LOCAL AND GENERAL

Chronicle (Levin), 31 August 1946, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Press Gallery Praised The work of the Parliamentary Press gallery was praised by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Schramm, in an address. He said the Press gallery was an integral part of the House. It was staffed by a faithful band of newspaper reporters who. in his long experience, had never betrayed a confidence or broken a pledge. Donations for Dental Research Two donations of £100 each to further research at the New Zealand Dental School in Dunedin, were announced at the conference of the New Zealand tDental Associatioh yesterday. One was from the association and the other from T. A. Hunter, C.B.E., of Heretaunga. Mr. Hunter, a dental surgeon attending the conference, was a former Director of the State Dental" Service. Dietl at Sea An elderly passenger in the Akaroa which arrived at Auckland 1 yesterday from London, died two i days after the ship had Jeft Panama. He was Mr. Richard jBrowne, aged 70, who was returnl ing to New Zealand with his wife !l to live at Cambridge. They form- ! erly lived in New Zealand but had jlived in retirement in England for a few years. Mr. Browne was buried ' at sea. 1 Road Blocks to Stop Sea j A concentrated effort to seal the breach in the South Pit permanently is being planned by the Wanganui Harbour Board and the Public Works Department. P.W.D. employees are gathering together large quantities of road blocks, . made during the war, and manuka and manuka fascines, and these are being collected from around the district and assembled near the breach. Outsize in Binoculars A pair of binoculars 2ft. 6in. long and weighing about 351b. is among the Japanese equipment to be on display for the first time in the South Island at the Industries 1 Fair. The equipment has been for- | warded by the Air Secretary, Mr. T. jA. Barrow, and is a selection of I that brought back by Air Force i squadrons. It includes a sword and ! sheath, anemometer, parachute, ; shell cases, fiying suit and 100 jphotographs of Air Force activfties |in the Pacific, as well as several wiews of the signing of the peace ! treaty with Japan. [ Strange Rescue l Part of the floor of the New Plyi mouth department store of Mc- ! Dufi's, Ltd., was cut away to gain : access to a .strearn flowing beneath j'the building ' Where* .'a pedigree : prize-winning cocker spanie^ 1 owned by a prominent dog fancier,i ! Mr. J. W. Brereton, was trapped.; i The anim-al was rescued unhurt j The dog's known penchant for ' j chasing cats apparently led him ! along the Mangaotuku Stream | which winds beneath warehouses i and shops in the town's main -bus- | iness area. His continued barking I attracted the attention of the staJff, 'and the manager (Mr. I. Patterson) | engaged a carpenter to cut away | the floor immediately above. Mr. : Patterson, however, was unable to i find the dog when he descended | through the hole in the floor, and | it was a member of the staff who j entered the tunnel and, after a precarious passage, found the j spaniei with its head wedged I between a slab of concrete and the ! floor of the building. Good Progress with Plate-Laying Good progress is being "made with plate laying in the Matarawa JValley, northern end of the Tura- ! kina-Okoia railway deviation, which will reduce the distance of jthe rnain line between Marton and j Wanganui by 11 miles and eliminjate four steep gradients. Plate- ; laying gangs employed by the maintenance branch of the Rail- , ways Department have already i progressed one and a-half miles up jthe valley, and almost a mile of ithis new track has been ballasted. j In the meantime, construction ! work in the Turakina tunnel, jlongest of the three on the deviation, has been completed by the [Public Works Department. Men jare at present engaged in cleaning jout the tunnel as a preliminary to | plate-laying operations, which are I expected to begin in about two ;weeks' hence. Completion of the j Denlair tunnel, second longest . of ;the three, is being held up by laek jof cement. Given adequate supplies, this work could be completed in six months and the last remain- ! ing obstacle to 'deviation being i used by trains would be remqved. i