NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF 1957

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28473, 31 December 1957, Page 12

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF 1957

The aftermath of the Suez crisis and the suppressed revolution in Hungary overshadowed the beginning of 1957. The year that followed was packed with events that made world news, though few could have made such an impact as those two crises. In another field, the popularity of rock *n* roll and Elvis Presley eased in favour of calypso. This calendar recalls some of the big news events and also lesser items that captured the imagination of the world or were important to New Zealanders. January 2 Loid Cobham is appointed Gov-ernor-General of New Zealand 1 Thirteen ships sail from Suez Canal after being trapped for two months. The first plane to be designed and built in New Zealand to C.A.A. standards is test-flown from Rongotai by its maker, Mr C. C. Andrews. 8 The first Hungarian refugees arrive in Christchurch. • Sir Thomas Beecham says in Toronto that he has no views cn Elvis Presley. On rock ’n’ roll he says: “There’s not a vestige of sanity left anywhere.” Sir Anthony Eden resigns as Prime Minister. 19 Mr Macmillan chosen to form a new British Government. 15 Cotton Brothers Auckland rubber warehouse burned out; damage of £300,000. 16—Toscanini dies, aged 89, in New York. 17 The first meeting of the Road Tunnel Authority in Christchurch. 25—India annexes part of Kashmir and the long, intermittent. United Nations debate continues. 31 The Gloucester street restaurant of “Mother Hucks” closes after 48 years.

February 4 Christchurch’s hottest day in 1957—90.8 deg. • The House of Commons passes death penalty bill, retaining five types of murder as capital offences. 12 New Zealand’s best butter sells m Lonc'on at 256 s per cwt—the lowest figure of the year. 15 New Zealand celebrates the seventy-fifth anniversary of the frozen meat industry. 18 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive in Lisbon for their State visit. 19 The fluoridation hearing ends in Christchurch. The New Zealand cruiser. Royalist, comes to Lyttelton for the first time. 20 A tornado causes £lOO,OOO worth oi damage at New Plymouth. 21 Sir Anthony Eden arrives at Auckland for his Bay of Islands convalescence. The Christchurch floral festival week begins. The Covent Garden corps de ballet goes on strike. 22 Earthquake shakes San Francisco—one of the strongest earthquakes since the 1906 disaster. 23 One million engineering workers on strike in Britain. 24 Publicans' licences granted for the Hornby and Bumside road 26 rhe Suez Canal is cleared for ships up to 20,000 tons. 27 Salvador Dali says that Betsy the Baltimore chimpanzee, should be allowed more freedom of expression in her painting 21 The Christchurch M.E.D. has its first deficit (£44,000) since 1915. March 1 The Army seizes power in parts of Indonesia after disagreements over President Soekamo’s Indonesia “conception” announcet ment. Israel decides to withdraw troops from Egyptian territory. 3 A British • company’s report says that a Cook Strait power cable would be “thoroughly practicable.” 7 Ghana becomes an independent nation. General wage rise in the New Zealand Public Service. 11 Merino wool sells at Timaru for the highest price since the 1951 boom—lo4Jd per lb. Admiral Byrd dies in Washington, aged 68.

12 The Christchurch Hospital receives its cobalt therapy unit from Sir Arthur Sims. It was handed over by Sir Sidney Holland. 14 200,000 British shipyard men begin strike. April 1 The 70-year-old Kaiapoi community haU is burned down. 2 Robert Strom, aged 10, of New York, answers three questions on science and increases his television quiz winnings to 128,000 dollars. < At Addington, Tactician becomes the first horse outside the United States to beat 2min for the mile—time: Imin 59 4-ssec. • The Queen arrives in Paris for a State visit. Dr. Adams is aquitted of the murder of Mrs Edith Alice Morrell after the longest Old Bailey murder trial. 10 Canterbury University College Physics Department records radar echoes of Aurora Australis—the first time in New Zealand. 16 Robert Strom wins 192.000 dollars. 20 Mayflower H sails from Plymouth for New England. 30 A huge Russian nuclear test in Siberia is reported. May 2 The Benmore site on the Waitaki river is chosen. More uranium discoveries near Fox river, West Coast. Senator McCarthy dies. 4 Air Vice-Marshal McKee arrives at Harewood in a R.A.F. Comet jet. Auckland harbour bridge caisson tilts 30deg. 5 Major-General Sir Howard Kippenberger dies, aged 60. 8 The Wellington DJ.C. scaffolding falls, killing two persons. The subsequent inquiry lasted more than two months. • Meat exports to Japan are estimated to be worth £3m for the next 12 months. 15 The Christchurch Metropolitan Milk Board orders all city milk to be pasteurised. Petrol rationing in Britain ends after five months. Britain tests her first Hbomb over the Pacific. 19 Two days of storm bring floods to the South Island and Wellington. 21 Th® Queen begins her visit to Denmark. 24 The end of the fourth month of drought in New South Wales. Anti-United States riots in Formosa. 26. Christchurch bus fares to go up Id a section over two sections. 29 After a New Zealand trade mission to London, a pact with Britain is announced assuring unrestricted sale of farm produce. The United States transport union leader. Dave Beck, decides to retire after a union graft inquiry. 31 Algerian insurgents massacre 275 Moslems.

