General News.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20098, 29 November 1930, Page 14

General News.

Tlie primary and district high schools in the Canterbury Education Board's district will close for tlie Christmas holidays on Thursday, December IStb.

Th© amount of sunshine recorded at Clifton. Sumner, for the week ending November 23rd, was 47 hours 20 minutes. compared with 49 hours 10 minutes in the City. Tho total for the period of thirty weeks, ending on the same date, was 1102 hours 30 minutes in Sumner, and 1017 hours 40 minutes in the City.

Hcprcsentat ive.-; of all the organisations in Christchurch which usually distribute gifts among the poor at Christmas havo been invited by the Mayor (Mr J. K. Archer) to meet in his room on Tuesday afternoon next tit 2.30 o'clock, to make arrangements for united action being taken this year. Ten men will bo 141 ven employment through the Organised Unemployed and Relief Workers' Committee having purchased for removal the old portion of Nazareth House, the demolition of which will be commenced on Monday. Materials and fittings will be sold. The committee has also tendered for tho demolition and removal of tho old portion of the West Christchurch school.

fhe tramway authorities have received advice that the first of the six trolley-bus chassis ordered from England early in the present year will reach Lyttelton on December Oth by the steamer Turakina. Tho overhead equipment has come to hand, and it is anticipated that all will be ready for the buses when they' are completed. They are to be put on the North Beach. Burwood, and Shirley routes. All assessments of land tax are now subject to a penalty of 5 per cent. Yesterday, Friday, November 28th, was the last day for payment of the tax. Paymen - have lately been made freely through the Christchurch Post Office, and many were received there yesterday. Since the demands are sent out from Wellington, it is impossible to estimate what amount 5s still outstanding in the district. "You have got what miglit be termed good understanding," said Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M., to a witness in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, who said he had measured a distance after an accident with his boots. Witness explained that he allowed three boot lengths to a yard. Afterwards he measured his boots and they were only a fraction of an inch under a foot long. The checking of the rolls in connexion with the Tramway Board election on Thursday was started yesterday. When this is completed the official count will be undertaken. In view of the coroparatively small number separating the successful and unsuccessful candidates for the Riccarton-Fendal-ton sub-district, it is possible that thf- count in respect of that sub-dis-trict will be put in hand first. To view possible sites for trainwav shelters, an inspection of Cathedral square was made yesLerday by the Mayor (Mr J. K. Archer), and Crs. E. H. Andrews, D. G Sullivan, M.P.. and J. W. Beauland. Several sites were inspected and the general lay-out of the Square was discussed, but no decisions were arrived at, the object of the inspection bein<? to> get a comprehensive idea regarding possible sites.

'•Do you make your own clothes?" enquired the Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe) of a student in the needlework class at the Rar.giora High School during his inspection yesterday. "Yes, Sir," she replied "How delightful to wear the dress you have made yourself ; it is a thing 1 have never yet succeeded in doing, 5 ' said his Excellency. "The horror of the steel trap is still with us," states the annua! report of tho Auckland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in dealing with tho efforts made tp secure a more humane trap than that now in common use among rabbiters. Another design sent from Scotland was tried, but unfortunately proved unsuitable. Still another design has been sent for, and it is fervently hoped that in the near future a less cruel means will bo found to rid us of th-e little animals which have become such a menace to tho farmer."

An Invorcargili business man, who travelled along the main road from [nvercargill to Dunedin recently, says the "Southland Times,"' was loud in his praise of a resident of McNab. 'l'hif- resident, ho said, bad spent the day with a hors>e and cart in assisting 1 motorists aaross a stretch of road which was under two feet, of water. W hen asked what he wanted for tho services ho was supplying, the good Samaritan said: "I am not doing this for money. If I can help anyone out j of trouble I am glad to do it."' j

Pegiiiuing next week the i>i r o&r----vico to Dunedin, flown by Air Travel, will be on different day® from those originally fixed. Till now the service has been flown on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, but in future, the days will bo Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Thursday Mr M. CMcGregor made the trip down in two hours 40 minutes, without a passenger. Coming back the time was two hours, and there -was one passenger This was the slackest day the service has had. The traffic has been keeping no well. The chairman of the Organising Committee of the New Zealand Political Reform League writes to the Auckland "Herald" as follows: —"A letter appearing in a recent issue of l.bc 'Herald' signed by Mr A. L. Davv may give a wrong impression. Front enquiries made I have ascertained that (be Manawatu group of the Tic-form Party, in tho exercise of its right in managing its own district organisation, has accepted Mr Davy's services. The appointment does not therefore concern any other part of New Zealand." — The Pr.Esa tServicc.

