General News

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28619, 23 June 1958, Page 10

General News

Open And Closed “I now have great, pleasure in declaring this bridge officially open and temporarily closed,” said the Governor-General (Viscount Cobham) on Saturday, overcoming an awkward wording problem Wy ley’s bridge, in the Mangainahu Valley, is still only two abutments joined across the Whangaehu river by suspension cables. The bridge opening was the official function of the Gov-ernor-General’s week-end visit to Wanganui. Mr W. J. Polson, chairman of the Wanganui County Council, said Wyley’s bridge was one of the major suspension bridges built recently in this country, and had cost about £27,000.—(P.A.) June Sunshine Yesterday, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, there were 5.1 hours of sunshine making the total for the month so far 112.2 hours. The total sunshine hours in June last year was 118.9 and the average for the month is 108. In the first 22 days of June the daily average sunshine was 5.18 hours and there have been only two days without any sun. The mean daily maximum temperature for the 22 days—ss.s degrees—was also well above the average fo~ June, 51 degrees. Yesterday the sun rose at 8.2 a.m. and set at 4.59 p.m. Godley Head Light After being closed to the public since March, the Godley Head Lighthouse is again open for inspection. The lighthouse was closed to the public because of the dangerous condition of the wooden steps leading down to the tower. These steps have now been repaired. In The Footsteps The voice of a Massey win be heard again in Parliament Buildings early next month when Bill Massey, a pupil of Puni School, Pukekohe, introduces his class to the guide who will show them around the buildings. Bill is a great-grandson of William Ferguson Massey, Prime Minister from 1912 to 1925, and a grandson of Mr J. N. Massey, who was a member of Parliament until last November. Pupils from standards three and four of Puni Schoo! will leave Pukekohe on Friday for Wellington, where they will be guests of pupils of the Island Bay School With bottle and rag drives and proceeds from pine cones, firewood sales and a steer, the children have raised enough money to keep the cost of the trip down to 25s a head.—(J?.A.) Whale Problem The Marine Department hopes that 13 dead whales on Muriwai Beach, 20 miles from Muriwai. will not contaminate the toheroa beds m the area. The toheroa season will open on July 1. “We intend to find out how far dead whales could affect shellfish nearby,” said Mr R. A. Squire, district administration officer of the department, “but people would still be advised not to take loheroas from the area where the bodies are.” The whales had oeen on the beach for about two weeks, Mr Squire said, and were in an advanced state of decomposition. It would be almost impossible to get bulldozers to the area to bury them, and there was no fuel nearby with which to burn them. —(P.A.) Friendly Match Before the kick-off in a football match between two teams, traditional rivals, in the rural town of San Camilo, the referee told the players that he would not tolerate foul play and produced a pistol. Order prevailed until, in the second half, the pistol fell and one of the players was accidentally shot in the leg. The referee and the 22 players abandoned the match and had a barbecue.—Formosa (Argentina), June 21. Mobile Post Offices The Indian Government is considering having mobile post offices on the backs of horses and camels to cater for desert dwellers. — New Delhi, June 21.