June 1 Merger of the stock firms, H. Matson and Company and National Mortgage and Agency Company. 8 Mr R. A. Butler reports in the Commons on the tapping of a barrister’s telephone. 9 The Soviet weekly “Ogonek” says' that Russia’s earth satellite will : circle the earth 16 times a day, I taking about 90 minutes each | trip. 10 Mr St. Laurent’s Liberal Party is is beaten in the Canadian elections. 12 Mayflower II arrives at Provincetown. 13 Centenary of the constitution of the Church of England in New! Zealand. 20 The United Nations committee presents its report on Russian I actions in Hungary in 1956. 26 A coroner finds that the frogman’s body found in Chichester Harbour was that of Commander Lionel Crabb, missing since April, 1956, when Russian warships were at Portsmouth. 28 A tidal wave kills 275 in Louisiana. 30 Explosions on the sun and rockets fired in Southern California open the International Geophysical Year. July 1 The Christchurch City Council general rate goes up—3d to 3%d in the £. 2 The Government accepts a £826,000 tender for the Christchurch railway station. 3 Messrs Molotov. Malenkov, Kaganovich, and Shepilov are removed from their Communist Party posts. Earthquakes in Persia kill 1500. Mike Todd spends more than £50,000 and entertains 1700 guests to promote a film in London. 6 Archbishop Averill dies, aged 91. 11 The Aga Khan dies, aged 79. 13 The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Thorneycroft, warns of inflation dangers. 20 British busmen go on strike —

the biggest strike since the 1926 general strike. 25 The New Zealand Budget announces P.A.Y.E. The Queen begins Channel Islands visits. 26 The Governor-General and Lady Norrie leave New Zealand. 27 President Castillo of Guatemala is assassinated. 29 Buckingham Palace serves hot dogs at a garden party for 5000 Americans. August August and September were the months during which the Asian influenza epidemic was at its height in New Zealand. 1 “Lord Cobham went on board the liner Rangitiki at London Docks with four cars, 100 pieces of luggage, bis wife, eight children. and a feeling of relief.”— 'Daily Mail." 5 The ’cellist, Pablo Cassals, remarries, aged 80. 6 British troops move on Oman rebels. 13 Mr Holyoake is accepted as leader of the National Party. 14 Christchurch W.E.A. course in Russian begins for 20 students 19 The Syrian situation is said to to be confused. 20 Record 102,000 ft balloon flight from South Dakota by Major David Simons. . 21 A boy aged 12 in Crail, Fife, pulled out a plug and drained a 150,000-gallon reservoir. 26 After weeks of dispute, United States Army Corporal William Girard goes op trial in Japan for the death of a Japanese woman on a firing range. 29 Russia claims to have a 15,000 mile-an-hour inter - continental missile. 30 Malaya’s independence proclaimed.

September 1 Shipping rates on dairy produce, meat, and fruit from New Zealand to Britain rise 12% per cent. The Auckland zoo’s 11-weeks-old Polar bear is drowned by its mother. 3 The British Minister of Defence, Mr Duncan Sandys, meets Cabinet in Wellington. In a train crash in Jamaica, 173 persons are killed. 4—Arkansas National Guardsmen turn negroes away from the Central High School, Little Rock. Speculation on the West German mark lowers the sterling area's stocks by 225 m dollars in a month. 15 The controversy over regimental kilts and trews gets under way The combined churches’ campaign begins m Christchurch. 16 The Hermitage destroyed by fire. Shipping rates on cargo from Britain to New Zealand increase 15 per cent. 21 The Pamir is lost in an Atlantic hurricane with 81 hands. King Haakon dies, aged 85. 23 Two days after his resignation as Prime Minister, a knighthood is conferred on Mr Holland. 25 United States paratroopers arrive at Little Rock. 31 The Christchurch Town Hall sponsoring committee is formed. October 1 The freight on wool from New Zealand ports is increased 13$ per cent. The United States Navy makes the first flights of the season from Harewood to McMurdo Sound. 5 Russia launches a satellite which circles the earth 16 times a day, taking about 90 minutes each trip. 14 The Queen begins her 10-day North American tour at Ottawa. 24 A permanent Court of Appeal is appointed in New Zealand. 25 The United Nations Assembly debates the Turkey-Syria crisis 31 Mr Keith Wakeman makes a record 270-mile glider flight across Cook Strait. November

2 The first export lamb schedule of the season for Canterbury and Marlborough shows increases of 2sd to 3Jd per lb It later declines about 4d in most grades. The Soviet Communist Party dismisses Marshal Zhukov from top leadership 3 Russia launches a second sputnik. 5 The New Zealand-bred galloper. Straight Draw, Wins the Melbourne Cup. 8 New Zealand dog teams begin crossing the South Polar plateau from Base 480 10 Buildings at Waiouru Military Camp worth £500.000 are destroyed by fire. 12 Lookaway becomes the first four-year-old to win the New Zealand Trotting Cup. The New Zealand-bred colt, Tulloch, is compared in Australia with Phar Lap and Carbine. 15 Western arms deliveries to Tunisia cause France to walk out of United Nations. 19-22 Floods cause havoc in Otago and Southland. 24 Dr. Fuchs begins his Antarctic crossing. 25 Huge bushfires rage in New South Wales. 30 Mr Nash expresses satisfaction at the result of the General Election. December 2 Indonesia begins reprisals against the Dutch for refusing to leave West New Guinea. 4 Ninety-two persons are killed in a train disaster at Lewisham. 6 Amid much publicity, the United States Vanguard rocket launching fails at Cape Canaveral. 11 New Zealand’s overseas reserves, at £51.5m, are the lowest for eight years. 13 The N.A.T.O. summit conference begins in Paris. An earthquake in Persia kills more than 1200. 15 There is an incident with whips during a trotting race at Addington. 17 The M.E.D. announces 47.2 per cent, increases in power charges. 19 Work begins on making a diversion channel for the Benmore power scheme. 21 The Parapet Rock hoarding is destroyed 26 Hillary on way to South Pole. 27 The Waimakariri, Rakaia, and Rangitata rivers flooded wide areas after heavy rain in the Alps, which also caused considerable damage in - the Arthur’s Pass region.