LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, 7 February 1927, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The isolation ward at the Masterton Hospital, in which the typhoid pa- J tients were treated, has been closed, all the patients having been discharged. Masterton was yesterday afternoon enveloped in a dense cloud of sickly smoke, the result of extensive log and bush fires on the lower foothills of the Tararua. The main seat of the fire was in the vicinity of “Reef Hill/’ Mount Bruce. The small steamer Kiwi collided with a launch containing six persons in Auckland harbour on Saturday night. The launch was struck amidships and the impact split her topside. The water rushed in and she filled. Her crew was transferred to the steamer and the launch was towed ashore.— (P.A.).

The Hon. A. D. McLeod (Minister of Industries and Commdree) spent Saturday morning in a tour of various manufacturing concerns in Dunedin. In the afternoon, he was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. T. K. Sidey at a garden party at their home. To-morrow will be spent by the Minister’ on a further inspection of Dunedin factories.—(P.A.). A wagon on the Christchurch to Ashburton goods train, containing about two tons of goods, including fruit, caught fire near Rakaia on Friday morning. A considerable amount of damage was done before the fire was extinguished. The outbreak was caused by fumes from cases of petrol ou the wagon igniting from a hot axle box.

—(P.A.). The Australasian Medical Congress was continued at Dunedin on Saturday morning, when thc.subjects under consideration were th« pahtology of goitre, lynaecology, and obstetrics. Papers were read on all these subjects. Dr. J. W. D. Hooper (Melbourne) addressed the congress on obstetrics. In the afternoon several social functions were provided in the form of at homes and garden parties.—(PA.). At Monica Park (Christchurch) on Saturday, night, Phil O’Shea heat R. Spears, world’s champion cyclist, in a series of three match races. O’Shea

won the firt two races, so that the third is not necessary. Spears admitted that he could not ride on the unbanked grass track of Monica Park, and challenged O’Shea to race him on any banked track in the Dominion. Tho match will take place at English Park on Wednesday.—-(P.A.). The Masterton Fire Brigade was called out three times on Saturday. Soon after midday, the grass in the convent grounds on the west side of Chapel Street caught fire and was quickly extinguished. Soon after 1 pm. fire spread through several acres of grass in the vicinity of College Street. The third call was in the evening, when a fire was observed at the rear of the Opera Hous.e. The blaze

was so fierce that it took the brigade quite fifteen minutes to subdue it. For a time, the Drill Hall appeared to be in danger. ♦ An inquest was held at Whitukura (Hawke’s Bay) on Saturday on tho body of Walter Edmond Berkhan, .a single man of 24, who was found on Saturday morning dead on the Soldiers ’ Monument, w r ith his head badly injured. There were indications that he had been playing with a detonator which, had exploded, causing fatal injuries to the head. No one was present w’hen the explosion occurred. The Coroner (Mr. Dobson) returned a verdict that death was due to haemorrhage caused by laceration of the brain, apparently owing to the explosion of a detonator held in deceased’s hands. Berkhan’s mother resides at Whitukura. —(P.A.)

Lena Sophia Prictor, aged four years and nine months, was playing in the backyard of her parents, premises in Dunedin on Friday afternoon when she ran screaming.to her mother, complaining of pains in the stomach. Tho mother stripped off the child ’s clothing, and placed her in a hot bath and summoned a doctor. When tho doctor arrived, the child had beeii dead for three-quarters of an hour. At the inquest, the only suggestion the parents could offer was that the child had fallen over an old chair which was in the backyard. A verdict was returned that the child died from internal rnjuries caused , by an accidental fall.—(P.A.)

During the nine months ended September 30, 1926, a Wellington Press Association message'states, the number of industrial disputes involving stoppages of work was 43, involving 48 firms or other employers and 4382 -workers. The total duration of the disputes was 169 days and the approximate loss in wages £21,576. The principal industries were coal mining, shipping, and cargo workings and meat freezing. There were 3406 workers concerned in 19 coal mining disputes of a total duration of 99 days, the loss of wages being £16,095. A similar number of shipping and cargo working disturbances involved 511 workers whose loss in wages was £25,231. Three meat freezing disputes concerned 358 workers to. the extent of £2926 in wages lost.—(P.A.). A new railway overbridge at Newmarket which eliminates a dangerous level crossing was officially opened by the Acting-Minister of Railways (the Hon. F. J. Rolleston) on Saturday. The bridge cost £12,000, the Railways Department erecting the bridge and the Newmarket Gorough Council constructing the road approaches and contributing £7oo\) to the total cost The Minister said that the only method of doing away with the danger of level crossings was to eliminate the crossings themselves. The policy of the Department was to make level crossings reasonably safe for pedestrians and motorists, but it was impossible to make any crossing safe for the less person. Local bodies had the responsibility as well as the Government, and where the council, as in the case of Newmarket, proved that it was willing to assist, the Government would do all it could to bear the cost of erecting overbridges.—(P.A.).