NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 77, 1 April 1943, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Women Jurors Seventeen women have now applied for admission to the Wellington district jury roll, which is to be revised in accordance with the annual procedure to-morrow. Typists and English / When presenting medallions yesterday to the Auckland young women who were successful at the 1942 Chamber of Commerce examination, the Mayor, Mr. Allum, stressed the value of a firmer grasp of the English language. "Sloppy letters, badly framed, do not inspire confidence, said Mr. Allum. "Many men cannot dictate a well-worded letter, and the typist who can put into good English what is required is invaluable." Deep Chasm Ahead "Every country is facing domestic problems which will require the wisest brains to solve—we no less than others," said Mr. F. G. Baskett, Auckland Chamber of Commerce in addressing the Junior Chamber of Commerce yesterday. "The voice of some sections of labour calls for drastic changes in our economic and financial structure, so drastic as to make many who have given deep study and thought to such matters cause to feel grave concern as to our future should they be put into practice. They see a deep chasm ahead that may engulf us unless sane^ancL.wise counsels prevail in ~our Parliament." April FooVs Day A young lady who, in response to her father's command, arose this morning half an hour earlier than usual was only one of the victims of harmless jokes played in honour of the day being April Fool's Day. The origin of the custom of playing practical jokes on one's friends on the first of April has been the subject of considerable dispute. It is probably a relic of some Celtic custom and was at one time universal throughout Europe, although a similar practice on March 31 is found in India. In France the victim of these seasonal pranks is known as an April fish, and in Scotland as an April gowk, a gowk being the Scots for a. cuckoo. Like Father Like Son? "It is my opinion that no less than 25 per cent of the male community "patronise the bookmaker, a man liable on conviction to two years' imprisonment, and I believe this is largely" responsible for the present increase in adolescent crime. The youth sees his elder doing something against the law and boasting of it. Think of the effect of that on the mind of an adolescent." said Mr. J. H. Luxford in an address to the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association at a luncheon gathering yesterday. "I believe," he added, "that the promiscuous way the gaming laws of this country are flouted is responsible for the slipping of adolescents—their first little slip, perhaps, in many cases—into a life of crime. To you justices of the peace i would say, 'Ponder on that.'"

A Fellow Feeling - Sympathy with New Zealand business concerns in their form-filling affliction, was feelingly expressed by Mr. Percy C. Fish, head of the Manchester textile firm of J. F. A. and H. Roberts, Ltd. Speaking to shareholders, Mr. Fish remarked: "Our Australian and New Zealand friends are having to cope with very similar conditions to those existing on this side. They have a full share of form-filling-up to do in compliance with ever-changing rules and regulations." He referred to the unpaid and compulsory duties of British employers as tax gatherers for the excise and inland revenue commissioners, and the enormous clerical work they involved for all employers. Sport and War "Although there may have been some criticism that football has been carried on during the war, I believe it was a very wise policy to continue," said the president, Mr. G. Grey Campbell, at the annual meeting of the Auckland Rugby League last night. Mr. Campbell said the mode of living and the conditions prevailing regarding sport in the Dominion contributed largely to the success of the New Zealand soldiers in the Middle East and Africa and made them what they Were to-day— the greatest fighting division in the world. "Games like football, cricket, hockey and tennis have been national in this country, and when the players were called upon to fight for their country they had the right moral attitude and courage to fit them for the higher job," he added. "There is no doubt that sport has rendered a particularly fine service to our young men in more ways than one. Regarding those men who will play this season, we know that if an emergency arises they will be the first to go where the trouble is to be found." "Scissors-and-paste Act" In an address at a luncheon of the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association yesterday, Mr. J. H. Luxford, Auckland's senior stipendiary magistrate, drew a laugh in replying to a question regarding the sale of New Zealand wine by referring to what he called the "Scissors-and-paste Act" of 1881. This Act, which made it permissible to sell New Zealand wine under certain conditions without a license, was drafted by snipping a bit out of the English law, adding a snip from the American law, plus, another snip or so from colonial laws on liquor control, and pasting the lot together. "They gave us a hotch-potch as difficult to administer to-day," he said, "as it was when they first gave it to us 52 years ago/' Mr. Luxford pointed out that those responsible for drafting this law had, among their objects, the encouragement of the grapegrowing industry in the young colony, and it was probably for this reason that it was made legal to sell New Zealand-produced wine in twogallon lots without a license.