General News.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20184, 12 March 1931, Page 8

General News.

The Heathcote County Council had 200 three-day men employed on relief works yesterday. By tho end of the week the total on unemployed relief works in the county will have reached about 600.

' It is estimated that a little over a weefc ago there 4 were in Christchurch nearly one thousand persons, men, women, and children, who were former residents of Napier. Since then the number has fluctuated, some having returned" to Napier, and others having arrived in Christchurch, so that at present there is still a considerable nuijiber in this City.

There were 477 men engaged yesterday on unemployment relief -works under the City Council's Works Department, their activities being spread over 39 jobs. Including permanent hands, men engaged on loan works, casual hands, and relief workers there was a total of 820 on the Works Department's paysheet yesterday.

. The opinion > was -jexpressGd at. the meeting of the Waimairi County Council last night'that the City Council, m. deciding to remove tvhe restrictions regarding street lighting, had' broken faith with the Power Executive. It was decided to write to' the Power Executive ■ for permission t° do away' with the restriction in the county.

The annual meeting of the New Zealand branch-of the British ; Medieal Association passed a resolution urging the Government to extend the period of daylight saving to the end of April, hj the interest or public health, with.special mention of in the improvement of conditions in: the earthquake area.—Press Association. 1

"The monstrous government, in the New Hebrides under the Condominium, tauter frhich the native goes to the Wall every time «nd under which a of jfttthig^en,. And has- been going on for Rt. Rev.F. M. MolyBlsOp/of< Melanesia, speaking ■yesterday, alte noon to a meeting of I Melanesian Mission. < It. has been,decided by the Government to demolish' the Government Life Insurance Building "in .Customhouse quay, Wellington, with to embarking on a rebuilding scheme in the near future. It is understood the work of demolition will not be put in hand until about six months' time, as it' .will Jw .necessary to find other - accoin' modation for merifrbers of the Prss Association. 1 v \ When' asked whether tlje' two l *neiy rmailer steamers "with "which hoped to refclacethii Vestal* the Southern Cross, would be snore comfortable than. J the Southern Cross; Bishop Jpolyj&u*, JJjshop of Melanesia, replied: "Wall, they're only about on« hundred'tons «aoh, as against 460 tons.,, Hownvei 1 , I don't.-thinlt they will roll, more < h«ftT%' than-the old ;Spothern Cross.,., Indeed, 3j doubt if ftnjr vessel .could ' rplf more,, .violently .than she does." Y Wfunda oi the <&U«gf branch* pt .the; Student tbent\ Jfive", lketi2 T epn»idetrably, 'swelled! by tfiV liroeW km thetfot^ouk exchange at the College. * "Nearly two thousand books have gone through the agency this year, realising over £'2oo. A . percentage , of this goes.' to the B,C.'Mv The exchange has been conducted on most efficient lines,- and a gitet' deal .of work has been done by the committee—Misses W. Smith, ,A. M.' West-Watson, .and' N. -P.' Alcorn-*-*, ;by> Zither .willing Members. -• JL. Jady who recently returned from a 'trip to England has had her impressions of a Tevival of prosperity in ■the Old" Land <sonlirmed ,by a litdy Iriend writing frorfi Loncjon. An extract from the letter .reads: "Well, our dirty, pessimistic London is actually prosperous, despite all our self criticism. , Factories continue to open &>tind my paths, and the 'red-roofed oCtOpus' , goes on eating into the conntrjr." j '< Asked if .the present dull times had the' effect of discouraging students generally from taking university lectures, M'r' M. R.' Q'Snea (registrar of the Auckland University College), said ' thtf> probability was that the position ,wn# the other wiy about. He had been approached by 'an . appreciable number of people, who, findiiig that qualified university men and women „ tfero "being given preference in retaining.- their,, jobs, new desired to take, lectures find -<iualify. Thus*a dumber' of c students woiild attend lew tures this 1 year' who shad >never done any, university Work wfore. I Commending,dancing; as an important feature in the lives of young people, in that it served a,useful purpose iri., bringing ybung, - men 1 and women together, Dr., Marion Whyte, in her inaugural address at thC Home Science School of Otagb * University expressed at the same time grave concern what described as the subtle and insistent urraof jazz music, and stated that rausio .appeared to be the factor that made modem dancing something of' a problem. "I jjsee no 1 fun in hurling food across the slipper room,' and I, see no fun in' cocktail partios," said the speaker. "Nobody can listen- to the insistent urge of jar-z t —barbaric music gathered > from African tribes in rites we blush to see—without doing something, and there is no doubt that from this springs the' impulse to hurl food across the. supper room. 1 ' She added that she co.uld not help thinking that their music was going to change for the, better. In lacing the problem thev would, find strength of character for themselves. Their lovo of rhythm, which should be p very fine .thing, came into dancing, and it-was desirable that it should be , made the finost thing, possible. The Mayor (Mr J. It. Archer) has received a letter from England, asking for the address of a man named Rangi Wall.-who has recently returned from a trip to England. Anyone knowing Mr Wall's' address is asked to communicate with the Town Clerk.

"England is too cold if you hare been used >to the • tropics, and I am Looking for a new'place in th© sun,' Eaid Mr Allen Smith., who has spent the last 18 years in the Sudan, and who arrived at Auckland the other day on the liner Tainui. "I hope,"; •he added, "to make my home m Now Zealand."

The temporary footbridge erected while the Badlcy bridge;was unde? construction has been removed, and its erection upstream on > the Heathcote river at Sheldon Btreet has been almost completed. The appearance of the Eadley bridge has been improved by the removal of the temporary bridge.

