General News

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28264, 30 April 1957, Page 12

General News

Capitalist Trick The cup of tea is not a dear old British custom, but a means of exploiting workers, according to the Communist newspaper, “Leipziger Volkstimme.” Alleging that a factory owner at Coventry provided workers with tea and music in the afternoon tea break, the newspaper said: —“He gives strong black tea to whip up the nerves of the workers with the highlyconcentrated theine.” (Theine is a vegetable alkaloid constituent of tea identical to caffeine.) The newspaper said that this was an example of capitalists using “any means to get the utmost out of their workers.”—Berlin, April 28. Price of Sugar Addressing the Auckland Rotary Club yesterday, Mr A. C. Isaacs, New Zealand manager of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Ltd., said he hoped it would not be long before the price of raw sugar began to drop again. He added that it might not be for some months. The price rose because of the Suez crisis and an increased demand, but the position had always been sound, because of continual over-produc-tion of sugar cane in the producing countries.—(P.A.) Family Affair “I must draw attention to this,” said Dr. P. J. Lawrence at' a meeting of the board of governors of Christchurch Girls’ High School. “I doubt whether before a husband and wife have been chairmen of the Christchurch Girls’ High School and the Christchurch Boys’ High School.” ‘‘Thank you very much, Dr. Lawrence,” said the newly-elected chairman (Mrs C. H. Perkins). “Now I shall be able to get down to earth. What about the garden in front of the school?” Mr Perkins is a past chairman of the Christchurch Boys’ High School board. Vandalism in Cemeteries Two cases of vandalism in cemeteries were reported to the City Council last evening. One occurred on a recent Sunday evening when fire destroyed about 12 feet of the macrocarpa hedge at the Bromley Cemetery. It appeared to be vandalism, as dews would have prevented a fire being started by the accidental dropping of a cigarette butt. At the memorial park cemetery, flower containers, flowers and wreaths were taken from graves and concrete beams and scattered around the cemetery. Three aluminium flower-holders are still missing from the base of headstones. Greymouth Rainfall A total of 21 inches of rain fell at Greymouth during the weekend and this brought the figures so far for the four months of the year to 40.19 inches. About 20£ inches has been recorded in a little more than three weeks of this month. The rain caused a recurrence of a slip in the rope road tunnel from the Strongman State coal mine and nc work was possible for the day shift yesterday. —F.0.0.R. Traffic Offences For the three months up to the end of March, 1219 persons were reported for having committed traffic breaches, the traffic committee reported to the City Council last evening. Of them, 686 were officially cautioned, proceedings were instituted against 527, and no action taken in six cases. Fines imposed amounted to £1437 10s Blenheim Road Access The transport committee of the Chamber of Commerce has been advised by the Ministry of Works that it intends to bring Blenheim road to the edge of Deans avenue, and that any continuation will be the responsibility of the Christchurch City Council. This information comes from the chamber’s newsletter. The transport committee considers that it would be prudent not to make a concrete recommendation at this stage, and recommends that the Deans avenue corner be given a fair trial before any plan of encroaching on' Hagley Park is considered. Manufacture of C.U.C. Invention An invention of the Canterbury College Industrial Development Department for measuring the density of spoil being pumped by dredges is likely to be manufactured on a royalty basis in Holland and possibly in Italy. A Dutch firm of dredge builders sought complete information some months ago. Measurement of spoil is made by the degree of interference with a radio-active beam passing through the pipeline. Bicycles in Square The ‘‘unruly and indiscriminate manner” in which bicycles are scattered about the north-west corner of Cathedral square was the subject of a petition from the occupiers of buildings there to the City Council last evening. Presented by Cr. M. McLean, chairman of the traffic committee, the petition was referred to that committee.