General News

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25443, 15 March 1948, Page 6

General News

Delicate Foal Grows Into Winner The success of Signal Light in the New Zealand Trotting Stakes for three-yeat-olds, at Addington on Saturday was a reward for the perseverance of his breeder, owner, and trainer. Mr J. A. R. Hampton, and Mrs Hampton, Riccarton. Ignoring the advice pf friends who told them to destroy Signal Light because he was so delicate, they reared him on a bottle. Signal Light improved gradually, bur his troubles were not over. Two operations for growths again set him back. “He was a poor specimen as a two-year-old, but he showed plenty of fijsht, and I was always confident that he would come right.” said Mrs Hampton, as she proudly displayed the Trotting Stakes ribbon to her friends after the race. The race was worth £555 to the winner.

17,000 Persons Visit Warships A huge crowd travelled to Lyttelton yesterday to visit the Australian warships Australia and Bataan, which were open to the public. An augmented train service was taxed to capacity all the afternoon and all the streets in the vicinity of the waterfront were packed with parked cars. An official count made showed that 17,339 persons visited the flagship Australia and a large number also inspected the destroyer Bataan. The Australia and the Bataan are to sail at 3.30 p.m. to-day for Wellington. Five Frosts in Succession

Starting on Wednesday with a frost of nine degrees, five frosts in succession have been recorded in Christchurch. On Thursday there was a frost of 2.4 degrees, on Friday one of .3 degrees, on Saturday one of 1.3 degrees, and yesterday ope of 3.7 degrees. Bright Meteor Seen An unusually bright meteor was seen by a resident of Rolleston street, Christchurch, about 9.50 o’clock on Saturday evening. It appeared in the north-west sky, and was a brilliant blue-gteen colour. A few seconds later it appeared to explode, sending out a long tail of red, orange, and yellow colours, and finally disappearing in the south-west.

Iron Lung Pumped by Hand When a fault developed recently in the electric pump of an iron lung in the Kaitaia Hospital, in which a child was lying critically ill with infantile paralysis, a hand pump had io be used for five hours to maintain pressure in the lung. The medical superintendent (Dr. J. H. Webber) and members of the hospital staff in turn operated the pump until the electric motor was repaired. Woman Driver The only woman driver competing at the South Island hill climbing championships at Halswell on Saturday, Mrs S. Lupp, of Dunedin, handled her car with skill to get a popular Win in the* 1101 to 1500 c.c. class for super sports models. Mrs Lupp does all her own repair and maintenance work and her car was in Seriect running order. Her husband, Ir P. L. Lupp, equalled the record for the course in winning the open event.

Crash Helmets for Motor-Cyclists In 1940 British surgeons had discovered that there was a very serious loss of manpower due to the large number of Army motor-cyclists admitted to hospital with head injuries, said Sir Hugh Cairns, one of the world’s leading brain surgeons in a national broadcast last evening. At one time four me tor-cyclists were being killed on the road each day and 50 or more were being seriously injured. “We found that crash helmets made of compressed wood-pulp had a valuable effect when accidents occurred and when these were made compulsory for aii services’ motor-cyclists, hospital admissions were reduced to a quarter of . the expected total,” he said. “The helmet gave a much better protection than physicists thought it would and saved many lives and much trained manpower. I am rather surprised that the crash helmet is not made compulsory for civilian motor-cyclists.” Cerebral Palsy Authority Dr. Earl R. Carlson, a world authority on cerebral palsy, will arrive at Christchurch to-morrow. On Wednesday, at 10.30 a.m., he will attend a meeting in the geography block, Canterbury College, of persons interested in the assessment of the capabilities of affected children. A meeting of members of the Canterbury and Westland branch of the New Zealand Crippled Children Society, and parents of registered cerebral palsy cases, will be held in the University Hall on Wednesday evening. Dr. Carlson will attend a meeting of social workers, welfare officers, and speech and occupational therapists in the University Hall at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday. On Friday, at 10.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m., clinical demonstrations will be given in the gymnasium at the Christchurch .Public Hospital. Dr. Carlson will leave for Wellington on March 20. Breaks in Pacific Cables Two breaks occurred last week in the Pacific cable network, and the Government ship Matai has been called to Wellington for an urgent refit as a cable repair vessel. The* first break reported was in the Auckland-Norfolk Island cable and occurred near the coast between Auckland and Doubtless Bay. The other break, which will be attended to first by the Matai after she is ready to leave Wellington in about a week’s time, is on the Norfolk Island-Suva cable, which has broken about five miles south of Norfolk Island. Billeting of University Athletes The New Zealand Uniyersity Easter tournament will be held at Dunedin this year, and the tournament committee has been engaged during recent weeks in making preliminary arrangements. Some difficulty has been encountered with billets, so far only 70 of the required 300 having been offered. The committee, several weeks ago, wrote to 1000 persons in Dunedin who had shown interest in the University, asking if they would accommodate students, but only 50 replies were received, very few of which were favourable. An attempt to arouse student interests also failed. Disregarding these setbacks, the committee is now trying other forms of advertising, offering such inducements as a free pass to all tournament functions, and preferential booking at capping to all those who billet students at Easter. In the event of this scheme not producing results, the committee proposes to hire mattresses arid blankets from the Army and make up “shakedowns” under the Logan Park grandstand. All meals would be served in the University canteen, which would have to be run by student

labour. —(P.S.S.) Communist Party’s Statement The readiness of the National Party to support measures for the suppression of Communism and Communists, was described by the Wellington district committee of the Communist Party in a statement on Saturday as “a tearing, away of the mask of democracy behind which attacks on authentic liberties are proceeding.” The statement expressed confidence that the Trade Union movement and the people would resist to the utmost any attack from whatever quarter, on the fundamental political right to support and belong to any ’party of their choosing.—(P.A.) Food for London Children Justices of the peace throughout New Zealand have contributed more than £560 for the purchase of food parcels for the children of London. The Federation of New Zealand Justices' Associations has placed an order for the packing of a first consignment of parcels valued at £5OO, which will be sent to the London Magistrates’ Association. This organisation will arrange for the distribution of the goods in association with the National Council of Social Services. Film Agreement The new four-year agreement entered into by the United Kingdom and the United States covering the film industry, had considerably widened the scope of influence of the motion picture, said Mr R. J. Kerridge, managing director of Kerridge-Odeon, when asked to comment on the cabled announcement from London. There would be fostered a friendly competition which already had had the advantage of improving the quality of the products in both countries, Mr Kerridge said. Referring to American plans for -production in Australia, western Europe, South America, and elsewhere. Mr Kerridge said that such expansion must make a worth-whiie contribution to international goodwill of understanding. Mr Kerridge emphasised the potential internationalism of the cinema.—(PA.)