CHRISTCHURCH NEWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18354, 27 August 1929, Page 8

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS .

(Froot Oar Own Corre»i»oud«nt ) CHRISTCHURCH, August 26. BASKETBALL TOURNEY Teams of twelve girls each (nine players and three emergencies) will gather in Christchurch for the Basketball Association’s annual tournament, which commences on Wednesday afternoon. There are six entrants from the North Island and six from the South —Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu. Wairarapa, Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury, South Canterbury, Ashburton, Otago, and Southland. The New Zealand Cup, given anonymously, is held by Auckland. RISKS OF ELECTROCUTION. Discussing the accidental electrocution of a child at Greytown. Mr Hitchcock (manager of the Municipal Electricity Department), said that the accident was a most extraordinary one. as the child must have actually had one hand on the element and used the other for turning on the switch of the electric range. The position in Christchurch was that all electric ranges installed were reqquiqred to have a main switch in a position alongside the range, which was accessible to adults, but out of the reach of small children. The object was that this switch should be opened, thereby cutting off the power whenever it was necessary to give any attention to the range or to the contents of the oven. This involved no difficulty to the person cooking. When the main switch was opened every possible danger was removed. Users of electric ranges were constantly being advised to open the main switch when the range was not in use. The tray just above the heating element could not be lifted, but would slide out, the object being to enable it to be cleaned when necessary. It was hardly likely that a child of four would be able to slide out the tray. To screw it in would mean that it could not be cleaned so thoroughly. PRACTICAL SYMPATHY. “I thank you. fellow-railwaymen and the public, on behalf of my wife, my family, and myself, for the magnificent practical sympathy shown me in my misfortune,” declared Mr George F. Kennedy, at the Addington railway workshops, in accepting the title deeds of his now freehold home in Jeffrey’s Road, 'Bryndwr, and a cheque for £2OO. The mortgage on Mr Kennedy’s home was lifted, and the cheque given by a fund to which the public and railwaymen all over New Zealand contributed. Mr Kennedy, who has a wife and family of three, lost the sight of both his eyes last year, after eight years’ service as a fitter at the Addington workshops. One of his eyes was penetrated by a splinter from a steel pin. That was in November of last year. Mr Kennedy, after having his eye removed, was back at work only five weeks before the bursting of a gaugeglass on an engine severed the ball of his other eye. which also had to be removed. The Government granted him a compassionate allowance of £2OOO. His fellow-workmen and three men representing the public, carried through an energetic canvass for funds, helped by railwaymen from all over New Zealand. The fund rose to £llO9 18s 9d, and with this amount the committee in charge paid off the £794 mortgage on Mr Kennedy’s house, arranged for the putting in of the sewer; and will see that his house is painted and a fowlhouse erected. Even then there will be a credit balance in the fund of £2OO. FREEZING WORKS AWARD. Proposals for a new award have been issued by the freezing works employers. They are not asking for any alteration in the existing scale of wages, but are seeking to have the working conditions altered in some respects. Representatives of the unions will meet in Wellington at the end of this week to consider the proposals, when hey will, no doubt, bring forward some ounter-proposals. The men consider chat many of the conditions in the existing award require revising.