THE Government announced higher pay for public servants and an increase in the cost of Government accommodation. The increases are 10 per cent for unskilled labourers and eight per cent for all other public servants other than heads of departments andsenior officers on super-scale salaries. However, the Government did not announce the new charge for accommodation. Spokesmen for Civil Service groups as well as individuals generally expressed dissatisfaction at the increases. REFUGEE fishermen from China said they would come back to Hong Kong no matter how many times the authorities sent them away. There was nothing else they could do because returning to China would mean certain death for all of them, they added. The families, some of them comprising three generations, insisted on staying in the territory. Police decided to arrest all 99 of them. A COMMERCIAL helicopter, unloading equipment for a building of the Television Broadcasts Ltd's relaying station on Golden Hill, fell to the ground just before noon yesterday and its whirling blades decapitated a labourer carrying building materials for the project and injured four other people, including a cameraman. It was believed that the helicopter was hovering above the ground to unload equipment when it suddenly flipped and crashed. 45 years ago THE story of how a ''most important and daring swindle'' involving over HK$1 million was nipped in the bud by the Commercial Squad of the Special Branch. It revealed the many rehearsals in making perfect a sleight-of-hand trick in switching a blank piece of paper for a cheque for $1 million. There were charges against the four defendants that between July 10 and 21 they conspired together to steal $1,105,440 from the Hsin Hua Enterprise Company China Building. One of the defendants jumped his bail of $12,500 in August. HONG Kong's second big fire within 10 days occurred this week, when the Royal Naval Medical Store in HM Dockyard was burnt down. Dockyard and civilian firemen fought the flames, which destroyed large quantities of medical stores, including drugs, bandages, X-ray film and equipment. ABOUT 80 persons were killed and over 100 injured this week when the Canton Express was derailed near Shenzhen on its way to Kowloon. Ninety-three of the casualties were brought to Hong Kong while rescue work was still going on to extricate those still pinned underneath the wreckage. 75 years ago THE sale of tickets for St Andrew's War Bond Drawing commenced this week, the first day's demand auguring well for the success of the enterprise. A total of 40,000 tickets, described as well as printed on good paper and in new design, have been issued. A SMALL steamer of 230 tons, with a full load of general cargo and livestock, was pirated on her last trip from Wuchow to Hong Kong. Thirty armed pirates boarded and ransacked the ship. They gathered up all the money and clothing they could find. They kidnapped five men including the Captain and disabled the ship by removing the main engine. The booty included $800 in cash and clothing valued at $600. QUITE a number of cases of pick-pockets have been dealt with in recent weeks, suggesting that a number of practised thieves have made Hong Kong their happy hunting ground. The habit of these men was to jostle people in crowds or in busy thoroughfares, which offered an easy chance of escape, after they have gained their booty.
