DOMINION ITEMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 January 1944, Page 4

DOMINION ITEMS

TRUCKER FOUND DEAD. WHANGAREI, Jan. 22. William Wellington Moonie, a Maori, 24, married with two children, employed as a trucker in the Hikurangi coal mine, was found dead lying on the line last night. It is presumed that he had come in contact with electricity. He was a member of the Maori Battalion, but had not been overseas. PRIEST ASSAULTED AUCKLAND, January 21. The parish priest of St. John s Roman Catholic Church, Parnell, Very Rev. Dr. L. T. Buxton, was assaulted in his Presbytery. It is alleged that an American serviceman knocked Dr. Buxton to the floor and knocked him down again after he had struggled to his feet. An arrest lias been made by the American authorities, and it is reported thai, disciplinary measures will be instituted against the man arrested. Dr. Buxton is recovering. ' POVERTY BAY STORM GISBORNE, January 21. A severe thunderstorm moving south yesterday afternoon cut a path through Gisborne high country leaving a trail of swollen rivers, blocked roads, and broken telephone communications. The Wharekopae River which in heavy rain usually takes two days to reach flood level, rose 15 feet in an hour. Three station bridges on Mr. John Hutchinson’s property at Otoko were washed away, and a power plant was obliterated. Water rushing over the Hangaroa road at Tiniroto cause a washout. Severe lightning damaged telephone lines at Waingake. At Tekaraka 1.63 inches of rain were recorded in two hours and 2.9 G inches in 24 hours.