DEATH IN FLAMES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 295, 15 December 1942, Page 4

DEATH IN FLAMES

ANOTHER DANCE-HALL TRAGEDY MORE THAN HUNDRED DEATHS (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Recd. 10.15 p.m.) 1 St. John’s (.Newfoundland), Dec. 13. At least 101 died and 130 were 11 admitted to hospital when fire 1 swept a Knights of Cilumubus hos- • • tel jammed with 500 servicemen ,1 and others enjoying the regular «i Saturday night dance. I The cause is obscure but the flames : raced through the wooden structure ■ with incredible rapidity, trapping the • panic-stricken dancers. Dozens were crushed to death as i screaming men and women blocked the exits, fighting to reach safety. Rescue workers later found piles of bodies inside all the doorways, similar to the Coconut. Grove disaster at Boston exactly a fortnight ago. I The Goverment announced that, some Canadian servicemen are among the dead. The blaze started at 11 p.m. The station is only 200 yanis away but the building was a blazing pyre before the firemen arrived. The tire was finally brought under control at. 2 a.m. Public halls were immediately open- ■ ed to receive the dead and injured as ■ morgues and hospitals were quickly: overcrowded. A steady procession of relatives andfriends tiled through the grim impro-. vised morgues seeking to identify the 1 dead. *

BIGGER THAN BOULDER DAM Rugby. Dec. 135 Mr. I). Howe. Canadian Production Minister, revealed the beginning of a Canadian construction project larger than the famous Boulder Dam. Ihe. project, which is somewhere in the western wilderness will, he. said, be completed within two and a-half years by 10,110 men. whereas the Bouluer Dam, on which the peak employment was 5200 men, took five years. The installed capacity of the Boul-< der Dam was 975,000 horsepower, whereas the Canadian project will . provide 1,020,000 horsepower.— 8.0.W.

FOOD PRICES IN U.S.A. Washington, Dec. 13. The Secretary of Labour, Miss,* Frances Perkins, said that food prices] rose 7.8 per cent, between May and] November, and were now 40 per cent, above the level of September. 1939. • PLANNING FOR PEACE REHABILITATION BOARD’S PROJECTS (P.A.) Auckland, Dec. 14.. “We are now’ preparing tne blue-] prints for peace. Victory withoutl planning spells chaos," said the chairman ol the Rehabilitation Board, Mr., M. Moohan, to-day. He drew a vivid picture of what the board was out to achieve in tne re-; absorption of men and women into? civil life from the armed forces. 1 Mr. Moohan is visiting Auckland to inspect proposed si.es for the di.sabk'd soldiers’ vocational centre, which will be on similar lines to one already under construction in Wellington.! Negotiations are in progress for suit-* able land in Chri tchurch, and a site * has been secured in D.:.w luncj the Harbour Board generously nrovided the necessary area at a peppercorn rental. These training centres, will be used to train returned so’diers who have no trade or profession or, owing to a disability, must change to* a new avenue of employment. “The policy of the board is that jobs, must be found for demobilised men,.’ whether suffering from injuries or not," said Mr. Moohan. “Therefore every avenue of employment is being explored so that, when the war is over, the stage will he sot for re-, habilitation. Local bodies and every, class of employer will have a part to play. A conference is being a:ranged’ with local organisations to collate in-* formation on the works programme.. Domain boards will have an important role in this. Also there will bo a com-, prehonsive industrial survey. The board’s aim will bo to get mon into positions without an annoying timelag. Wo must know the maximum capacity of factories and the numbers th r y can employ, also the m-whinery available and, what, is of groat imports ance, what, plant is required. Th(\ same goes for the farming industry.” PROBLEM OF NURSES’ FUTURES PROPOSALS EXt MERATEI) (P.A.) Auckland. Doc. 14. The problem of the reabsorption of’ women now serving in the militaryforces into the civil life of the coun-! try has not boon neglected by the Rehabilitation Board, according to the. chairman. Mr. M. Moohan. Ho said to-day that plans for the employment of women were under, consideration, and a report would beprepared by a small committee under] Ihe chairmanship of Mrs. MacDonald,■ of Wellington, a member of the board who served as a nurse with the American forces in the Groat War. This would bo. in effect, a surve; of> the whole position as far as the em-, plyment ow women after the war concerned. Referring to nurses, Mr. Moohan said that work in their own particular profession would be found for all ofthem who needed employment. The survey that would be made would include a schedule of all equipment available at military camps with a view to this being utilised in. forestry camps and in other directions. It was visualised that a scheme of cottage hospitals would bo inaugurated. one to be established in. every c n ntre of population whore there were 1000 people. Skilled nurses would be used in country dis-, tricts for midwifery and for visiting the sick. The farming community' would not be overlooked, ad provision' probably would be made for an extension of the district nursing service to the farming areas. In industry also, it would be necessary to haw nursing services, and nurses attached to factories whore there were large numbers of workers. “What we aim at is to provide nursing services wherever thev are required." said Vr. Moohan. “Nurses have played a Yerling role in the war, and when is proclaimed we want to see every nurse who wants to continue in her profession abb l to do so."