General News

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22509, 17 September 1938, Page 16

General News

Heavy Sea on Coast The north-easterly gale which blew on Thursday night and during yesterday morning raised a heavy sea on the coast and in Lyttelton harbour. The Port Levy passenger launch, Awhina-Nui, left Port Levy as usual yesterday morning, but, being unable to get round Adderley Head, she returned to Port Levy. Fire Protection Sought Fire protection for buildings of a value of £ 26,000 in Pannell avenue was discussed at some length by the Heathcote County Council last night. No final decision was made, but it was agreed to send particulars of the "district concerned to the Christchurch Fire Board. The council had before it a report which said that at the cost of about £IOO a 10,000-gallon water tank could be put in, or as an alternative it might be possible to connect with a City Council main. A Traveller in Politics "The Prime Minister of Great Britain has taken- the road in the interests of his country," said Mr W. Machin at the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Canterbury Commercial Travellers' and Warehousemen's Association last evening. Mr Machin made a comparison between the action of Mr Chamberlain and the work of. the commercial traveller. "When a man goes on the road in the interests of his own concern he goes not only for the benefit of'himself but of-the world generally," he said. Visit of H.M.S. Achilles . Commodore I. G. Glennie, Commodore Commanding the New Zealand Squadron, has advised the secretary of the Lyttelton Harbour Board (Mr C. H. Clibborn) that the flagship, H.M.S. Achilles, will arrive at 'Lyttelton on Monday and will remain until September 28. The Achilles is expected to reach Lyttelton at 10.30 a.m. on Monday and will berth at No. 4 west. Teleprinter at Greymouth A Creed teleprinter to expedite the transmission of telegrams between the West Coast and Christchurch has been installed and is being tested at the office of the stationmaster at Greymouth. Mr R. G. Myerscough, of Wellington, is in charge of the installing and testing. This is the first such machine to have been installed in the railway system of the South Island, although a similar teleprinter has been in use between the railway stations at Auckland and Wellington for at least 18 months.;—" The Press" Special Service. Decision Reserved The Heathcote County Council has not yet committed itself either to rejecting or supporting the proposal to enlarge and improve the Canterbury Museum as the province's memorial of the Dominion centenary in 1940. "Now that South Canterbury has pulled out from the scheme the position is altered materially," said the chairman, Mr A. G. Williams. He added that he did not think the special representative sub-committee now examining the position had gone far enough for the Heathcote County to express an opinion one way or the other. The meeting agreed to pay - its allocated share of the cost of the provincial court at the centennial exhibition and of the cost of the publication of a history of Canterbury, but reserved its decision about the provincial memorial. Fortunes of Commercial Travellers "Before the war it (was easy to get orders and to make profits," Said Mr H. H. Wauchop, speaking at the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Canterbury Commercial Travellers' and Warehousemen's Association last evening. "During the' war and •'in' the ; period that followed we had the wood on the buyers," he added; but he said that in recent years, with combined buying chain stores and direct importation. by- retailers, the buyers "had the wood on" the travellers, and he felt sympathy with the younger members of the association who had not experienced times of former years^ Honey Season in Canterbury "Because of the improved weather, beekeepers have had an opportunity to examine their hives, and in most cases the bees have • been found to have come through the winter in an exceptionally good condition," Mr W. J. Fix, apiary instructor for the Department of Agriculture, told "The Press" yesterday. "Although the winter was extremely cold, the bees were not affected adversely," he said. "In view of the heavy rainfall during the winter, the coming season in Canterbury should prove good, but of course.it is yet too early in the season to make a forecast as everything depends on the weather during the summer months. In the Canterbury province, beekeepers rely mainly on clover for feed, and practically 80 per cent, of the crop comes from this source. As the nectar iSecretion of clover is governed to a great extent by the general weather conditions, it will Vbe seen that it is very difficult to estimate the crop at this early stage. Beekeepers generally, seem to be perfectly satisfied with the marketing conditions and prices received for last year's crop on the local market," he concluded.. Radio Licences in Christchurch Some 21,800 radio receiving licences in the city and suburbs will expire at the end 6f September, and notices are now being prepared by the Post and Telegraph Department to be sent to those listeners: So.me of the notices have already been sent out. The preparation and handling of the notices present quite a problem, and about three, weeks' work is involved, because each notice is handled no fewer than . five times before it is posted. The total number of licences in the city and suburbs is in the vicinity of 30,000, the other 8000 odd expiring in either December or March, 1939. No Jazz in Germany "I take off my hat to Germany for one thing," said. Dr. W. M. Thomson, Hawera; at' a South Taranaki School Committees' Association meeting at Hawera. "She has cut out all jazz and all crooning from her radio programmes. There is enough good' and en joyable,, music in the world without the beastly stuff." 1 The meeting decided to support a remit to the annual conference at Christchurch that the attention of the Minister for .Broadcasting and the Minister for Education be drawn to the alleged undesirability of some commercial stations' programmes, in. relation to the morals of children, and that more material of educational value be broadcast from all stations. Election Said to Affect Sheep Market According to reports received in Gisborne, the approaching election is the cause of Waikato farmers, who are usually in the market early for Gisborne breeding ewes, holding back this year. At this time last, year 40,000 had been sold to the Waikato for delivery during the summer, but no business at all has been reported so far for the coming summer. "We have been regularly in touch with clients in the Waikato," said a representative of one Gisborne firm, "but the reply we get is that they do not wish to do anything until after the election." Fear of further outbreaks of facial eczema was also given as a cause of the lack of activity in the forward market for ewes. Losses during last autumn were so heavy that some of the usual purchasers of ewes are doubtful whether they will be in the market this year. v Democracy in a College Not only did they discuss the rights and wrongs of democratic government among the students of Smith College (America's largest college for- women only), but they practised jt within, Dr. Ralph Harlow, of the faculty of the college, told the Wellington branch of the English Speaking Union recently. The ideals of-democracy w'ere inculcated into-the students during the whole of their sojourn at school. The discipline of the school was left in their hands. There was an avenue of appeal to the faculty, but only oh two occasions were the decisions of the students vetoed, and ;in both cases the veto was exercised, because it was thought that the students had: been too severe.