Complaints from residents of Totara street against the Masonio Hall in that street being used for dances, owing to the noise made when starting motor-cars after the dances, were considered by the Waimairi County Council last night. It was stated tnat the hall was not licensed. The matter v. as left in the hands of the chairman (Or. C. E. Cross) and the county clerk.

Fishermen at Corsair Bay and Eapaki are at present catching many of the curious little fish known commonly as "puffers." ' These interesting sen specimens swell to an abnormal size when attacked or in any danger, and adopt a really ferocious expression. In just what manner the swelling is accomplished makes an engrossing subject for research, and the habit, is regarded as one of the most interesting of sea phenomena.

: Ought motorists to be prosecuted who divide mobs of ' sheep' b<jing- driven along the roads, was the question put to the Waimairi County • Council last night by Cr. G. Gardner, who said that at this time of the year large numbers of sheep were being driven along the roads. Cr. W. J. Walter said that no one had a • right to divide a mob of sheep, especially on a bridge—the motorist should wait, even if he'had to wait an hour. In respect of the special case reported on by the Inspector, the Council decided to prosecute,

Springfield residents have long been dissatisfied with their school building. For . years birds have built their nests above the ceiling, with the result that their abode aloft and the pupils' quarters below have been anything but clean. One day recently three mombeis of •the School Committee and the chairman spent a whole day trying to clean the place upj but in the end they aban-; doned the task and informed the Health Officer, with the result that the children were sent' hope and the school was con-, damned. '

Bananas ripeninb in the open give a tropical touch to ®i orchard at Hokianga, North Auckland. For three or four years past Mr A. Fell, at Opononi, near the Hokianga Heads, has supplied his family with bananas from several trees on his farm, and the fruit is considered, by those who have sampled it to be more tasty than the imported varieties. The bananas are the same as those commonly grown m Colombo and Queensland, the palms are about 15ft in height. Some of the bunches weigh up to 201b.

Tho negotiations between the Christchurch Tramway, Board and tho Paparua County Council with regard to tho raising of that part pt the RiccartonSockburn tramway track on tho Main South road, from tho Rlccarton School to Station road, have been brought to a Satisfactory conclusion. The Board i will have tho work done under the No. I 5 Scheme, and the Paparua County Council will provide a Bum of £125 towards the purchase of material. For some* time the condition of things on this part of the Main South road has been the cause of considerable discussion be-, tween the two bodies* and - the. removal of the cause will be 'welcomed ,by both. The proposed bus foute from SpringHeld to Christchurch was inspected yesterday by members of the Christchurch City Council and of the Paparua County Council. The proprietor of the service proposes to leave the West Coast road Bear Sockburn, and travel for some distance over roads not properly shingled, and' then return to the main highway. fJThe inspection was tftpde to decide iipon the route. The decision arrived at will be reported to .the City Council on Monday night. The Paparua /County Council has the,right, if it' so desires, to object to the route. I Although it is understood that the '<New Zealand Counties' Association is not very enthusiastic on the subject of town planning, it is noteworthy that 'three North Island counties, ana onO South Island county, have become members ofi tho Town Planning Institute of !New.Zealand. They .are the Matamata, jjfanawatu, and Hutt Counties in the ifforth Island, and the' Waitaki County. in tl^e. South. Three City Councils•(Christchurch, Invercargill, and Wanga* ntti), six Borough, Councils (Ashburton, iJevonport, Lyttelton, Masterton, Rotorua, and Whangarei), and one Town Board (Havelock North) also are, members of the Institute. , After running a motor patrol for five months at a cost d£ £166 16s, from the Wait aid river, to Shag Point 1 , the. North Otago : Motor Association haitf decided to discontinue the service. Tpe question has been exercising the minds of the '.executive for the past month, as very little service and assistance has been .required hV. motorists on the Main South highway, and the decision was arrived at by an extraordinary'general meeting of members held on Tuesday night to discuss the advisability of continuing the service. It .was stated that the; service would cost nearly £6OO for the twelve montliß, and as a generous estimate. of members' subscriptions was put down at £6OO, and the administration of the J Association, exclusive of the patrol .service, cost £352 per annum, the Association was 'faced with a loss 'of £2OO should the service be continued as originally intended for the twelVe months as an •experiment. The j was expressed by several ijhat I the patrol service had nofe justified its existence. , , I , Among the prisoners for sontence jn the Suproma Court at Wellington yesterday, for breaking, entering, and theft, was. fli youth of 18, who was in Napier aWaiting sentence at the time of, the earthquake. His good aonduct on that OCcasi&n was urged in extenuation by ftrtiittuftl, who asked that prisoner might be given the benefit of probation. • Mr Justice MacGregor, said the crime of breaking and entering had been too common lately. Probation, apparently, was not effective. The i prisonor, Jack Hands, who had admitted a series of thefts,' was sentenced to' two years' Borstal detentions A. companion, 'Alfred Arthur Stanley, ag&d 22, made no appeal, and was sentenced to two' yearß' imprisonment. In making a plea for Hands, counsel said that prisoner had assisted in the rescue of a woman buried by falling earth, and later in recovering a fellow prisoner buried in, the quarry. Afterwards he had con-' ducted himself itall when sent to the camp, where considerable liberty was allowed. —Press Association. Sanatorium visitors will find it is cheaper to 'phone for a Gold Band Taxi than to go in the tram and then by taxi from the bottom of the hill; bo save your money and 'phone 84-075 ,or 35-572 for a Gold Bona Taxi. You Will not regret, it. ,Thank you. —3 Brides and Bridegrooms, we are waiting for* you to call and engage the most Bridal Cars in New Zealand, and the demand is bo great that you should book .up early' and avoid ..disappointment, as" we were compelled to turn some away last Easter. 'Phones 34-075 and 35-572. Thank you. —4