OPENING OF BRIDGE

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 59, 2 December 1933, Page 16

OPENING OF BRIDGE

Final Pipiriki Road Link NEWS FROM WANGANUI Dominion Special Service. Wanganui, December 1. The Ruapirau Stream bridge will be officially opened to-morrow morning by Hon. j. Bitchener, Minister of Public Works. It will complete the last link on the road running from Wanganui to Pipiriki. Following the opening of the bridge the Minister will visit the Native settlement at Ranana and the Morikau farm. Customs Revenue. Customs revenue collected at the port of Wanganui shows an increase during November. Following are the comparative figures:—Net Customs for November, 1933, £4295/2/9 (November, 1932, £3602 15/7) ; beer duty, £458/14/- (£489 13/9); tire tax, £225/2/- (£350/12/-); motor spirit tax, £l2lB/5/- (£lOO2/18/-) ; sales tax, £2287/13/5. For the eleven months of the calendar year the figures are as follow: —Customs, 1933, £40,007 18/8 (1932, £38,966/8/11) ; beer duty, £4164/1/8 (£4037/5/4); tire tax, £1927 2/- (£3041/3/-); petrol tax, £11,003 2/6 (£10,771/4/-) ; sales tax, £16,407 9/10. Vital Statistics. Vital statistics in Wanganui for November disclose an increase in births compared with the same month last year. There was a slight decline in the number of deaths. The figures are as follow, those for November, 1932, being in parentheses:—Births, 52 (49); marriages in office. 2 (4) ; marriage licenses, 17 (15). Figures for the 11 months of the year, with those for the corresponding period last year in parentheses, are: Births, 525 (545) ; deaths, 246 (249); marriage licenses, 193 (190) ; marriages in office, 43 (44). Drowning Accident. Death due to drowning was the verdict returned by Mr. E. F. Hemingway, coroner, at the Magistrate's Court at Batea yesterday, when an inquiry was held into the circumstances surrounding the death of the late Mrs. Louisa Catherine Christensen. whose body was recovered from the Patea River on November 26. Mr. A. T. Christensen said he considered that his wife, who had been in ill-health for some time, had been in a temporarily deranged state of mind at the time of her death.

Cyclist Injured. Suffering injuries through being knocked down by a motor-car, at the intersection of St. Hill Street and Guyton Street, last night, Horace Bertrum, aged 23, of 17 Burton Avenue, Gonviile. was admitted to the Wanganui Public Hospital. Mr. Bertrum. who was riding a cycle, was travelling toward Victoria Avenue, while a car driven by a Maori. Tame Paora. was proceeding down St. Hill Street. Mr. Bertrum was conveyed to the hospital by the Free Ambulance. His condition to-day was reported as being satisfactory.