St. John Ambulance Kept Busy.

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 91, 18 April 1932, Page 6

St. John Ambulance Kept Busy.

Tho experience of St. John Ambulance workers among tho groat crowd attending tho ceremony of the dedication and handing over of the Citizens' War Memorial yesterday afternoon is a further proof of the necessity of provision of first aid stations whenever thero aro largo gatherings. In all 87 members of the brigade were on duty, and during the afternoon, though,the weather was ideal for such a gathering, warm but not hot sunshine, and though there was no pressing and crowding, no less than twenty-two pe.ople were given attention by brigade workers. Most of those treated were women and girls who fainted, ; in many cases probably due to high 'emotional stress. It is almost impossible •to . estimate the number of people present at the ceremony, but the ten thousand programmes printed went long before the ceremony commenced, and. long before the demand for them was met. Probably the attendance was between fifteen and twenty thousand people, of whom three thousand were members of the Military and naval forces, and of the parades of returned soldiers and ex-Im-perial men..' A Gas Explosion. ,- A gas/stove used in a coffee stall in Princess ; street, Pahnerston North, exploded yesterday afternoon, and the air. was for a short space full of flying peas and potatoes. It is presumed that the operator turned on tho jets in the oven by accident, and, unnoticed by him, the oven became filled with gas. The naked flame on top did the rest; The force blew the stove to pieces, and tho. heavy door -struck' the operator's leg, inflicting cuts. Air Mail night. ;..Tho first official air mail flight betwoon Auckland, and the far north for '"about;,ten yoars'has been arranged to take place-on Saturday, 30th April. The flight, which is being held under the auspices of the New; Zealand Air League, will.,bß from Auckland to Dargaville,: and across the Island to Bussell. On the return flight to Auckland the machine will call at Whangarei. The first air mail, flight from Auckland to Dargaville ana back was made in December, 1919. This flight was carried out?by Right-Lieutenant G.: B. Bolt who at that time wa» attached to Messrs.' Walsh Bros, and Dexter's flyirig:school at Kohimarama. Flight-Xieu-tenant Bolt is now pilot-engineer to the Wellington Aero Club. The pilot of the maohineiniheflight at the end of this month will- be Squadron-Leader M. 0. McGregor,.who has acted as pilot in other. air mail- flights in. New Zealand. Tra^oWiti Inlands. ' ■ ' \ Judging; from-, observations-made by passengers on .the- Tofua,- ■which, returned :tO' Auckland-an...Tuesday- after her ( lastr-round-trip;; of .the\ islands of the .-.'Western. Pacific^ recent developments '; in- the .steamer 'traffic with tho Dominion-have left the islands, particularly. Fiji and' Samoa, ,in a state of .uncertainty bordering on bewilderment (states the "Now Zealand .Heraid").....;; "New, departures, have been made so rapidly and- so suddenly in connection, with : steamship services that Island people do not know whether they are.going to benefit or not," one .business man said. "However, they do know that New, Zealand's export trade .with" the Islands' is " going.'-. to ■Bi>ffeT/:' ; : : ': Fiji;;:seems-" more' "concerned about, the situation than Bamoaj for the reason .that Fiji would profer to.trade with New Zealand rather than .with Australia, which, will not'":import:- Kji fruit. Fiji will still have:steame* connection with Auckland' "through " the running of the Waipahi, but Suva business men genorally deplore the withdrawal of a regular Island steamer carrying passengers as well as cargo. In Samoa matters are different; the entire' situation is'regarded "almost with apathy." • • West Coast G01d..;.:.-.. -; "The West Coast has always been a good gold-producing courftry, and there is. no doubt that gold- in. large quantities still awaits the application of more gold to bring it to the light of day," said Mr.' F. W. Payne, an English" mining engineer, in* an interview with the Ohrlstchntch "Presß." Mr. Payne hua .returned t& New Zealand on tour, after an,, absence: 8f about thirty years, and -he has been visiting the West Coast- V He predicted that'large dredging1 operations 'would "be undertaken on the Gbast in -the .near future, also making the suggestion that money Spent in improving: the harbour at Okarito would,be well repaid in the saving on the- transport -of mining machinery.-.;. "Tlie: amount: of; gold already won from this .country can be looked? upon -as some indication- of the possibilities still j awaiting: development,'.'said Mr. Paynej ''but a note of .warning js. still -possibly .needed as to the-development of; gold-Ventures. In this.regard-tlie methods: adopted in prospeeting,and the -i6sults-,of-tne.: dredging in- the Moderated Malay'- States,-where very few failures have attended,dredging: ventures^ may "well be studied. This suecessrhas. been'-largely, due to' th<> extensive': ;and- somewhat: expensive prospecting; operations." that: have been insisted- .upon- before .the .raising Vof capital" for.; actual mining operations has been- attempted. ■■ •: - ■;'•: ,■;'■■'. f ' j?ioof a Btowii from Sl^eds.' •;" Considerable damage was doneby a cyclonic- storm which passed over the western part of. Waitara on; Sunday evening (states a New Plymouth, correspondent). Fortunately no one was injured.. Mr. and Mrs. T. Perger had an unpleasant .experience. The gale shook the • house like an earthquakeshqck,. and was. accompanied by blinding, rain. A pinus insignis tree 50ft to ,65ft high ..was snapped off near the ground. Luckily, it did not fall across the roadway or the power lines, but in a paddock, narrowly missing a valuable cow. The chimney in Mr. Perger's house, was blown down, and the roof of a shed was taken off. Plants and vegetables were uprooted arid blown all over the property. Mr. G..H. Millar's section across the road was also in the line of the storm, and a fowlhouse was lifted bodily and turned upside down, "^/irelessmasts were blown, down," and a motor-ear had tho hood lifted off by the Iwind. "Tho engineroom of the brick and tilt'works was also unroofed. Hundreds of pipes were damaged, as was the switchboard.' Trees in the path of the storm lost their branches, which were, carried a considerable distance. "A Frivolous Case." -■ A-prosecution for alleged assault,brought by the. parents of a boy, aged 8 years, against :a teacher at the Waihi District High School, .Mollie Deverell, was heard by Mr. OF. W. Platts, S.M., in the Children ?s Court at Waihi on Tuesday (states the - "New Zealand Herald")'. The case was a sequel to punishment of the boy. Lengthy evidence was given. The boy. concerned admitted that he had been inattentive to his lessons and that he had "been rebuked on several,occasions. Classmates identified the stick alleged to ' have been used—a piece of dowelling less than the thickness of a pencil;. Some said it had been used on the legs and others on the shoulders, while other witnesses said it had been used on both. The boy's grandmother alleged that there were weals on the boy's back, but Dr. L. E. Hetherington, who examined the'child after the alleged offence, said .- he could find none, and the bruises on the boy might easily have been caused in the normal course of games. Thero wore no signs of weals, and only slight bruises were evident. *'The evidonco of tho boy, the evidence regarding the stick, and, above all,, that of the doctor, shows that the boy was lightly punisled," said the Magistrate. "The case is a frivolous one and will be dismissed.'-'