BROKEN CLASS AT TIMARU

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30338, 14 January 1964, Page 13

BROKEN CLASS AT TIMARU

Mayor Concerned At Publicity

The Mayor (Mr C. E. Thomson) had expressed concern at the publicity broken glass on Caroline Bay was receiving throughout New Zealand, and had requested that it should not be emphasised, said the District Superintendent of the Timaru St. John Ambulance Brigade (Mr J. Lister) yesterday. Consequently. brigade personnel manning the emergency first aid station on the bay during the carnival period, had been instructed, when providing information on the number of persons suffering minor injuries such as cuts and lacerations, not to stipulate that they were caused by broken glass. Mr Lister said the Mayor’s request followed an announcement by the superintendent of parks and reserves (Mr R. S. Scott) that lorryloads of glass had been taken away from the bay. “The Mayor was disturbed at reports from as far afield as Auckland that Caroline Bay was strewn with broken glass. He said that such publicity was undesirable and did not do the city any good,” Mr Lister added. Fewer Treated This Year

According to the brigade’s publicity officer (Mr J. Strachan) "casualties” treated from Boxing Day until January 12 totalled 211. Last year during the same period 243 persons received treatment. Of the 211 injuries, 24 were referred to Timaru Hospital. Fifty-five cases were designated by brigade members as “cuts.” The number of injuries through broken glass was not as great as last year, however, said Mr Strachan. The causes were more varied. These included gashes from masonry, sea-shells and through opening tins. Some were caused by broken glass, fragments of which were found in the wounds, and open wounds were caused when bottles were thrown from amusement devices. Brigade personnel worked a total of 755 hours. The biggest number of cases was 52 on New Year’s Day.

Bribe-takers Gaoled. A Soviet court has sentenced five persons to gaol terms ranging from 10 to five years for taking bribes to admit students to a Moscow economics institute.—(Moscow, January 12.)