GENERAL NEWS

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 April 1949, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS

Unsettled Weather. Though the barometer is still rising slowly, the weather in Wanganui yesterday was again unsettled. Temperatures were milder, but there was practically no sunshine and more heavy rain was experienced, particularly in the late afternoon. At. Castlecliff the sea was smooth and the barometer at 4 p.m. was rising at 29.70 in. Teachers’ Resignations. The resignation of two teachers from the staff of the Wanganui Girls’ College came before the Board of at their monthly meeting yesterday, and were accepted with regret. They were Miss M. A. Pigott, as from June 30 and Miss B. E. Bignell, as from Septemter 12. It was reported that the Department of Education had approved of the appointment of Miss L. J. Bishop to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation o£ Miss Treadwell. .

Band Marching on Stage. One of the ideas in the mind of the producer of the musical comedy “A Runaway Girl” for the Wanganui Musical an { ] Dramatic Society (Alexia Rankin) is to have a full band march across the stage to give emphasis to the vocal number “Soldiers in the Park.” This scene, a park with gayly dressed women and nursemaids wheeling prams, set against the red striped uniforms of soldiers and bandsmen, lends itself to the creation of something very spectacular to emphasise the words of the song “Listen to the Band.’ 1 Whether a full band is possible, however, remains to be seen. A male chorus, in brightly hued uniforms, will provide the necessary. Fewer Fire Calls.

The number of calls received by the Wanganui Fire Brigade during the year ended March 31, last, totalled 246, a decrease of 53 when compared with the previous year, stated Superintendent N. M. Ross in his annual re-

port "to the Wanganui Fire Board, Grass fires decreased from 160 to 99, and rubbish fires dropped from 30 to 23. Actual fires, however, increased from 47 to 64, and 10 malicious false alarms were received, compared with six the previous year. The insurance on buildings where fires occurred amounted to £58,055, and on contents £119,040. The loss on buildings covered by insurance was £4311, and on contents £2269. The uninsured loss on buildings was £352 and on contents £2269.

Causes of Fire. Various causes for outbreaks of fire last year were given by Superintendent N. M. Ross in his annual report to the Wanganui Fire Board. Cigarette butts started three fires, and three were due to sparks from locomotives, other causes being coke overheating, faulty chip heated chimneys, faultily constructed fireplaces, naked light in contact with oil, rubbish stacked too close to a copper lire, overheating of fat in ovens, sparks from open fires, short circuits in motor engines, smoking in bed, painters’ blow lamps, children playing with matches, spontaneous combustion, films in contact with a gas ring, caliphont left burning, kite causing short circuit in power lines, and overheating of an incinerator. The causes of eight fires were uknown. Unrehearsed Humour.

At a dress rehearsal of the musical comedy “A Runaway Girl” in the Savage Club Hall, one incident went to show that humour caQ enter the play without having been written into the script. There is a scene in which “Mr Creel,” an entomologist (Lional Gillman) comes on the stage with a fishing rod, and the rod, according to the story, has to become entangled with the coat of “Lord Coodle,” a typical, haw-haw, brainless type of Englishman of high society, eye-glass and all (Jim Broad). At the rehearsal the book became so firmly embedded in lhe high-sounding nobleman’s coat, that it could not be untangled again for some considerable time. Rehearsal slopped to enable the two characters to get down to the serious husinew c-f untangling the fishook from a piece of really first-class English tweed, a thing the writers of the play did not foresee.