NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 106, 31 October 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

j Roadside First-aid Posts. With the advent of Summer Time and the greatly-increased amount of traffic that will be on the roads during the holiday period, and with the knowledge of the large number of motor accidents throughout the country, the Wellington St. John Ambulance Association has submitted a scheme for the establishment of roadside firstaid posts to the Minister of Transport, the Hon. E. Semple. It is hoped to have some definite communication about the matter from the Department in the near future. Schoolboys as Firemen. Prompt action by a teacher and a squad of boys working as a bucket brigade forestalled the Wellington Fire Brigade yesterday when fire broke out in a shed at the Buckle Street branch of the Mount Cook School. The shed was apparently used to store coal and firewood, and it is thought that rubbish in it was fired by a spark from an incinerator. When the brigade arrived, the fire was almost out. The damage was not extensive. Derailment Delays Traffic. The partial derailment. of-two empty carriages in the Paekakariki railway yard, through a shunting mishap, delayed train traffic for' about three and a half hours last night. Most of the trains affected were goods trains, but the north-bound Limited was held up at Paekakariki for about two hours. The accident damaged the line, and it was found necessary to build a short .piece of temporary line over which traffic passed the spot last night. The' line was in order again today. Trout Benefit. The trout which swim gracefully around the bay at Queenstown are enthusiastic about ' the. new road from Kingston, and so is the,local butcher, states the "Southland News." The fish realise that more admirers mean more mince and on the floor of the bay can be seen numerous sheets of paper that have wrapped the popular food. The condition of the trout is excellent and the story is going round of the American tourist who recently walked into the grocer's shop and asked if he could buy some fishing tackle. • Needless to say a meeting of the Town Council was hastily summoned and the visitor was placed under careful surveillance during the remainder of his sojourn there. Statements to Police. "The police do not collect evidence, when they take statements, for the benefit of private people at all," commented Mr. Justice Ostler in the Supreme Court yesterday when he was discussing with counsel the question of the admissability of a statement given to the police after an accident. "It is no part of their duty to do so. Statements are taken in the interests of the police, and it is in the public interests that they should be treated as privileged. If their contents were disclosed people making them would not speak so freely, and the police would be handicapped in their task of detecting crime. The public interest overrides the private interest." ' Lack of Swimming Baths. "It is with regret that we again report the failure of the Wellington City Council to provide proper facilities in Wellington for the teaching and encouragement of swimming," says the annual report of the Wellington Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association. "As the council has apparently formed the ' opinion that an up-to-date bath cannot be made to pay, we trust that some publicspirited syndicate will take the matter up and provide Wellington with an institution which will prove a boon to the city and a profitable investment for those who contribute towards the cost." Exemption Suggested. When the House of Representatives in Committee last night was considering a clause in the Statutes Amendment Bill excluding fire brigades, traffic inspectors, and ambulances from the speed regulations, it was suggested by Mr. H. S. S. Kyle (National, Riccarton), in jocular fashion, that the opportunity ought to be taken by the Minister of Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) to add himself to the list, for, he assured the House, there had been strong complaints recently in Christchurch about the Ministerial car's speed. Whether it had got away or. not on Cashmere Hills, it certainly came down at a terrific speed, and when the car went along the Canterbury Plains it could just be seen, and that was all. (Laughter.). "I would not like for one moment to see the Minister charged with speeding," concluded Mr. Kyle, who was told by the Minister that he was simply stupid and ought not to be so childish. Anti-gas Training. A letter from Dr. W. C. Bentall, 0.8. E., Air Raid Precautions Staff Officer, attached to St. John's Gate, London, received by the Wellington St. John Ambulance Association, states that during the past twelve months, 1000 instructors have been duly certificated, and some 65,000 members of the St. John Ambulance Brigade are rapidly taking the examinations in anti-gas training. Also,, the general public hospital, police, firemen, and factory employees are gradually being instructed. Dr. Bentall states that it is easier to imagine than for him to describe the immense organisation which has been developed in England throughout the last twelve months to make all this possible. Details of lectures and samples of examination papers dealing with air-raid precautions have now been received from England-by the association. '