NEWS IN BRIEF

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 8, 21 March 1947, Page 8

NEWS IN BRIEF

Living In Carriage

Owing to the shortage of hotel accommodation members of the technical staff of the Williamson Opera Company are living in a railway carriage parked in the Dunedin goods yard. The carriage is an old type with the seats removed, and a section has been converted into a kitchen. The men will use the carriage for the whole of the southern tour.

Interest In Karapiro The construction of the Karapiro hydro scheme has been followed with interest by the public since the big work was started eight years ago. During the past year 1000 visitors a, week, including many from overseas, have inspected the site. The guided tours are held every week, and interest is expected to mount in the next few weeks before the filling of the lake is started.

Human Skeleton In Garden A human skeleton was unearthed in Wanganui recently, but the police are not perturbed. There is every indication that the skeleton has been in Duncan Street, where it was found, rather longer than there had been a settlement named Wanggnui. Though the bones were in a very good state of preservation, having been in a dry pumice formation, they were very discoloured, and obviously had been there longer than any local police records have existed.

Low Birth Rate Blamed The low birth rate of 1933 was advanced as a possible reason for the 9 per cent, decrease of the firstyear students enrolled at the Wellington Technical College during February in the director’s report at a meeting of the board of managers. The report stated that though the number of first-year students had fallen by 9 per cent, the total number of students enrolled was only 1 per cent, below the number for 1946. “This falling off of students is likely to continue until 1955,” said the chairman, Mr W. Fox, “when the reverse will be the case, especially in the number of female students.”