NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 88, 15 April 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Easter Weddings. "It looks as if conditions are healthy, despite the depression," said the manager of a Duuedin taxi fleet, when he reported that his company had been booked for 28 weddings this month. Last Easter bookings totalled 25. The number was exceptionally high, even for Easter. Cut In Mayor's Honorarium. The next Mayor of Petoue will rcceive only £180 a year as honorarium, instead of the £200 a year hitherto paid. This decision was made by the I'etone Borough Council by seven votes to two, after an animated discussion. Return to Wheatgrowers. About £20,000 was paid out to Canterbury wheatgrowers last week by the Wheat Marketing Agency, which was established to deal with this season's crop. The payment r?presents a return of a penny a bushel levy deducted by the agency. Any balance remaining will be distributed later. From Overseas. On Monday morning two overseas liners will arrive at Auckland. The Monowai is due from Sydney at seven o'clock, and the Niagara from Vancouver about ten o'clock. Op Tuesday the Morowai will sail for Wellington on her way to Sydney and Melbourne, and the Niagara will leave for Sydney direct. Light Fails. During the singing of a cantata by the choir at the Epiphany Church, Ponsonby, last evening, the electric light in the chancel suddenly went out, and some members of the choir could not see to read their sheets of music. However, the singing continued without interruption, and other lighting was improvised. Flotsam of the Sea. Some parties wliicn went on a scouting expedition to the western beaches of Stewart Island last week are reported to have found drums of methylated spirits and petrol, states the Stewart Island correspondent of the "Southland News." The Tamatea passed a full drum on a recent trip to Haifmoon Bay, and also saw one when landing mutton-birders near the South Cape. "The Inner Man." Business was brisk at the refreshment counter at Frankton Junction yesterday morning when the Auckland-bound express arrived. The train carried 100 students of Southern university colleges, who were coming north to take part in the tournament commencing to-day. In order that all might enjoy a sandwich and cup of tea, the train was delayed seven minutes. Earlier on the run a broken coupling at Pal mere ton North caused a delay of 47 minutes. Below Bedrock Prices. "Finest New Zealand butter 2d per halfpound." This startling announcement appeared recently in a Scottish newspaper, in which the Albion Stores, Ltd., of Kirriemuir, advertised their goods. Even making allowance for the fact that this offer was a special one combined with half a pound of choice Ceylon tea at 1/, it brings home the realisation of the difficulty the New Zealand producer experiences in obtaining a remunerative price on the British market. Grey Owl as a Killer. Tlie contents oT the nest of a little grey owl found in a hollow tree on the bank of the Waimakariri River was detailed in a letter from the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society received by the council of the Taranaki Acclimatisation Society. The nest contained three young birds about *15 days old, and remains which included feathers, legs and bills of a kingfisher, starling, two blackbirds, three thrushes, two skylarks, waxeye, fantail, sparrow, two chaffinches, liedgesparrow and field mouse. Miss Bog and Miss Rat. Ngaire, a name for girls, is not Maori, writes "Tangiwai" in the "New Zealand Railways Magazine." To be Maori it should be Ngaere, and simply means a swamp or 'bog. But parents, when told that, "positively won't believe it; the idea is fixed in their minds that it means beautiful hope from heaven, or darling ray of sunshine, or something like that. And, of course, they pronounce it 'Ny-ree.' Another name which, for some inexplicable reason, seems favoured by some pakeha parents is Iviore. It appears to be reserved exclusively for girls. Here, again, it is not much use trying to switch off the mother on to more fitting Maori words. No use to tell them it means a rat. They will have Kiore." "Modern Grandmother's" Walk. Mrs. Kitty O'Sullivan, aged 52, the "modern grandmother," completed her walk through the North Island on Thursday, arriving in Wellington at four o'clock in the afternoon. She has thus completed a distance of 744 miles in days, which is a record for the distance. The time is, in fact, 22 days ahead of a previous record, set by Miss Esther James. Mrs. O'Sullivan completed the journey of 130 miles from Wanganui to Wellington in five days —an average of 2G miles a day. After spending a few days in Wellington, where she will deliver one or two lectures on her trip, she will cross over to the South Island and commence a walk to the Bluff. Youthful Duplicity. A fruiterer in South Dunedin, who regularly buys clean newspapers for wrapping purposes, has for some months past proved a handy source of revenue for the small boys of the district, and until recently one bright lad, who invariably drove a shrewd bargain, was one of his most regular suppliers. Early !n the morning the boy brought in an unusually large bundle of papers, neatly tied up, and, having weighed them, the fruiterer paid for them as usual at so much per pound, adding, in the goodness of his heart, an extra penny for luck. The luck, as it transpired, was all on the vendor's side, for on opening the bundle the buyer had his faith in juvenile probity rudely shattered, when two lumps of blue metal and an iron fishplate, of a total weight of just on 31b, were revealed. Deduction of Wife's Earnings. When addressing members of the Birkenhead Unemployed Association, on Thursday evening, Mr. H. G. R. Mason, M.P., said the Minister of Employment had said when in Auckland that the deduction of a wife's earnings was the result of a mistaken interpretation of the rule governing the employment of the husband on relief work. Mr. Mason said that two_ cases had since come under his notice. In one instance all but 2/6 of the 22/6 of the wife's earnings had been deducted. The reply received that day from the Minister was that it was necessary to take into consideration the wife's earnings. That reply showed that the Unemployed Department was still enforcing the rule that the Minister said was a mistaken*interpretation. The Minister had promised to discuss these matters when he returned in a few weeks. A Marine Disaster. An unfortunate mishap occurred on the Opaiva, River the other evening, when two fouroared racing skiffs belonging to the Blenheim Bowing Club collided, with consequent extensive damage to one of them. Two crews bent on a "pipe opener" before next day's inter-club eights had gone out at nearly dusk, and were travelling in opposite directions when the collision occurred. One skiff was rammed at the coxswain's seat and holed, the bow of the other boat penetrating so far as to be firmly held. The damaged boat was got ashore and transferred on a motor lorry to the 'boat shed, where it will be .repaired. The episode had its funny aspects, such' 1 as when the coxswain of the damaged boat, a well-known red coat * veteiran, who was coaching the crew, after crawling along the boat, was carried ashore precariously perched on the shoulders of an oarsman who was in momentary peril of tripping in the water weeds near the shore and precipitating his shivering burden in the "drink." Then there was a hectic few minutes when the same veteran, tenderly picking [his way barefoot through the gloom on shore, discovered a nice deposit of barberry hedge clippings. ,