Full rate for croquet: not cricket
The question whether the principle of allowing reduced rates on sports clubs’ grounds was fair to ratepayers or not was brought under discussion at the St Kilda Borough Council’s meeting last night. The discussion arose out of an application from a croquet club that the rates on its ground be levied on the same basis as on bowling and lawn tennis greens in the borough.
Cr Longworth said that he favoured a reduction being made. It was not fair, he considered, that this club should be charged the full rate when other clubs had their rates reduced. Cr Leary said he could not see why sports clubs should be treated any more leniently than householders, who were charged the full rate. “If people want sport,” he said, “let them pay for it.” With this statement Cr Roy heartily agreed, but on the proposal being put before the meeting, the motion to decrease the club’s rate by £6 was carried, Crs Leary and Roy being the only dissentients.
Public urged to report faults
The failure of electric light in the city area on Wednesday evening at a busy hour might possibly have been prevented if the public realised that sparking among the wires on an electric light pole is invariably a sure sign that something is going wrong, and if not attended to may cause serious trouble. It has since been learned that some of the residents of Upper Stuart street — where the trouble occurred — saw a light on the pole several times during the day, but did not realise that there was anything amiss. The electric light and power department will greatly appreciate a telephone message when residents notice abnormal conditions.
Night search for missing boats
Captain D. Hanning, an experienced coastal skipper, in charge of the trawler Express left Port Chalmers on Sunday night to search for missing fishing boats Bravo and Galatea. These boats had been fishing on the North Reef and had been caught in the gale which sprang up in the afternoon. Concern was felt for the safety of the Galatea as she was single-handed and is much smaller than the Bravo, which is a cutter equipped with a semi-diesel engine of adequate horse-power. In the darkness the Express missed the inward-bound Galatea, which reached Port Chalmers safely at 2 am yesterday, her belated arrival being to some extent due to the engine not getting a full supply of petrol as the launch laboured in the seaway.
The Express found the Bravo riding on two anchors about six miles seaward of the Heads. The Express took her in tow, and both vessels reached Port Chalmers yesterday afternoon to find that the Galatea had preceded them.
A veteran fisherman told a reporter that fishing boats should not be permitted to put to sea single-handed, especially in winter time. — ODT, 6.7.1926
