General News

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23970, 10 June 1943, Page 4

General News

Oil Boring on West Coast Experimental boring for oil on the West Coast has been completed. None of the bores put down by the Superior Oil Company, or by New Zealand Oil Exploration, Ltd., a subsidiary company of the Shell Oil Company, revealed the presence of oil in economic quantity. The Superior Oil Company concluded its boring some time ago, and the other company, which has been boring in the Arahura Valley, has noW finished its experiments. It had originally intended to bore to a depth of 4500 feet, but the bore whs put down only to a depth of a little more than 2500 feet. Members of the staff of the Superior Oil Company are now assembling and packing the plant and equipment for storage in New Zealarfd. Land for State Houses A block of land at Allenton, comprising 12J acres, has been purchased by the Government for the erection of State houses* There will be room on the land for about 80 houses, some of which will be double-unit dwellings. It is good, level land, on which there is a depth of 10 to 12 inches of heavy black soil. Before building is begun, negotiations will probably be made with the borough council about the installation of sewerage facilities and the laying on of water. Antarctic Songs Issued in a limited edition by the Bread and Cheese Club, Melbourne. “The Songs of the ‘Morning’ ” is a musical reminder of Scott’s Discovery expedition and of his relief ship, the Norwegian whaler Morning. The composer, Captain Gerald Doorly, third officer of the Morning, fitted excellent tunes to the neat Gilbertian lines of Chief Engineer John D. Morrison; and these productions of the Antarctic were regularly tried on the crew—“given a steam trial,” in his own phrase—by Lieutenant "Teddy” Evans, the second officer, later Admiral Sir E. R. G. R. Evans. Captain Doorly carried his tunes in his head. A few were transcribed while the Morning was at Lyttelton, in 1903, by Miss Gladys Wilding, and two were later reset by Mrs Maundrell Hobbs, of Wellington. These manuscripts were lost: and the transcription of the whole series, now printed for the first time, is the work of the Australian composer, Edith Harrhy. With the songs is an amusing account hy Gaptain Doorly of the occasions and the company that inspired them. Renewal of Drivers’ Licences Since June 1 nearly 1300 motor drivers’ licences have been renewed by the Traffic Department of the City Council, compared with 924 at the same date last year. The expiry date for current licences is June 30, and the Traffic Department appealed yesterday to applicants to come in early to assist the staff and avoid delays. Arrangements have been made for current licences to be posted to the Traffic Department, 'with a postal note for 5s in each case, and the change of address if any. New licences are made out and can be obtained at the traffic depot behind the City Council Chambers. Sitting Hours of the House In the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) suggested that the House should rise at 10 o’clock last night, so that the broadcast of news from New Zealand to the forces in the Pacific should not be interrupted. He said it was not desirable that these nightly broadcasts to the Pacific should be interfered with too often, and he proposed, after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, and after members had had time to consider the matter, to suggest the advisability of commencing the sitting hour at 10.30 a.m. on one’ additional day of the week, say Tuesday or Thursday, particularly during the financial debate. However, that matter could be considered to-day. On Mr Fraser’s motion, the House agreed to rise at 10 p.m. yesterday—P.A. Letter From Admiral Cunningham A personal letter from Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, written when he was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, is an interesting souvenir brought back to Christchurch by Private S. C. Allan, of the City Council staff, after service in the Middle East. Private Allan wrote a poem entitled “A Tribute to the Navy,” which was forwarded to Admiral Cunningham by Brigadier A. S. Falconer, who is now back in New Zealand. In spite of his many duties as Commander-in-Chief. Sir Andrew Cunningham found time to write to Private Allan and thank him for the poem. He recalled in his letter that his connexion .with New Zealanders dated many years back, as some 26 years ago when he was captain of a destroyer he landed a battalion of New Zealanders at Anzac. _ Chimneys Damaged by Earthquake The Wellington City Council has been advised by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) that the Government is unable to agree to payment of the Government subsidy on chimneys damaged in the earthquake and repaired by private contract.—(P.A.) Quality of Toaster Elements An assurance that the poorer quality of elements for electric toasters and jugs was not a result of their manufacture in New Zealand, but of the war shortage of the necessary materials, was given by the chairman (Mr G. Dash) at a meeting of the South Canterbury Electric Power Board on Tuesday. Mr Dash was replying to Mr M. H. Richards, who complained of the quality of elements recently available, Mr Richards said that if new industries were to be started in New Zealand they should not place poor quality goods on the market. At his request, the chairman agreed to introduce' the matter for discussion at a regional conference to be held at Christchurch. Bookmakers in Hotels Referring to the police report concerning bookmakers who used hotels for betting, the chairman of the Auckland Licensing Committee (Mr J. H. Luxford. S.M.), said at the annual meeting yesterday that it was unfortunate that a number of hotels were allowing bookmakers to carry on in their premises. Those licensees who connived at such a thing were not carrying out their duty, and if there was not a turn away from this sort* of thing licensees, and even owners of hotels, had only themselves to blame if they incurred disqualification of their houses.—(P.A.) Help of Rehabilitation Officers A tribute to the courtesy and helpfulness of rehabilitation officers in Wellington was paid by a member of the 2nd N.Z.E.F., who recently returned from overseas, when speaking at a meeting of the Kaikoura sub-branch of the Returned Services’ Association, “They could not do enough for you,” he said. Rationing of Food Answering a question by Miss M. B, Howard (Government. Christchurch East) in the House of Representatives yesterday, the Minister of Supply (the Hon. ‘D. G. Sullivan) said that whether or not there was an early extension of rationing of foodstuffs in common use, the Food Controller would be pleased to receive representations from, and to consult, w'ith, women’s organisations for the purpose of fixing a scale of diet calculated to conform to the health needs of the people, Miss Howard asked the question on behalf of the Hon. W. E. Barnard (Napier).—P.A. i Tree Planting During the year 100,000 trees were planted by the Waimakariri River Trust, but with 300.000 two-year-old trees available for planting his year, it is extremely unlikely that more than between 50,000 and 100,000 will be planted, because of the shortage of labour. Emergency Stocks for South Island A remit that the South Island be adequately supplied with medical and other stocks to enable it to carry on if an emergency separated the two islands. was carried at a meeting of the Geraldine County Centre of the Red Crot^