NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 11, 14 January 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Varying Prices An Aucklander on' holiday at Palmerston North last week wanted to buy a pair of sunglasses. He found them in one shop marked 1/6 a pair, in a second at 1/3 and in a third, a chain store; -the identical glasses at 1/.. But he didn't buy them. In Auckland, in the- city branch of the same chain store, he acquired similar glasses fpr an outlay of only 7Jd. -'• - — ... Bad Handwriting The handwriting, pf, doctors is frequently, the subject of. comment at sittings of' the. Auckland Industrial Manpower Committee when medical on behalf of appellants. -.The task, of deciphering these, medical puzzles devolves as a rule- on Mr. N. E. Crimp, a member of the committee. Although usually successful in arriving at the purport of the certificate. Mr. Crimp met his match' yesterday when a; doctor's handwriting baffled allefforts at elucidation. ! "I give it up',"" he remarked after a number of efforts to read the,certificate. "I think doctors should-type them out,! , , he added. Shot a Crocodile The story of the shooting of a crocodile on one of the Pacific Islands is told by Gunner A. Curry, formerly of Temuka, in a recent letter. ..He.-wrote: "I had a bit of success game hunting when -we went out crocodile shooting. The one I bagged was only 7ft". 3iri long, but was an ugly.brute for,all that. It was just getting dark as I waited a short distance, from our. camp to get a shot at it. I spotted it when it poked its nose but of the water about 50 yards away, and my shot went through its eyes. . It heeled over without, a kick and lay on its side with one front leg sticking up in the air' Back in camp the news spread quickly . about ' the catch, which was the first one made here so far, and we soon had a big crowd to look at it. Its mouth had between 50 and 60 teeth. The "old man" crocodiles are up to 24ft long. What a pretty smile they must have!" Employee and Lodger . Commenting that the circumstances were so unusual' that the decision could have but', limited application, the Chief -Justice, Sir Michael Myers, has found that a lodger who takes up employment in the hotel where he is living and continues ■ the contract for board and lodging, has the status of a guest during the hours when he is not working. He is therefore entitled to entertain his bona fide guests with liquor in the hotel. The case was one in which a soldier who had returned from overseas went to the Post Office Hotel at Wellington as a lodger. A fow weeJss later he agreed to become barman-eel larman at the hotel on condition that he retained his position as a lodger, and had his meals as a guest and not with the staff. He remained in occupation of the same'room and continued to pay-£2 10/ a week for board and lodging. There was no said his Honor, , that the arrangement reached with the licensee was not bona fide." -

Ignored There is one prohibitory notice at Oriental Bay which is generally ignored. This is on the reserve below Oriental Terrace, and its reads. "Sunbathing or .parading in bathing costumes in this reserve prohibited." Since the beach has become so dirty there are enough sunbathers on this reserve on hot days to make the notice a joke. The state of the paintwork on it suggests that it belongs to a period when the public attitude toward in open areas was much more strict than to-day. More Scorched Earth :; A: party of; Wellington campers were well burned by the sun during a week's stay on the beach at Paraparaumu. However, they were even more severely burned by fire. While strolling' along Ocean Road they saw their camp enveloped in flame's and arrived to find most of the residents fighting the blaze. The long grass and dry bush provided excellent fuel, and cfie tent was destroyed, but the use of beaters and force of numbers eventually quelled the blaze. The country around Wellington is well dried up, and the sun shining on glass is enough to start a fire. Uneasy Conscience . Government Departments often acknowledge the receipt of what is known as "conscience money," that is, money sent in payment of some tax or debt which had been evaded only at the cost of an uneasy conscience. People who make payments of this sort generally prefer to remain anonymous. ~A case of uneasy conscience which was off the usual run surprised the manager of an Invercargill store the other day, states the Southland News. A man came into the shop and handed the manager a small article worth a few shillings. The man explained that 15 years before, when he was quite a youth, he had stolen the article from the store at Christmas time. Ever since his conscience had troubled him-, and this Christmas he had definitely decided to return the article and confess his fault. The article appeared'to be almost as good as new. ; ;.:. Missing Mail A young Auckland commercial traveller was driving a red van, formerly the property of the Post and Telegraph Department, along Commerce Street when, invturning into Customs Street, he had to swing Wide to avoid two colliding lorries. in doing so the driver's door swung open and smashed the glass window against a post box used as a repository for mail bags. While the traveller was sweeping up the glass a junior official of the P. and T. Department cleared the post box and dumped four bags of mail into the van, under the impression that it was a postal van. Imagine the traveller's surprise when, proceeding through Parnell, he heard the sound of a police siren and realised he had the law on his heels. His surprise was heightened when it was pointed out to him that he had mail in his van. "This will go hard with you," said the policeman, and the traveller paled with anxiety, realising his predicament. "But if you take it down to the Post Office, I may be able to square you off," added the keeper of law and order, winking at the post boy, also badly frightened, who had just arrived on the scene.