DOMINION NEWS WESTPORT DEMAND:WEATHER AND OTHER MATTERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 February 1947, Page 2

DOMINION NEWS WESTPORT DEMAND:WEATHER AND OTHER MATTERS

Organisations and business people in Westport will be asked by the Buller Progress League to head their letters Westport, Buller, in future. Mr. S. Jenkins, who made the suggestion at a recent meeting of the league, said he was running the risk of being called a crank, but he thought that strong measures should be taken to place the Buller district on its .correct status. He claimed that many people, especially in the North Island, considered that Westport was a suburb of Greymouth. Weather reports given over the radio merely covered Westland; whereas there was often a lot of difference between the weather at Westport and Hokitika. Mr. Caigou said that Buller’s climate was often maligned because many persons did not know the boundaries of the district. Actually Buller was part of the Nelson province, and often when weather was bad in some parts of the West Coast, it was good at Westport. Westport had the lightest rainfall of any of the West Coast towns, said Mr. Jenkins. The Mayor (Mr. J. M. Robertson) said that the Town Clerk (Mr. P. Morgan) had written to the broadcasting authorities about the weather reports.

N.Z.E.F. Casualty. The following 2nd N.Z.E.F. casualty was announced last night.— Died in Japan: Granville, Corporal Norvin Leonard. Mother: Mrs. A. Granville, Wellington.—-(P.A.)

Band’s Tour Postponed. Because of shipping difficulties, particularly for return passages from Australia, the visit to the main ports of Australia by the Wellington Waterside Silver Band has been postponed until conditions become more settled.—(P.A.) Railway Worker Killed. A railway employee, Desmond William Thompson, of Station street, Woodville, was killed instantly when the motor-jigger on which he was travelling came into collision with a goods train in a short tunnel at ,Woodville. He was aged 26, and married with no children. —(P.A.) Extra Trains at Easter.

Because of the uncertainty about coal supplies, no decision has been made by the Railways Department about the possibility of running extra trains in the North Island during Easter. As the South Island coal position is somewhat easier, some extra trains will probably be run there during Easter.—(P.A.)

Exercises by Bellona. A programme of exercises in the Hauraki Gulf v/ill be started by the Dido-class cruiser H.M.N.Z.S. Bellona on Monday. Working in conjunction. with the corvette Arbutus, the Bellona will spend 11 days in the gulf, and will sail for Australia on March 3 to join in fleet exercises with the Royal Australian Navy.— (P.A.)

Heavy Rain in Wellington. AVithin 24 hours, Wellington went from almost a record local summer temperature of 82.2 degrees, registered on Thursday, to a minimum last night of 46 degrees. The maximum yesterday was 56.6 degrees. Wellington has been having heavy rain since early yesterday morning and there were southerly gusts of up to 56 miles an hour. The recorded rainfall from 9 h.m. to 7 p.m. yesterday was I.3in.— (P.A.)

Swimming Championships, The Governor-General, Sil* Bernard Freyberg, will open the national senior championship meeting in Nelson next Wednesday. This is the first time the senior championship competition has been held in Nelson since 1906. On that occasion Sir Bernard Freyberg, then a pupil of Wellington College, won four of the six New Zealand championship events.

South Seas Conference. Much would depend on the selection of’men for the various commissions to be formed after the recent South Seas conference at Canberra, said the Governor of Oceania (Mr. J. C. Haumant), in an interview at Wellington yesterday. Mr. Haumant is visiting the French Minister (M. Armand Gazel). He said the questions discussed at the conference were largely technical, dealing with economic matters, health, and education.—(P.A.)

£2,250 in Damages. The jury in the Supreme Court ar Wellington, after, a retirement ol over three hours, awarded John le Compte, a ship's carpenter, £39J special damages, and £2,250 general damages, against the Shaw SayiH and Albion Company, Ltd., for injuries received last year. While working in the hold of the company’s steamer, Ka.ramea, a carcase of beef fell on his back from a higher hold, fracturing three of his ribs, and causing severe back injuries. The defendant admitted liability for some general damages, and agreed to pay the plaintiff the special damages he claimed. It was a majority verdict. —(P.A.)

Wahine Leaves for Sydney. Three hundred passengers left Wellington on Thursday afternoon by the Wahine when she sailed at 3.35 p.m. for Sydney. Driving rain delayed the departure of the ship for 35 minutes and few persons waited to see her sail. This was the Wahine’s first trip in the trans-Tasman civilian passenger service. She carried many passengers who were to have left New Zealand on the Wanganella, and several members of the crew of the Wanganella were aboard. Captain AV. A. Gray, formerly in command of the AVaimarino, is in command of the AVahine for this voyage. Captain Gray replaces Captain W. Johnson. The AVahine will be making trips from ‘ Wellintgon to Sydney every fortnight until June, and after that nothing definite has been decided for her. She is said to be fully booked from Wellington for at least three voyages, and all sailings from Sydney are fully booked.—(P.A.)

Coming to New Zealand A cable message from New York, dated February 13, states that the naval transport, Merrick, of 17,000 tons, a vessel in, the Byrd Polar expedition, will be towed to Wellington for dock repairs, following a collision with, an ice floe. The position at the moment in. Wellington is that the Wanganella will occupy the floating dock for a period described as “many months,” or indefinite. The Marine Department in Wellington and the United States Naval Attache had not been informed late yesterday of the Merrick’s intended arrival. There are other docks in New Zealand which can accomodate her. In fact, the Union Steam Ship Company has

already diverted three vessels to the graving dock at Lyttelton, owing to the Wanganella’s intended occupation of the floating dock in Wellington. There are two other graving docks in New Zealand capable of accommodating larger vessels. One, at

Port Chalmers, can take a ship up to a length of 527 feet and a beam of 70 feet, and the Calliope Dock at Auckland can take a vessel up to a length of nearly 600 feet. There is also a smaller graving dock at Port Chalmers for coastal vessels.—(P.A.)