LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 October 1942, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Fire Service Instruction. Executive officers of fire brigades in various centres of New Zealand are now in Wellington attending a special training course for instructors. Lasting three weeks, the course is designed to give training in relation to “blitz” experience, under the direction of Mi’ A. D. Wilson, the British national fire service expert. Big Hospital Loan.

The sanction of the Local Government Loans Board for the raising within New Zealand of a loan of £250,000 was notified to a meeting of the Auckland Hospital Board. The loan, which will have a term of 25 years at not more than £3 10s per cent, is for additional buildings, accommodation and facilities.

Airman’s Body Recovered. Official advice has been received by Air Headquarters, Wellington, that the body of Sergeant Neill Ernest King has been recovered, together with the wreckage of the aircraft, which went down at sea off the east coast of the South Island on Wednesday. Sergeant King was the son of Mr F. E. King, 98 Bristol Street, St Albans, Christchurch.

Warder Assaulted. Peter Lawrence Samson, 18. a Borstal inmate, appeared before Mr R. C. Abernethy, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court at Invercargill yesterday charged with having assaulted a warder, George Steel, on September 21, causing actual bodily harm. The prosecution evidence showed that Samson had rigged up a dummy in his bed and assaulted the warder with a hammer when he entered the cell. Accused pleaded guilty and was committed for sentence to the Supreme Court. Steel is now discharged from hospital. P. and T. Dance.

There was a large attendance at a dance held in the Masonic Hall, Masterton, last night by the Post and Telegraph Social Club. The music was supplied by Barnes’s Orchestra, and the duties of M.C. were carried out by Mr H. Marsh. Supper was served by the club members. The dance, which was in aid of the P. and T. Interhouse team, was the final one to be held by the club this year. The committee wishes to thank all who have supported the club during the past season. Presbyterian Assembly.

After a lapse of five years the annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand will be held this year in Auckland. The assembly will open on November 11. The retiring Moderator, the Rev John Davie, Gisborne, will be the preacher at the opening session, and an inaugural address will be delivered by the Moderator-elect, the Rev J. G. Laughton, superintendent of Maori missions, who will preside over the remaining sessions. One of the matters to be considered by the assembly, which is expected to sit for more, than a week, will be the proposal to unite with the Methodist and Congregational Churches. During the assembly the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union will hold its annual Dominion conference. Cow Visits Lawyer’s Office.

An unwelcome client, who arrived neither by appointment nor for consultation, entered the offices of a firm of solicitors at Stratford the other day, and did damage to the premises before being ejected. The cow, halfblincL suddenly dived into the legal office. After astounding the staff, the animal charged along a passage, disregarding professional etiquette as well as the obstacles in her way, and entered the washroom. Here she knocked a hand basin from its fixings on the wall, its fall causing a large piece to break off. Apparently disliking the legal atmosphere, she took the drastic method of obtaining fresh air by putting her head through a window frame, gashing her neck in the process. Fin-/ ally the cow was persuaded to leave. Whether she was satisfied with the legal advice she may have been seeking, or whether she thought the interview may have been too expensive, she was more tractable on departing.