DOMINION ITEMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 November 1944, Page 2

DOMINION ITEMS

BOY ELECTROCUTED. MASTERTON, November 7. Peter John Allen, aged eight, a son of Mr. George E. Allen, junr., East Taratahi, was killed yesterday when, about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, he climbed on the. roof of a house and touched.an electric wire. He was killed instantly. Mrs. Allen tried to pull the boy off the wire and received a severe shock. MURDER CHARGE. WELLINGTON, November 8. A joint charge of the murder of the female child of Nita Constance Batt, was preferred against Nita Constance Batt, 24, married, and Herbert Alfred Adams, 42, storeman, before the Magistrate (Mr. Stout), this morning. A remand was made till December 6. The individual informations previously preferred were withdrawn. TRIPLE FIRE TRAGEDY TAIHAPE, November 8. Three Maoris, G. Ketu (87), his wife (67), and an adopted boy, Hori Ketu (12) were burnt to death at one o’clock this morning, when their home at Turangaarere, 12 miles from Taihape, was burned down.'The adjacent wharepuni of a Maori Pa was also burnt. In the absence of a water supply the neighbours could do nothing. Ihe remains of the adults were later found on a wire mattress, and the remains of the boy near a door. Deceased came to the district from Tokaanu 12 years ago, and were members of the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe. RECREATION~FACILITIES WELLINGTON, Nov. 8. A statement that later in the year he intended to present to Parliament his plans and ideas for the future development of national recreation in this 1 country, was made by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) addressing the annual meeting of the New Zealand Council of Sport. At the. present, the main concern was to' assist in bringing the war to a. successful conclusion and to that end they would have to devote all available materials and labour. The year that lay ahead, however, would be of supreme importance in planning postwar projects for recreation. Among the matters specifically mentioned by Mr. Parry was the development of beaches with supervised playgrounds and patrols for children, so that tired mothers could enjoy rest.

JOHN HOGAN’S APPEAL. WELLINGTON, November 8. John Hogan came before the Industrial Manpower Appeal Board again to-day, in a further appeal against direction to the Wellington Woollen Mills. His contentions were that demobilisation of 53,000 men had greatly relieved the manpower position, that his contractual responsibilities had increased through the larger circulation of his paper, that the woollen mill management had already protested against the direction of unsuitable workers (Hogan possessed no qualification for the work), and fourthly, that the Minister of Manpower (Mr McLagan) had recently stated it was not the policy of the Department to interfere with oneman businesses. Hogan in evidence, said: I have no qualifications for that work, but I have obvious qualifications for my own work. I object to any direction that will result in the closing of my own business, unless it is work in the national interest, or is work for which I have special qualifications. The District Manpower Officer for Hutt Valley said that notwithstanding releases from the Forces, there was still an acute shortage of male labour in the Hutt Valley. , , . The committee reserved its; decision. ' v ,