General News

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27735, 12 August 1955, Page 10

General News

Striptease Strike Six thousand third grade clerks in the Indian Government secretariat will start a “striptease” strike next week to back up demands for a wage of £2 a week instead of the present £l. They plan first to go to work shirtless and unshaven. If their demands are not met after a week, they will remove their trousers and go to work in pyjama pants- A week later they will replace the pyjamas with short underpants and discard their shoes. From September 5 they will report for duty in loincloths with bed-sheets wrapped round their shoulders.—New Delhi. August 11. School Record The Rector of St. Bede’s College’ (the Rev. Father J. Eourke) said at the college’s annual boxing championships last evening that it would be the last tc-urnament to be held in the college study. In future it would be held in the gymnasium, which would be one of 3 the greatest benefits conferred on the college by its parents’ association. “In the past.” he said, “the boys coming to St. Bede’s could look forward to moving more desks a greater distance than in any other school in New Zealand. Those days are about to conclude.” The Female of the Species When 21-year-old Angus Cleghorn decided to break into St. Hilda’s Girls’ School he picked the wrong time and place. One of the teachers. Miss Gertrude Bird, aged 51, was still in the school and surprised him. She clipped him on the chin, dazed him with a right uppercut, twisted one of his arms half-way up his back, and held him until the police arrived. Today, Cleghorn, a six-foot tall labourer, was placed on probation for two years after pleading guilty to stealing a record case and two books of dance music from the school. Afterwards, Miss Bird said: “I could have hurt Cleghorn, but I don't like a roughhouse so I did not hit him very hard.” —London, August 10. Gift of Furniture to cabinet A full set of chairs, as well as a table, in New Zealand timbers, for the u:e of the Cabinet will be given to the Government by the New Zealand Timber Merchants' Federation. “In fulfilling this important need of our leeislators it is our intention that the table and chairs should be part of an integrated design.” said Mr R. C. Clough, vice-president of the federation, yesterday.—(P. A.) Back to Stay A 42-year-old convict who escaped from the New Jersey State prison at Trenton more than two years ago returned to the prison voluntarily today 'because bis conscience bothered him. A prison gatekeeper was amazed to see the convict, Daniel Roper, standing in front of him. “Good morning, Harry,” Roper said. “I’ve come back to stay.” He told the prison warden later that he had been working in his home town since his escape, but he could not stand the. pressure of being a hunted man. “My conscience has bothered me ever i since I walked away.” he said.—New York, August 10. Tourist Hotel for Auckland A site for a new Jourist hotel in Auckland has been chosen. In a letter received oy the Newmarket Borough Council, the Minister in charge of Tourist and Health Resorts (Mr E. H. Halstead) wrote: “A site has already been selected, and is being held for use in the event of negotiations with the overseas interests resulting in definite proposals.’ Safety Week Postponed A meeting of the “Operation Safety” Week Committee yesterday decided to postpone the campaign, which was to have been held from October 15 to 22, until early next year. The chairman, the Industrial Medical Officer of Health (Dr. A. Douglas), said the committee felt that in the interests of a combined civic effort the campaign should be postponed. That would allow the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association, which could not have co-operated fully in October, and other interested bodies similarly placed, to do so. It was also expected, Dr. Douglas - said, that a Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Safety Association would be formed this month, and it would become a valuable ally in organising the week. Flying Bicycle Art Hartman, a 67-year-old former trapeze artist and professional parachute jumper, said today that he planned to beccme airborne this summer with a a bicycle, and 200 helium balloons. He estimated that w th a gnol tail wind, he could travel 'about 25 to 30 miles an hour at an altitude of about 1500 feet. He will place the balloons under a 28foot parachute. The frame of the bicycle is suspended under the balloons, the pedals operating a propeller in front and a tri! fin at the rear. “There’s no question but that it will fly,” Mr Hartman said. “To come down. I will release the balloons one by one.”—Burlington (Iowa), August 10. X-Ray Examinations More than 1000 examinations were made with the Health Department’s immature mass X-rav plant at the .Addington railway workshops in two and a half days recently. It is expected that the vehicle used to make it a mobile unit will be ready for service again soon, but in the meantime the plant will be taken on two more major jobs. Next week about 1500 employees of the Post and Telegraph Department will be examined, and the week after next the unit will be at the Ashburton Industries Fa r. In little more than five months, the department’s miniature mass X-ray unit in Manchester street has made more than 13,000 examinations Serpent in the Garden A man was charged in Court today with “maliciously” killing a snake v.hich appeared in his garden, nearly frightening the wits out of his mother-in-law. He killed the snake, which was 4ft 6in long, with a piece of wood. Eut the snake's owner was Mrs Stella Maria Ling, who lived two houses away. She told the Court she kept snakes as pets. The dead snake was called Screwball and she used to ride on buses and trains with it coiled round her body under her blouse, she said. The Magistrate dismissed the case, saying there was not sufficient proof that the man had known the snake was a harmless one.—London. August 10. Sentences on Drunken Drivers A warning that he would revert to goal sentences for drunken drivers, if the number of these drivers did not decrease, was given in the Hamilton Magistrate’s Court yesterday by Mr S. L. Patterson, S.M. Three men. two under the age of 21, were appearing before him on charges of driving while under the influence of drink. When he began imposing prison terms, a few months ago, the number of drunken drivers appearing in Court dropped off, said the Magistrate, but it had increased lately. If there was not another decrease, he woujd revert to more prison sentences.— (P.A.) School Term Ends Next Week Primary and post-primary schools in Canterbury and Westland will end the second term next Friday, August If). Primary schools under the Canterbury Education Eoard will have a fortnight s holiday, resuming on Monday. September 5. Those under the Christchurch Post-primary Schools’ Council will have three weeks’ holiday. but- some will resume on Monday, September 12, and some on Tuesday. September 13. the shooting war on favourable terms and switch to subversion in the political field. It is possible that an anxious time of transition is at I hand in Malaya, during which Malay politicians, with power newly in their bands, will bear heavy responsibilities. It will be remarkable if they allow themselves to forget the bitter lessons of the last seven years, during which the Malayan Communists—nearly all Chinese, and many of them alien Chinese—used the instrument of terror to try to impose communism on Malaya.