IN TOWN AND OUT

Southland Times, Issue 25314, 18 June 1935, Page 6

IN TOWN AND OUT

NEWS OF THE DAY Early Morning Fire. The Invercargill Fire Brigade received a call at 3.29 a.m. yesterday to the residence of Mr R. M. Strang, in Lewis street, where the contents of the breakfast room were ablaze.. When the brigade arrived the occupiers, by means of a garden hose, had the fire, which did considerable damage, well under control. Insurances were held in the Atlas Office. * ♦ ♦ • Southland Talkie. “Oh, it was so easy, and not in the least embarrassing!” was the answer given by a young lady who had just been given an audition for a part in the Southland talkie, to a Times reporter yesterday. The casting director, when interviewed, said he was very satisfied' with the talent offering, and he was quite certain that his requirements can be filled in Southland without bringing players from other parts of New Zealand. • * » * Workman Injured. Shortly after the commencement of work yesterday afternoon at the new construction works at the New Zealand Paper Mills, Ltd., Mataura, a woikman Frank Richardson, aged 28, _ married with two children, had the misfortune to fall from the first floor to the concrete basement, a distance of about 14 feet, striking his head a severe blow on a projecting object and causing a severe laceration. The injured man was removed by ambulance to the Gore Public Hospital after receiving medical treatment. —Mataura correspondent. Trolly Accident. Mr H. Bayley, of Colac Bay, was the victim of an accident when returning home from his work. He is on the maintenance staff of the New Zealand Railways, and it appears that his trolly struck some stones on the rails. He was thrown on to the side of the line with the machine on top of him, and was unable to clear himself. Mr S. Pollard, who happened to be passing, was attracted by his cries, and immediately went to the unfortunate mans assistance. Mr Bayley _ was conveyed to his home and medical assistance summoned, and later he was taken to the Wallace Hospital, where he is reported to be doing as well as can be expected.—Riverton correspondent.

Typewriter Replaces Morse. “Touch” typewriting is one of the ■accomplishments of the modem tele-graph-operator, who has to be able to use a typewriter keyboard without looking at it. In telegraphic communication, as in so many other things in modern life, this is the machihe age, and very few telegraph messages today are transmitted by hand through the medium of Morse signals. New Zealand telegraph operators are trained to operate a typewriter keyboard without looking at it, the keyboard being screened from their eyes while they type words which are reproduced not in the ordinary way, but appear on a tape in the form of perforations. This perforated tape when put into a telegraph transmitter sends impulses along the wires which reproduce at the other end the familiar Arabic characters. It involves 250 to 300 hours of supervised practice to attain the degree of proficiency required before an operator is entrusted with commercial telegraphic work. Accident at Tewaewae. On Saturday night at Tewaewae a serious accident occurred when J. Stenton, a railway surfaceman, as the result of the collision of two railway motor jiggers, had to be removed to the Riverton Hospital, where his left leg was amputated below the knee. The injured man, who is stationed at Tewaewae, took his wife on a motor jigger on Saturday night to Tuatapere, where he picked up H. Jackson, a railway guard, and his wife. The party then returned to Tewaewae, where the evening was spent. When the journey back to Tuatapere had commenced the machine collided with another motor jigger driven by D. H. Cunningham, a surfaceman of Waihoka, who was accompanied by his brother, W. D. Cunningham. Mr Stenton’s leg was jammed between the two machines, and on arrival at Riverton it was found necessary to amputate the limb. Mrs Jackson suffered from head injuries which required several stitches being inserted, while Mrs Stenton and Mr Jackson escaped serious injury. The Cunningham brothers were practically unhurt. The hospital authorities reported last night that Mr Stenton’s condition was satisfactory.