General News

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22515, 24 September 1938, Page 16

General News

Traffic Lights for Pedestrians An order has been placed for traffic lights to guide pedestrians at the Bank of New Zealand corner, and the Chief Traffic Inspector (Mr J. Bruorton) expects that the lights will arrive from Australia during the next fortnight. They will be installed without delay. The lights will not be manually operated. They will work in co-ordination with the lights that now direct vehicular traffic. It has been found that the present ,system does not sei-ve pedestrians to the best advantage, but when the additional lights are installed there will be a signal clearly visible to pedestrians at every crossing. Cuckoo’s Early Arrival A shining cuckoo, killed by a cat at Ealing, Mid-Canterbury, on September 17, has been sent to the Canterbury Museum. This is very early for the bird to be seen in Canterbury, according to the curator of the museum (Mr R, A. Falla). He said the fact that it was a male bird confirmed nre.vious observations that the male birds reached the Dominion from their winter quarters in the Solomon Islands before the females. The old birds left the Dominion again in February, and were followed about a month or six weeks later by the young of the season, who appeared to be able to find their way satisfactorily. A Tardy Elector A few minutes before the supplementary roll closed in the office of the Registrar of Electors on Thursday a young woman dashed down the corridor in great haste and into the room, announced breathlessly that she wanted to enrol, and had brought a witness. The registrar’s staff, working fast, were able to put the papers through and let the young woman out of the door as the clock was striking 6 p.m. A second after, the supplementary rolls had It is not yet possible to secure the final figures showing roll totals, but, as stated in “The Press” on Thursday, the total effective roll for the five city electorates is certain to be higher than in 1935. “The Real Road-hog” “The road-hog is not the man who does 50 miles an hour on the open road. You will find that the majority of motorists who travel between Christchurch and Dunedin do more than 50 miles an hour—and do it in perfect safety, because of the way in which roads and cars are now made,” remarked Mr P. W. Breen at the annual meeting of the South Island Motor Union yesterday. “The real road-hog is the man who drives at 25 miles an hour in congested traffic, or who otherwise shows lack of consideration for users of the road.” / An Unusual Missive A much-travelled newspaper was a copy of yesterday’s issue of “Jhe Press,” which left Christchurch at 2.20 a.m. by rail-car for the West Coast and returned to Christchurch less than eight hours later, after a journey of several hundred miles, the greater part by air. It came on the return journey with Mr J. C. Mercer, who flew one of the machines of Air Travel, Ltd., from Hokitika, and it served as ballast for a messbge Mr Mercer conveyed to a friend working at the municipal airport at Harewood. Mr Mercer flew low over the airport and dropped the paper, with a message attached to a friend employed at the wireless station at the airport, this unusual missive landing within 20 feet of the station. Rockery Extension The proposal to extend Jhe rockery at Arthur’s Pass was again raised at a meeting of the Arthur’s Pass National Park Board yesterday, and after some discussion it was decided to leave the matter over until the next meeting, so that the board would know how it stood financially. Reporting on the proposal, Dr. W. McKay said that the scheme was to extend the present ■> rockery towards the railway station. It was estimated by Mr M. J. Barnett, Superintendent of Parks and Reserves, that three good men could do the job in 10 weeks at a cost of £lB5. Dr. McKay thought it might be possible to get a Government subsidy, but if they did that they would have to take men given' to them by the authorities, and they, would prefer to have picked men. Mr Barnett had told him that he would like to do the work in the late summer after the New Year, which was the best time for rockery work. Glaring Headlights Gratification that the Transport Department appeared*to be alive to the menace of glaring headlights on the roads was expressed, at the annual meeting of the South Island Motor Union yesterday. It was suggested by Mr A. E. Ansell that “dipping” of lights should be made compulsory, and other delegates contended that on motor-cars not equipped with dipping devices the lights should be adjusted permanently to avoid dazzle. The lower speed dictated by the consequently reduced visibility would be little hardship to most of these old vehicles. Mr J. S. Hawkes said that the New Zealand Road Safety Council recommended that lights should be dipped for oncoming motor-cars and motor-cycles, and Mr Ansell remarked that where possible this courtesy of the road should be extended to cyclists and pedestrians. Employment in Building v Trades Many inquiries for building tradesmen have been received by the State Placement Service in Christchurch during the week. The industry is particularly active and carpenters are sought in most districts. Men seeking work have been placed readily, and suitable men have been withdrawn from rotational jobs to take work in their particular trades or callings. Private employment in various trades was found for 66 men by the service during the week. Twenty of the jobs were permanent and 46‘ temporary. There has been a steadily increased demand for farm labour. Nine -permanent placements were made, but there are still a number of jobs available. Patrick Carroll Hut The Patrick Carroll Memorial Hut. which has been erected at Kelly Range as a memorial to Patrick Carroll, captain of the Grey Alpine Club, who diedJbf exposure while on a mountaineering outing last year, will be opened on November 20, this date being convenient to both the West Coast Alpine Club, which built the hut, and the Arthur’s Pass National Park Board, which supplied the material for its construction. Mr A. G. Flower was appointed to represent the board at the opening at a meeting of the board yesterday. Dr. W. McKay said that the hut was finished except for lining and bunks. He considered that the members of the Alpine Club had shown a fine civic spirit worthy of commendation in building the hut. The board decided to grant £3 for a tablet for the hut. Dominion’s Telephones A total of 973 new" telephone connexions, the highest monthly figure in the history of New Zealand’s telephone system, was recorded during August. This total, which is 10 more than that for July, shows a substantial increase on the connexions made in August last year (771) and in 1936 (618). Recent international telephone figures show that at March, 1937, New Zealand stood third in the world for the number of telephones on a population basis. The Dominion’s telephone exchanges now provide service for 152,059 subscribers, an advance in one year of 10,017, which may possibly place New’ Zealand second only to the United States as the country having the greatest telephone density. Pedestrian Crossing Warnings A suggestion that wavy or zig-zag lines should be painted on the roadway for 50 feet on each side of pedestrian crossings in order to give adequate warning to road users of their approach to such crossings was made at the annual meeting of the South Island Motor Union yesterday. Mr P. W. Breen (Otago) said that his association did not favour the erection of beacons, as often they could not be seen because of motor-cars parked in front of them. Motorists, with their attention focused on the road in front, could not fail to see such wavy lines as were suggested. As it was reported that the Transport Department was considering the use of a painted triangle to indicate pedestrian crossings it was decided to do no more than urge the department to expedite the adoption* of a uniform sign for this purpose.