General News

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29193, 2 May 1960, Page 10

General News

Helped Himself A Normandale resident helped firemen from the Lower Hutt Fite Brigade take hose up a long, steep approach to a burning house in Miromiro road yesterday morning before he realised the house was his own. The resident and his wife were out when the fire began. The couple returned as firemen were carrying hose and coupling up 132 steps to the building. Grasping the fire-fighting equipment, he hurried toward the fire, and saw it was his own house as it came within sight. An oven fire started the blaze. The kitchen was extensively damaged and smoke damaged other parts of the house. —(P.A.)

World Record An Otago darts player, J. Young, set a world darts record in scoring 55,001 in 3hrs 2min at Dunedin on Saturday. Young was one of the four Otago Darts Association members who attempted to beat the record of 3hrs 50min, established by four British servicemen. Three of the Otago men broke the recognised time. Besides Young, T. McDowell (3hrs 19min) and G. Brown (3hrs 42Jmin) scored faster. They scored so fast that they kept four adding machines busy tabulating the totals as they mounted at a rate of, in Young’s case, more than 18.000 an hour. —(PA.).

Maori Anthem A former commander of the Maori Battalion, Mr Arapeta Awatere, now a Maori welfare officer, has finished a work he began 17 years ago on the battlefield—the composition of a Maori anthem. It will be sung for the first time in Rotorua at a religious gathering of Maoris in the second week of May. It is called “Maranga,” which means “Arise.” Mr Awatere said it was inspired by the death of Moana Ngarimu, V.C., at Tebaga Gap, in the Western Desert. He was Ngarimu’s commanding officer.—(P.A.).

Gifts By Small Body The Kaikohe branch of the New Zealand Red Cross Society, which has fewer than a dozen members, approved at its annual meeting donations totalling £lOO. They include Refugee Year Fund, £5O; Red Cross disaster fund, £25; and lepers, £lO. During the year the branch, which received almost its entire revenue by catering on sale days at the Kaikohe sale yards, gave £l5 to the Agadir disaster fund, £5O to the Kaikohe St. John Ambulance, £5O to lepers, and £5 to the Galloway fund. The branch has a credit balance of £99 for this year's emergencies.—(P.A.).

Lost Australians Two Australians got lost on 2900 ft Mount Edgecumbe at Kawerau on Saturday and were located yesterday morning cold, wet and hungry, but uninjured, after their night in the open. They are James Colin Sinclair, t n exchange teacher, of Te Teko, and Nakomai Ann Deering, a tourist. They became separated from a party of climbers and were missing when the party returned after dark. Search parties organised by the Kawerau police left at daybreak yesterday and the two missing climbers were located half way up the mountain about 9 a.m.—(PA.)

Road Safety Prize A Ruapehu College schoolteacher who lives at Waiouru, Mr William L. McLean, has been chosen as the winner of a road safety contest staged by the Taihape Rotary Club. His success earned him a £l5O prize which was given by an oil company. Mr McLean was selected from seven finalists.—(P.A.)

Bicycle Race Challenge Canterbury University competitors in the annual bicycle race down the Avon river will face “foreign” competition today. The 10-man Otago University Capping band arrived in Christchurch yesterday with the intention of showing Canterbury University what it could do. A few of its members will compete while the remainder will give protection where necessary, and provide musical accompaniment on the brass, drums and a set of bagpipes. They will not be hard to recognise, for their uniform of blue shirts, yellow skirts with blue bow ties, and papier mache helmets is strictly Otago in colour, if nothing Ise.

Fire Restrictions Lifted

Fire restrictions in Ashley, Balmoral, Eyrewell, Kakahu, Hanmer, Omihi, Rakaia and Mount Fyffe rural fire districts were lifted yesterday according to a notice issued by the New Zealand Forest Service

Emperor’s Book A book, “The Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay" has been presented to the Auckland University at the direction of the Emperor of Japan. Edited by the chief of the biological laboratory of the Imperial Household (Dr. H. Hattori), it records the Emperor's contribution to marine biological research. The presentation was made after correspondence between Dr. M. C. Miller, of the Zoology Department, Auckland University, and Dr. Hattori. When the Emperor learned of the inquiry he ordered a copy of the book sent to the university.

Appeal For Church The Anglican vicar of the Ellerslie parish, Auckland, Canon F. C. Truman, received £720 during a day long fund-raising wait In a Mount Wellington paddock on Saturday. The canon set up a tent in the paddock, the possible site of his proposed new church, at 9 a.m. He hoped donations totalling £lOOO would be made to him during the day to enable the parish to buy the site. The response had been excellent, he said, after his vigil finished at 5 p.m. More than 200 people had given donations, the highest individual one being £25. He believed that the £lOOO target would be reached within a few days.—(P.A.)