Local and General News

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21992, 18 June 1941, Page 4

Local and General News

Greater Care Needed With the tightening up of the blackout restrictions, pedestrians will need to exercise greater ■ care than ever on the roads at night. As a reminder to bus patrons, the Borough Council has had erected in the buses notices urging the public not to cross behind the vehicles until they are certain that the road is clear. Social Services Expenditure by the Social Service Committee of the Timaru Hospital Board since last meeting amounted to £l7O/17/3, compared with £l9B/17/7 in the corresponding period in 1940, stated a report to a meeting of the Board yesterday. Ten new applications for assistance were granted by the committee, and 17 applications for further assistance were also granted. The number of orders distributed was 33. Hazelburn First Aid Class After a series of lectures and practical demonstrations conducted by Miss Stubbs and Mrs Brownlie of Timaru, six members of the Hazelburn First Aid Class entered for the examination. AU passed with high percentages, five with honours. The names in order of merit are: Isobel Gudex, Margaret Glennie, Rosie Pelvin, Jean Lamb, Hazel Mowat, Bessie More. The president’s prize was won by Miss Gudex by one point She gained 94 points. Work at Tiiharu Hospital The daily average of occupied beds at the Timaru Public Hospital during May was 159.9, as compared with 152.1 in May, 1940, the Medical Superintendent (Dr. J. C. McKenzie) reported to a meeting of the South Canterbury Hospital Board yesterday. Two hundred and sixty patients were admitted during the month and 253 were discharged, leaving 156 still in the institution. In spite of a fall in the numbers treated in the ante-natal clinic, the number of outpatients treated during May was 1027 as against 868 in May, 1940. Epidemic of Tonsilitis Reference to an epidemic of tonsilitis Which has been prevalent in Timaru was made at a meeting of the South Canterbury Hospital Board yesterday. The Medical Superintendent (Dr. J. C. McKenzie) reported that the main Timaru Public Hospital and the Talbot Hospital had been fully occupied during the month, and the nursing staff had been affected. He remarked that the epidemic had been felt as far north as Christchurch. On the recommendation of the House Committee, it was decided that owing to the prevalence of tonsilitis the hospital be closed to visitors until further notice. Saved by Donkey An interesting account of how he and a comrade got away from Greece after being left as inevitable prisoners of war is given by Private S. Dixon, of Te Kuiti, in a letter to his wife. During the retreat through the mountains in which his company was fighting a rearguard action. Private. Dixon was injured as the result of a faulty round exploding in his rifle, fragments being driven into his back, causing paralysis of the legs. A fellow-signalman volunteered to remain with him, and the two were left to be taken prisoner. The timely appearance of a stray donkey, however, saved the situation, and, by the use of the animal, the injured soldier and his companion continued on their way to the coast. Here, with others, they commandeered a boat and made their way through the islands, eventually reaching Crete. River Changes Course Reaching its highest level since the big flood in 1936, the Kaupokonui River changed its course during a severe storm which swept South Taranaki last week. About a quarter of an acre of land near the Kaponga Dairy Company’s factory was cut away. The Kaponga Town Board’s dam was in danger when the waters flowed over a stopbank in three places. The recession of the river level, however, saved the dam from bursting, which would have resulted in the flooding of Manaia. Many Interruptions to the electric power supply and telephone service were caused by falling trees, and on Thursday four consumers were still without electricity. Two high-tension poles on the Eltham road were blown over, but a transformer escaped serious damage. A hole about 20ft in diameter and 12ft deep appeared when the Eltham road subsided to the edge of the tar-sealing, where'water supply pipes prevented further undermining. A Snake and a Tank Anecdotes recounted by a Dunedin soldier in a letter written in hospital after the withdrawal from Greece suggest that there are lighter moments even in the thick of battle. He tells, for example, of the experience of one who was in a hurry to get away from a Hun bomber which machine-gunned their “possie” after bombing a cargo ship lying off shore. “He dived for an inviting-looking hole a bit away from us," the letter says, “and landed on a six-foot snake. He reappeared like a rabbit with a ferret after it. ‘Take cover that man,* an officer yelled. ‘Cover be damned. I’m not a - snake-charmer,’ yelled the lad as he landed in on top of us.” In the same strain was the escapade of a despatch rider. He had a message for the P.O. and tore up to a tank, propped his motor bike up, and was right up against the turret before he realised that there was an outsize swastika painted on the side. The letter concludes the story thus: “He rejoined us himself, but he didn’t go back for his bike.”