NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21604, 5 January 1945, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Injured by Detonator When a detonator he was handling exploded, Mr. Diamond Matthews, aged 48, farmer, of Pakotai, Whangarei, had several fingers blown off. Grass Fire in Mangapapa At 3.50 p.m. yesterday the Gisborne Fire Brigade received a call to a grass fire in a vacant section in King street, Mangapapa. . Beaters were used and the flames quickly subdued without damage to property. N.Z. Orchids for Mrs. Churchill Orchids sent from New Plymouth by the Royal Air Force Lancaster bomber that recently • visited New Zealand have been presented to Mrs. Winston Churchill. Advice of the publication of this news in an English newspaper has been received by Mr. H. G. McDonald, New Plymouth, in a letter from relatives in England. Christmas Telegrams During the four clays prior to Christmas Eve, 12,053 telegrams were handled by the Gisborne telegraph office. This total is similar to last year’s. Although a number of extra delivery boys were engaged for the Christmas and New Year periods, the heavy volume of messages meant a particularly busy time for the staff of the office. Major Salvage Task Men are engaged shifting the many tons of twisted iron and steel remaining after the Manawatu Showgrounds fire in Palmerston North in their endeavours to proceed with salvage operations. A court of inquiry has been convened, and is at present engaged in hearing the evidence of a large number of witnesses. It is expected that the court will be sitting for some days. A Patriotic Windfall A handsome contribution of £3524 towards' the Red Cross funds, through the Dunedin - St. Kilda sub-zone patriotic committee, has recently been made bv a group of traders in Dunedin. This was the profit derived from the salvage of a recent fire. The goods were consigned to New York, and the proceeds handed to the Red Cross. One firm in New York, Meskin Bros., has forwarded a further sum of 200 dollars, which was the profit made by it on thfe manufacturing of part of the goods. Another well-known New York firm of brokers waived its commission. Fires Causing Concern The persistence with which fires of late have been breaking out in certain areas in Napier has been causing the fire control authorities so much concern that they have decided to ask the police to make investigations into the reasons for the outbreaks. This announcement was made by the superintendent of the Napier fire brigade, Mr. G. Drummond, when commenting on three fires which had occurred the previous day. One was in a coalyard and the other two were large grass fires in Taradale road and Thackeray street. Holiday Incident A car »load of Hastings people motoring on the Wairoa road on Boxing Day, had a narrow escape from having their holiday marred when the car in which thev were travelling overturned three times a short distance beyond Waikari. Except for being shaken up, none of the occupants was hurt. The car escaped damage and the party shortly afterwards res'/ned their journey to Waikaremoana.

Sharp Earthquake Shock in H.B. A sharp earthquake shock was experienced in Hastings and other centres in the Hawke’s Bay province at 4.55 p.m. on Tuesday. In the Marakeke railway yards empty sheep (rucks on a goods train standing in the station' yards rattled as if they were being shunted. It was deemed advisable, in the interests of public safety, to hold the Gisborne express to Wellington at this station until the line had been inspected for any possible damage. As the permanent way was found to be undamaged, the express was allowed to proceed on its southern journey after being held up for half an hour.