A Snip in Time – Meghan Hawkes
Mr Watt, minister in charge of State Electricity, made a special trip to Te Awamutu to discuss power cuts with the Power Board.
The Minister’s visit followed a threat by the Holeproof factory to dismiss 50 of its staff because of daily power shutdowns between 1pm and 3pm. Due to post-WWII energy shortages, mandatory cuts had been imposed in the North Island In an effort to decrease power use. The Holeproof staff sent a protest telegram to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. After a meeting between Mr Watt and the board the power shutdown was reduced to one hour – from 1pm to 2pm – and Holeproof rearranged its lunch hour accordingly. If the cut did not achieve the desired savings, more drastic measures might be taken.
At Ōhaupō a taxi driver was held up at gunpoint and instructed to drive to Tauranga. Although warned that he would be shot if he attempted to tackle the man, the driver grabbed the barrel of the shotgun when the cab was stopped at the Horahora service station. In the ensuing struggle the gun exploded, blowing a hole in the floor of the cab. The driver continued to wrestle with his assailant until help arrived. The man was then held until two constables from Cambridge arrived and arrested him. In court the man pleaded guilty to a charge of presenting a shotgun at a taxi driver. He was also charged with attempting to discharge a firearm with intent to prevent his lawful apprehension.
A Te Awamutu fencer working at Taupō was saved by a petrol tank when the tractor and trailer he was driving on a slope overturned. The man had a fencing contract with the Lands and Survey Department. The accident happened about 8.30am but it was not until nearly four hours later that an employee found the overturned tractor and the man underneath. A doctor and a St John Ambulance unit were called, and after the fencer had received treatment the ambulance men had to carry him a considerable distance by stretcher to the waiting ambulance. He was then taken to Rotorua Hospital.
A disastrous flood threatened to sweep the Waikato Valley when the Waipā River rose many feet above its normal level. Official warnings were given of floods 3ft higher than in 1953 when 15,000 acres were covered. Fears were held that this disaster might be worse than the record flood of 1907. Flooding began in the Huntly district, and many homes were evacuated when the crest of the huge runoff down the Waikato River was reported close at hand. Behind this a greater flood rushed down the Waipā River towards its confluence with the Waikato. The crest of this flood raised the river by more than 40ft above normal at Pirongia. The worst town affected was Ōtorohanga where truckfulls of evacuees from flooded houses were taken north to Te Awamutu after a relief train had been prevented by flood waters from reaching them.
