People and Their Doings.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19201, 15 October 1930, Page 6

People and Their Doings.

The Old Tramway Hearse And Its Fate : An Engineer Who Was Popular In Christchurch : Does Anyone Here Know Oscar Garden? : Deveron To Go Into Commission.

IT IS NOT a bad thing to remind ourselves sometimes of our youthful follies, and Mr Frank Thompson’s reminiscences about the tramway hearse we once had in Christchurch show what flights of imagination the City Fathers may be capable of. This hearse will be remembered by very many persons as reposing finally on the mud flats near the sod house at the Ferry Bridge. It was quite an elaborate affair originally, with windows, and for a time it was a house boat on the estuary, although Mr Thompson says it became a magazine for explosives, and he is probably right. It was a veritable white elephant. The amazing thing is that the idea should have been taken up at all, seeing that municipal funerals would have been limited to the comparatively few routes upon which trams ran at that time, but the idea probably was that all funerals should start from the council yard, or some other convenient depot. & ® of Mr Thompson’s reminiscences related to the opening of the electric tram system in Christchurch. That was in 1905, and on the opening day there was an accident in which the then Inspector of Police, Mr Gillies, sustained an injury owing to one car charging into the rear of the one in front of it. Many people will remember the very genial engineer, Mr Frank Chamberlain, who superintended the new system and drove the first car. On a trial run to Sumner with an official party he pulled up near the Ferry Bridge, and seeing a group of youngsters looking admiringly at the car, he told them all to hop aboard and took them for a ride to Sumner and back, much to their delight. $p is not the only objection to some of the outboard motors at Monck’s Bay. A subscriber to the “ Star,” noting a letter on the subject last evening, came in to-day to tell of his own experience. On Sunday week, he saj’s, one of these noisy gentry, after driving in circles round the sailing craft, seeing how close he could get to them without touching, lost complete control and charged into the stern of the little fourteen-foot yacht “ Echo,” the bow of the outboard craft mounting the stern and smashing in the coaming, besides tipping one of the crew out into the water. The damage, he says, has not yet been paid for. IF *VV HO OSCAR GARDEN, the mysterious young man who announced his intention of starting a flight to Australia? He gave his address to the Croydon authorities as Christchurch, New Zealand. Are there any Gardens in Christchurch? There are none on the telephone list except the Botanic Gardens, and none in the Canterbury directory except a garden seed shop. There is one Garder, about twenty-three Gardiners and about thirteen Gardeners, but no record of a Garden family. Inquiries at the aerodrome elicit the information that he has never been heard of there, and even the oldest hands had no recollection of an Oscar Garden.

JfR VINCENT WARD would be the last man in New Zealand to run away from his duties, and people who have been in close contact with him agree that he deserves a holiday. He is a man of a highly strung temperament, and he never spares himself. There were occasions during his late father’s term as Prime Minister when he worked very long hours with the minimum of sleep. He was at the beck and call of everyone, and was the first line of defence before people could get to Sir Joseph. He had also to fulfil a good many social obligations on his father’s behalf.

3? 3? M R P. R. HARMAN, who was to-day elected chairman of the new Management Committee of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association, has been a delegate to the association for twenty-three years continuously from the Opawa Club. He has also been a member for years of the Match Committee, and is also a member of the Wilding Park Committee. Mr Harman does not play very much tennis now, but he was a first-class player a few years ago, and to-day he is one of the best umpires in New Zealand. All the Canterbury Harmans have been more or less interested in tennis. s 3? ZEALAND visitors who loved Eros in Piccadilly, London, will be pleased to learn that all the authorities who were—or were not —concerned in his disappearance have combined for his return, and the blue and white lines on the central island in Piccadilly Circus indicate that preparations are in full swing. Apparently the pedestal from which the young god is to arise will be slightly changed in aspect in order to preserve the old perspective, as it were, against the new and higher buildings surrounding. Another reason for some to rejoice is afforded by Mr Lansbury’s reply to an enquiry as to whether he would secure the removal of the replica of Rodin’s famous statue, “ The Burghers of Calais,” from the

Embankment Gardens to a place where it would be seen to better advantage. Mr Lansburv says that he. does not know of any other place which would be more suitable. There may be other sites, but the residents in Westminster who proudly exhibit this statue when taking visitors through the quiet of Smith Square, and across the road into the Embankment Gardens, next to the House of Commons and Westminster Palace, would be very sorry if it was removed. The group is a magnificent one of six bronze figures surmounting a large stone pedestal about fifteen feet high, and it is necessary to stand some distance away in order to get the full beauty of it.

npilE Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve trainging cutter Deveron, which has been laid up for the winter, is now being reconditioned, and is on the slip for cleaning and painting under the supervision of Lieutenant-Commander H. A. Rhind. A certain amount of her standing gear was renewed by a working party from H.M.S. Dunedin during her stay in Lyttelton. Two or three well-known business men of Christchurch have recently forwarded substantial cheques to the commanding officer to assist in the upkeep the vessel, in which actual sea training is an essential part of the routine. The Canterbury Division are fortunate in possessing this vessel. They already have been supplied with a Montague whaler, and information has just been received that a second whaler will be supplied at an early date. Whilst on the slip the Deveron has been fitted with a steering wheel to replace the tiller, which is out of date for training purposes. It is hoped to commission the Deveron on Saturday, October 25, when the White Ensign will once again be flown. m pROFESSOR 11. H. TURNER, SaviUan Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, who died at Stockholm recently while attending an international conference, left the following message to his friends:— I venture to hope that there may be some who will drink a glass to my memory, and if so I beg them to do so at such time and in such company as they may find convenient; and, further, that they will choose their own liquor, but if anyone should desire to know my preference, then say, “Let it be strong ale.” An Oxford friend of Professor Turner said: — “The message is typical of the man, for he always defied convention. He did things because he wanted to, and not because it was fashionable.” Professor Turner also left directions that his body should be dissected or otherwise used for the general advancement of science. He desired that his death should not be made the occasion of any religious service or other ceremony. qg s£? rpo ACCOMPLISH a 26,000 mile journey round the world in an eight horsepower midget sports car in five months as against the present record of eight months held bv Germany is the aim of two exofficers of the Royal Air Force who have started out from the Royal Automobile Club London. The adventurers are Captain Max Hay, D.F.C., M.C.. and Mr W. S. Wolveridge, who belonged during the war to the famous No. 1 Squadron and were the first to attempt a non-stop flight to India three years ago. Their little car is named Marie Olive, after the drivers’ wives. They propose to travel from Calais by way of Frankfurt and Vienna to Constantinople Aleppo, and Damascus; then with a French convoy to Bagdad, on by Basra * qvheran to Quetta and Calcutta. Rangoon or Penang they will reach by ship—using always cargo boats, not liners—continuing overland through Bangkok, Saigon, and French Indo-China to Hong Kong. After crossing the Pacific to San Francisco they will have to take a southerly route through Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, thence to New York, whence they will sail to Liverpool, where they expect to arrive towards the end of January, and take the road again for London.