LYTTELTON NEWS

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21420, 12 March 1935, Page 17

LYTTELTON NEWS

HARBOUR LIGHT THEATRE I "Red Wagon,'' which will be screened at the Harbour Light Theatre this aflernoon and evening and tomorrow evening, is a thrill-packed romance of circus life which cost £BO,OOO to produce. The cast numbers thousands and is headed by Charles Bickford, Greta Nissen and Raquel Torres. The short subjects include a coloured cartoon, "Puss in Boots," a scenic, and a variety film. Tennis i A mixed doubles tournament held ! by the Te Whaka Tennis Club on i Saturday afternoon was won by S. E. ] Shayle-George and Miss J. Collett, who j defeated A. K. Dyne and Miss L. Dyne j in the final game. J Magistrate's Court | Messrs F. E. Sutton and J. N. I Neville. Justices of the Peace, pre- | sided at the Magistrate's Court yesterj day. ! I John Whitfield Morris, aged 25 years, of England, pleaded not guilty to a charge of being intoxicated while in charge of a motor-car in Norwich quay. He pleaded guilty to driving a car without being the holder of a I driving license. Morris was jointly charged with James Plunket, aged 30 years, also of England, of converting to their own use a car, valued at £IOO, the property of Morris James Scott. Both pliiaded guilty. Constable S. W. Mcßurney gave evidence that at 1.5 o'clock yesterday morning he heard a car start in Norwich quay and saw it cross the road. He recognised the car as Scott's. There was a lot of noise and shouting when the car started and it was evidently pushed along by some friends of the accused until the engine started. The car travelled from Oxford street to Canterbury street, where the engine stalled. The car ran backwards, crossing the footpath and striking the wall of the Mitre Hotel. Witness found that Morris, who was driving, was drunk enough to be arrested for drunkenness. He was very talkative. Constable H. Armstrong gave evidence that he was on watch-house duty and saw the two men being brought up the street by Constable Mcßurney, Morris was staggering and was very drunk. Morris James Scott gave evidence that he left his car outside his shop in Norwich quay at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday. It was not locked. He had had the car examined that morning and found that it was damaged to the extent of 30s. Morris, in a statement from the dock, said he had an injury to his hip, which made him stagger. As for being talkative, that was only natural when he had only just been arrested for the first time in his life. For being intoxicated while in charge of a car, Morris was convicted and fined £5, in default one month's imprisonment; for not having a driving license he was fined 10s, in default 48 hours' imprisonment; and for converting the car he was fined £5, in default one month's imprisonment, and was ordered to pay 15s, half of the amount of the damage. Plunket, for converting the car, was fined £5, in default one month's imprisonment, and was ordered to pay 15s, half of the amount of the damage. Claim for Fire Damage As a sequel to the recent fire at Diamond Harbour, the following letter was received at the meeting of the Lyttelton Borough Council last evening from Messrs Hunter and Ronaldson, solicitors:— "We have been consulted by Mr A. G. Sinclair, Mrs O'Connor, and Miss Alexander with reference to the fire which recently damaged their properties at Diamond Harbour. The estimated amount of the damage is as follows: £ Mr Sinclair .. 25 j Miss Alexander .. 150 Mrs O'Connor . . 50 "We understand that the fire origin- ] ated on the council's property and was i caused by the negligence of persons who were, in effect invitees or licen- i sees of the council to picnic on the j council's property at Diamond Harbour, and further, that the council j took no steps to prevent such acts of negligence (although there was at the time grave risk to ratepayers' property from such acts of negligence) or to prevent the fire from spreading to our clients' properties. We are therefore instructed to enquire what the council is prepared to do to compensate our clients for the losses they have suffered." The letter was referred to the borough solicitor. Grant for New Ambulance The Lyttelton Borough Council last night decided to grant the sum of £25 towards the cost of a new ambulance for Lyttelton. Mr C. Ellis, secretary-organiser of the Lyttelton sub-centre of the St. John Ambulance Association, wrote in-

forming the council that a new ambulance was under construction for Lyttelton, to replace the former vehicle, which had been "scrapped." The council was asked to make a generous donation to assist in paying off the balance of £lB7 owing on the new ambulance. Cr. Collett said that, as chairman of the finance committee, he would move that the sum of £25 be given toward the cost of the ambulance. He said that the council still had £3O available out of unauthorised expenditure, and the £25 would come out of that. He had gone into the work of the ambulance and considered the application was a worthy one. The motion was seconded by Cr. Fowles and was supported by Cr. Green. Cr. Halliday said he would support the motion, but he would like to have some guarantee that the new ambulance would not be used as a training machine for drivers. Cr. Sinclair: That's a bit hard. It restricts the number of drivers and puts all the work on to a few men. The Mayor said that the question of drivers had been a sore point all along. He thought they could get a supply of drivers. It would not be advisable to add a condition to the gift. The motion was carried. Borough Council The Lyttelton Borough Council me: last evening. Present: The Mayor (Mr W. T. Lester). Councillors D. E. L. Collett, J. N. Neville. G. Halliday. A. G. Sinclair, A. H. Fowles, and E. H. Green. The Mayor and Town Clerk (Mr F. Hobbs) were appointed the council's delegates to the municipal conference to be held in Christchurch this month. The Mayor and Councillors Collett and A. G. Sinclair, and the borough engineer were appointed a committee to investigate and report on the circumstances of a tenant of the council, who, as stated by a deputation to the council, was suffering hardship as a result of meeting with an accident. A letter was received from a Christ - church resident, who had previously lived in Lyttelton for 22 years, stating that he proposed to remove to Lyttelton for health reasons. As he was on relief work, he wished to know if the council would grant him relief work in Lyttelton. It was decided to reply that a resolution of the council precluded work being given to the applicant. .The Minister for Interna! Affairs, the Hon. Sir Alexander Young, wrote asking the council to consider the arranging of a fire prevention week. The council decided to ask the local fire brigade to co-operate, and to request the fire inspector (Superintendent R. Carson) to carry out a special inspection of buildings in the borough. Or. the suggestion of Councillor Halliday it was agreed that the council remove free of cost any rubbish or refuse as recommended by the fire inspector. The Lyttelton Ferry Launches, 'Ltd.. forwarded a letter received from three residents of Diamond Harbour, Messrs W. H. Agar, T. Dovey, and C. H. Winny, asking that the time of departure of the launch leaving Lyttelton on the arrival of the 5.45 p.m. train from Christchurch be put forward, and leave on the arrival of the 5.15 p.m. train. The letter from the launch company stated that it would be prepared to confer with representatives of the council regarding the request. Cr. Sinclair said the present timetable had only a month to run. It would be inadvisable to make an alteration at present. On his motion, it was decided to defer consideration of the proposed alteration until after Easter. The general purposes committee reported that before commencing the business at the last meeting of the committee the Mayor had referred to the loss the council had suffered by the death of Mr W. Halliday, borough forester, who had been in the emplov of the council for 30 years, and had moved that a letter of condolence be sent to Mrs Halliday and family in their bereavement. The report was received. Councillors Sinclair and Ferston were appointed a committee to draw up a schedule of duties for the position of forester. Mr D. Macdonald asked for an extension of the lease of the British Hotel for 12 months. On the recommendation of the finance committee it was decided that the lease be extended as requested.