NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 123, 26 May 1932, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

ut For Business. The owner of <-i stucco bungalow in Chris tluirch has evidently determined that ho will let ( i- sell the. house ac any cost, for the front or ic property id decorated with eleven "lor bale lid "To Let" notices, representing eight difforut land and estate agencies in Christchurch. ] i Double Century. Laet night's meeting of the Auckland and . üburban Drainage Board was the 200 th meeting eld. Mr. M. J. Coyle said ho was one ol tin; riginal members of the board, and since it was instituted in 1008 he had miesed very few meet- < tigs. Thia is an outstanding achievement, and lie which no other member can boast. Wage Split and Taxed Again. In regard -to the unemployment income emer;ency charge, the question has been asked: it a Iroman under a deed of separation receives maincnanee from her husband, is the amount taxable r Che Commissioner rules that the amount so re■eived is taxable to the woman as well as the lueband, and the amount may not be deducted rota the assessable income of the latter. 3ki-ing Championship. The Alpine Sports Club will hold ite first iki-ing championship in August, and ie arranging ours for members to Mount Cook and the longa•iro National Park. During the greater part ot he year training is carried out in the Waitakere ind Iluiiua Ranges, where skill in mountaineering s developed, but this is regarded as mere play •ompared with climbing the high mountains. vVintcr sports will 'be held at the eaine- time as .he ski-ing championship. Payment in Kind. Necessity and hard times, whatever their disadvantages, at least induce a philosophical attitude A Wellington taxi-driver recently drove to his home in one of the city's suburbs a small farmer who had been busy with a day's shopping. When he reached his destination, the fare iound lie had no money. Lengthy argument followed, and the difficulty was finally settled, the taxidriver leaving with a bulging sack of onions perched on the front seat beside him. In Gold Boom Days. Illustrating trio prosperity enjoyed by a rich Koldfleld, Mr. John Farrell mentioned at the Thames Old Boys' reunion that among the possessions of his father, Mr. Robert Farrell, who died recently at the age of 94 years, was a book published in 1868, dealing with the progress of the field to that time. This elated that there were 18,000 people on the Thames, and also 2u hotels. Remarkable as it might now appear, there wer also ten "pubs" at Tapu! A revival in mimn would absorb a large number of men, and set the wheels of other industries in motion, sending men back to their proper callings and trades. Who Are Good Customers? Replying to a sympathising friend, who said he supposed that shopkeepers were having a bad time owing to so many persons being hard up, a dealer in provisions, who has traded in Otago for a lifetime, promptly said: "My experience is that the poor people are good customers, paying on the spot for whatever they order, and thus scttiii" an example to some of the well-to-do who ran and do pay in the long run, but keep me waiting a precious time, and then often aek for discount when as a matter of fair play they ought to bo charged interest on my money, which I have had to advance in order to keep up my stocks." o Further Outs. Employees of the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board are not to suffer further reductions this year in their salaries and wages. At the meetin , * of the board last night, the engineersecretary, Mr. H. H. Watkina, by direction of the chairman, submitted statements showing particulars of present appointments, periods of service, and salaries and wages payable, to both the inside .and the outside stuffs. On the motion of the chairman, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, it was unanimously decided that the salaries and wages etand for the present year. The chairman mentioned that the board's "employees had suffered the firet 10 per cent cut. Railway Board and Public. "I feel euro that the board would not wish me to omit to express ita appreciation of the sympathetic attitude of the public towards the board in the many difficult tasks which have faced it since ite inception," 6aid Mr. H. H. Sterling, chairman of the Railway Board, at the conclusion to a statement giving the work of his board during the past twelve months. "In the course of its journeys, the board has had to go into many districts where it has been necessary to curtail services, but practically without exception the people concerned have taken a sympathetic view of the position and have appreciated tho board's endeavour to balance up the service and cost in the way that will afford tho greatest measure of relief to the taxpayer, while affording to every district a reasonable service." How the Dingo Hunted. When recalling to a "Star" representative'the exploits of Ned Kelly and his confederates, whom he knew personally, an old resident of To Papapa, Mr. W. Jenkins, made mention of the Australian wild dog, the dingo, which was particularly rampant in the forest areas when he was in Australia about 50 years ago. '-The dingoes were almost as bad as wolves," he said. "They hunted in packs, and would attack both man and beast without much hesitation. They were a bane to the sheep farmer, whose stock suffered extensively. A pack of these dogs would attack a ilock, but were too cunning to have all their numbers do the killing. Tho majority of the dogs would kill the sheep, while the rest stood sentinel, and kept the sheep from running away. When anywhere between 50 and 100 sheep were laid low, tho entire pack would then set to and feast on their large kill." Spreading Art Union Benefits. Seven organisations are to benefit from the proceeds of a new art union for which a license has been granted by the Government. As anticipated, the Government hae decided to exercise a much stricter control in the conduct of future art unions, and it will be the policy in the future to spread the proceeds among various organisations instead of allowing them to be absorbed by only one or two. There have been 14 art unions since they were revived in New Zealand by tho Auckland Aero Club's venture. A return has been compiled showing the distribution of the benefits of the various art unions, and this shows that of tho 14 held only four have been for purposes with a Dominion-wide application. In proportion, the North Island has benefited considerably more than the South Island. A total of 7.4 of the art unions held have benefited North Island organisations - alone, and the proceeds of the remaining 2.6 have gone to the South Island alone. Decided By Experiment. A witness in the Civil Court at Christchurch was being cross-examined on an allegation that a man had been under the influence of liquor. "I would not like to say that he was drunk," he replied to counsel, "because they say a man is not drunk if he can stand up." This is in contrast with the way they do things in San Francisco, as reported by a recent newspaper. After a motor accident, when a driver named Elliott crawled from under the wreckage, Policeman John Thomas sniffed his breath and took him to the hospital. "Draw a circle!" he was told. He di< Barring a few sharp corners, it was a pretty n-ood circle. "Now put a cross in the centre of it!" The cross landed in tho upper right-hand corner. "Now blow in this bag." Elliott blew. The attendants forced his breath from the bag into a test tube filled with some chemical. The chemical turned red, green and orange. The pointer went up to 1140, and a bell rang. "Intoxicated!" wrote the hospital doctor after Elliott's name, and ho would appear in Court. The bag and test tube, with a pointer, form part ot a new American invention known as an "intoxiineter."