Recently representatives of the Organised Unemployed and Relief Workers' Committee waited on Lord IJledisloe'3 aide-de-camp with a request that Ma Excellency become a shareholder in the; co-operative tish business which it is promoting. Through his private secretary the Governor-General has now intimated to the committee that he cannot take up any shares in the undertaking as tie cannot make any discrimination in favour of such a venture, though ho wishes it every success. Mr 71. E. Barnslcy, organiser of the business, has written to the Acting-Prime Minister (Hon. K. A. Ransom), asking for an interview next week.

In accordance with « resolution nrrived at by a special meeting of the Drainage lJonrd, held yesterday afternoon, the Local Government Loans Hoard is to bo nsited to sanction the raising of £OO,OOO to redeem a loan of CIOO.OOO, raised in 1905-6. :it per rent., for work done in tho old sewage area. No sinking fund was provided in respect of tho original loan, but the Board has f>een paying 1 per cent, into a j-inking fund for tho pa-st five years. The redemption loan is to he for a period of fifteen years, the interest is not. to exeeex] 6J per cent., nnd a linking fund to redeem the loan at the end of its curreno3' is- to be provided.

There are now 16ii unemployed men being hout-cd and led freo of charge at the Salvation Army Men's Horn® at Addmgton, a record number for the Home. Early in the month there were 130, but the big increase is accounted for in part by the fact that many of the men who were put off employment at Glynn Wye and Lewis Pass recently have exhausted their earnings arid been forced to seek tlio assistance of the Army. An analysis taken of the •">0 men who were last admitted to the Homo showed that 41 of them car no irom Christc-hurch, and the remaining nine from all over the Dominion.

Lecturing in Wellington upon the recent solar eclipse expedition. Dr. C. LI. Adams said tnat it was curious that th-5 apparent diameters of the sun and the moon were the same. He knew of no reason, although there might possibly be one, why this should be so. If ifc wero not so. the wonderful phenomenon of a total eclipse of the sun could not take place. They were told, however, that the moon v- ;\r, gradually shrinking, so in a few million years henoc possibly there would l>e no such thing as a total eclinse of the sun. and he suggested to his audience that in view (tf this they should take any oportunity o/Tering for seeing such an event 1/eforo it was too late. Attention is drawn lo the advertisement. of the final sale of Military Supply Stores on page 4. There are many useful Christinas lines much below market value. .—6 A popular Maori concert will be held in the Jellicoe Hall on Mondav night, at 8 p.m., in aid of the Maori Girls' School, Ferry road. The entertainers will be young Maoris from the local kaingas. There will be ail all-Maori programme of waiatas, halcas, and pois.—6 Assistance had to be called last week at the Railway Station to control our large fleet of taxis, which has been m great demand sinco we started in our branch garage, opposite the station, where vou can get a Gold Band Taxi at any hour. 'Phones 34-075 or 35572. Thank you. —1 For 'Xmas Gifts, the sweetest and happiest thought is a Steffano "'e' b Portrait. The recipient will such a picture, because it is you—on paper. Steffano Webb, Photographer, 252 High street (Petersen's Buildings). 'Phone 35-457. —-6 Johnston's N.<J. Motor Co., Ltd. authorised Ford dealers. Travelling representatives: W C. Wilson and F Meyer; manager, A. G. Prestney Fiangiora. 'Phones S7-SB. —3 Ir you see a Gold Band Taxi returning to the Square or Depots empty, hail it. and it will only cost you 6d for one or four passengers except from Races, Matches, etc., when you will find that our fares are the lowest. 'Phones 34-075 and 35-572. Thank you. _2 The P. and D.JD. Perfect Poc«iw> Planter With our improved Machine and two or three horses, one man single-handed, can plant from 8 t0 4 acres a day with fertiliser- up to scw*e per acre, making a better loh than hand planting. Using ono oi these machines. Mr E McCarthy last year got a remarkable crop at Prebble ton Another fourteen purchasers g ot excellent results p and D. Duncan Ltd. 19G Tuam street. Christchurch and at Ashburton —<s British Fordston Tractors—built Ireland—now definitely in the 6-horse team equivajent class, i.e.. 3 furrows deep ploughing, 4 furrows skimmingana all top work of similar team power From a ra'ua viewpoint there's no other Farm Tractor propo sition that begins to compare with the new British Fordson. £215. f.o.r--Tiniaru. Booth, Macaonald and O'Ltd. OS