General News

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31654, 15 April 1968, Page 8

General News

No Explosion Residents along the Heathcote River had reason to be grateful that the blockage at the St Martins Road footbridge, when tree trunks were held up to form a dam, was not cleared by a charge of gelignite as had been suggested. The bridge also carries an electric cable and a gas main which, if blown up together, would have caused a big explosion when a spark from the cable would probably have ignited the gas. “Fine Gesture” “It was mighty decent and people should know," said Mr F. L. Anderson, of 150 St Albans Street, who on Friday praised the help he had received from City Council workmen and a youth in restoring his front fence after it had been blown down in the storm. “I was trying to lift the fence when a young man of about 16 offered to help,” he said. “W-; couldn’t lift the fence. Two council trucks stopped, and the men gave us a hand to put the fence upright again and wire it fast. The council men said they had been instructed to do what they could to help get fences off foothpaths. It was a fine gesture, which, I am sure, was appreciated by others as well as myself." Street Appeal In spite of bad weather, the annual appeal on Thursday of the Canterbury branch of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is expected to raise $lOOO. More than S7OO had been counted and some boxes were still to be handed in, the branch secretary (Mr J. L. Paulden) said on Friday. “Everything was against us. However, we are very pleased with the people who did collect for us and thank all those who gave,” he said. Last year $l7OO was collected and in 1966 $lBOO. “We hope that we may be able to hold another appeal later in the year. The people just weren’t in town,” Mr Paulden said. Unexpected Holiday Most Canterbury schools had an unexpected holiday on Thursday because of the weather. Because of appeals by transport authorities that only essential trips be made, messages were broadcast that the Education Department. Canterbury Education Board, Christchurch Secondary Schools’ Council and other authorities advised pupils to stay at home. Apart from traffic danger to children, many schools had flooded grounds. Thursday will be regarded as an emergency holiday and will not have to be made up. Personal Items Mr B. Zeff has been reelected chairman of the Burnside High School board of governors, and Mr A. Foley has been elected his deputy. Peter Arnett, the New Zea-land-born Pulitzer Prize-win-ning Vietnam correspondent of the Associated Press, has been named winner of a Sigma Delta Chi award for distinguished service in journalism. The professional journalistic society honoured Arnett in the foreign correspondence category of its thirty-sixth annual competition for his coverage of the Vietnam war in 1967.—(P.A.) Mr T. S. Marchington. the managing director of the New Zealand Shipping Company in New Zealand, is retiring on May 31. He will be succeeded by Mr G. Hunter.— (PA.)