NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20864, 17 August 1942, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Six .Launches Ashore Six of the best-known - commercial and cruising launches in the Bay o£ Islands were driven ashore on Wednesday night by the most severe gale Russell has known in recent years. Tunnel for School A deep-level tunnel, 205 ft. long, sft. wide and 7ft. high, has been constructed for an air - raid shelter at the Titirangi School, Auckland, by parents of the children and other residents. jyjysic Festival Abandoned It has been decided to abandon the secondary schools’ music festival in Auckland this year. Prevailing conditions'caused the decision. The festival has been recognised for many years' as ppe .of the outstanding events ' of Auckland’s concert season. No New Trams No new trams have been brought into commission in Wellington since 1939. Although the frames of three or four 'additional cars have been regdy for months, it has been impossible to obtain Hie undergear for them, and the situation will remain the same .during the war period. Jtefijsa! to Qb.ey Four defaulters who had refused to • obey a lawful order .were charged with the offence in Rotorua before Messrs. IpiM. Coleman - gnd J. J. Dillon, J.P.s. Each was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. Three of the accused from' the defaulters’ camp at Hautu were Colin Il.enry Morrell. George Dean Aroerich and Jack McKinnon, while the fourth, Ronald Jack Scarlet, Was from Whenuaroa. Brilliant Meteor Invercargill streets had a temporary return to something approaching peace-time lighting for a few seconds when a meteor falling through the southern sky appeared to burst into vivid colours of red, gold and green, lighting up the streets as would a heavy'flash of lightning. The meteor in its fall became steadily more and more brilliant, and after its bursting a long trail was formed. Influenza Declining The epidemic of influenza appears to be on the wane in Auckland, and records of the Health Department reflect an improvement in the general health of the community. Conditions in military camps also compare . favourably with those prevailing a month ago. The number of soldiers receiving treatment at the Ellerslie auxiliary hospital has declined from 511 to 297, and 208 of these are suffering from influenza. Dangerous Driving Previously remanded on a summary charge of driving a motor-cycle in a manner tl),at might hay.e been dangerous to tfie public, Titi Tipuna, aged 25, a labourer, who was sentenced in the Supreme Court last week to 12 months’ hard labour for failing to stop after an accident, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court in Gisborne before Mr E. L. tyalton, S.M., to-day. Detecti.ve-Serg.eant R. H. Waterson placed the facts before the magistrate, who entered a conviction and discharged the accused. Seasonal in Camp “We concentrate on getting them fit and teaching them to shoot, because n man who can do a 25-mile march and shoot straight at the end of it is a tough ipan 1° come up against.” In these words an officer at a camp near Christchurch where mep go for three months’ military training explained the type of instruction given to seasonal - workers. He explained that it was not possible to give the men, none of whom had had much previous military experience, the full training of the mobilised units, but they did aim to make them proficient in the elementary' principles of soldiering.

Hundred Pointers One of the interesting features of 1 Saturday’s Rugby on the ; Oval was the attainment of 107 points for the season by S. Wills, captain of the Gisborne High School’s first fifteen. This is the highest total gained in the Poverty Bay Rugby Union’s competition games, and the last time the century was reached in these competitions was in 1930, when Matt O’Brien secured 109 points. Wills still has a few Saturdays to go to beat this tally. It is interesting to note that Wills’ points constitute more than 50 per cent of his team’s total of 192 points scored so far this season. Another player who promises to reach his century is G. McKinley, Marist. who has 77 points to his credit with a few comparatively easy games to go. On Active Service “You would be surprised at the number of South African veterans who have one, two, or three sons on active service in this war, in addition to daughters who are nursing sisters,” said Stafl'-Sergeant A. H. Joseph at a reunion of the Third (Rough Riders) Contingent, reports the Christchurch Press, Two fathers (P. JM. O’Connor, 9th Contingent, Timaru, and G. Horsfall, Wellington) have each five sons on active service, one father has four sons, 23 have each three sons, 72 have each two sons, and a large number have one son each at the front. Sergeant J. D. Hinton, V.C., and Sergeant A. Hulme, V.C., are sons of South African veterans. There are seven nursing sisters whose fathers are South African veterans.