Zealand choirs to make them success.Til and that there were far too many women in the choirs here, were not supported by choirmasters and music teachers who were interviewed this morning. “Dr. Nicholson forgets that congregational singing is one of the main features of church life here,” said one choirmaster. "He also makes the fatal mistake of trying to compare the Westminster Abbey choir, which contains the best voices available, with choirs here that are based on voluntary service. This, in Itself, is an absurdity. Impressionistic tours, especially when they are made hurriedly, are not worth powder and shot, and that is my candid opinion of Dr. Nicholson’s views.” “Dr. Nicholscn forgets that in England they have the best voices that money can buy,” said Mr V. C. Peters. “Anyone knows that twelve good voices are worth more than three dozen ordinary ones. He also forgets that in New Zealand churches we go in for congregational singing and it is rarely that one hears any worthwhile congregational singing in Cathedrals. One hears more from parish choirs and ui non-conformist churches than in »fce Cathedrals.” It was all right for Dr. Nicholson to talk about getting boys but it was not always possible to get them, said Mi

Peters. Also, it was hardly fair to compare a first class choir with those in New Zealand. Dr. Nicholson criticised the big choirs in New Zealand and the number of women taking part, but he had not taken into account the difference between the voluntary and the paid choir, added Mr Peters. The people here gave their services voluntarily and felt that they were doing something for their churches. This was encouraged and played a big part in the life of any church.