General News

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25810, 23 May 1949, Page 6

General News

Big Returns The first day of the South Canterbury Jockey Club’s winter meeting at Washdyke on Saturday was one of the few days on which an investment of ■ £1 for a win on every horse racing • would have resulted in a profit. An I outlay of £l3B would have been neces- ‘ sary for a return of £234 4s, a profit lof £96 4s. Six of the eight winners 1 were at good odds and the biggest dividend of the day, that returned by Swift Action in the last race, was well over £lOO. A profit of £226 4s would have been made by any person lucky enough to have £1 for a win on each winner and no other bets. £lO,OOO in Bequests Under the will of John Bell Blair, a retired farmer, late of Dunedin, £5OOO has been bequeathed to the Otago Hospital Board and £5OOO to the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. The estate was sworn for probate purposes at under £46,000. The testator has directed that the bequest to the Otago Hospital Board shall be used for the benefit of the patients, nurses and staff of the Duneain Public Hospital. The money to be received by the Presbyterian Church is ; to be added to the Aged and Infirm Ministers’ Beneficiary Fund and applied for theJbenefit of aged and infirm mini Sterup n Otago exclusively. Illegal Use of Concrete In spite of regulations prohibiting the use of cement for paths, walls, and garages, a number of people in Timaru had flouted them, said-the chairman of the South Canterbury Cement Allocation Committee (Mr C. G. Bryan King) in a statement on Friday. Persons were also buying cement in the black market and paying a price far in excess of that laid down. The building controller in Christchurch took a serious view of this, and the position \yas being closely watched, he said. Timaru was receiving only one truck of cement a week, and out ot that provision had to be made for emergency works, such as repairs at freezing works in the interest of production, and works relating to public health, he said. Henry Lawson Stamp A new 2Jd postage stamp will be on sale in post offices throughout Australia on June 17 in honour of the birthday anniversary of Henry Lawson, the Australian writer and poet. It will be a red stamp showing the poet’s profile, a facsimile of his signature. and the dates of his birth and death—lB67-1922. The design is based on an etching by Sir Lionel Lindsay. Lawson was the son of a Norwegian seaman who' left his ship and settled in the New South Wales mining dis T trict near Gulgong. His father’s real name was Larsen —changed to Lawson because Henry’s mother preferred it. Steeplechase Mishaps Eight of the 17 starters in the Pareora Hack Steeplechase at Timaru on Saturday failed to finish. E. P. Corboy fractured a collar-bone when his mount, Grand Forest, fell at the first leg of the stand double, but the other jockeys who had falls were unhurt. None of the horses was injured. Elephant’s Death in Moat A 19-year-old Indian elephant, Nellie, died while keepers were trying to rescue her from a safety moat, into which she had fallen, at the Taronga zoo. Onlookers declared that the animal was strangled by chains, which were being used in an attempt to drag her to her feet. The president of the Taronga Park Trust however, announced that death was -due to a broken back sustained in the fall. The elephant lay helplessly on her back during the rescue operations at times trumpeted with pain. One tusk was snapped off when it caught in an iron rung in the wall. This is the fourth time that elephants have fallen into moats at Taronga. Officials believe that the moats are a failure and that they will be filled in.—Sydney, May 22. Price of Worms The* Melbourne Zoo, which has- been paying boys Us for every two-pound jar of worms they collected to feed its platypus, is cutting the price by half. The platypus cannot eat the worms fast enough. He is oeing outpaced by the nounds and pounds that the boys are bringing in. For months, after school and during .week-ends, they have diligently dug for worms. Some earned as much as £2 in a good day.

Mother at 10 A 10-year-old negro girl has given birth"tai a ‘73lb boy in ashospital at Butler, Alabama. The doctor who delivered the baby verified the mother’s age from his records He described the baby as normal and said that the mother was in good condition. —New York, May 21. Meeting Lasts 30 Seconds “The receipts are nil and the expenditure nil.” said the chairman (Mr E. W. Wise) at the meeting of the Eastbourne Domain Board on Thursday evening. “I move that the report be received. All in favour please say aye, all against. no. The ayes have it. That is all the business and the meeting is closed.” The meeting lasted 30 seconds. Grading of Hotels “It is unfortunate that confusion has been caused by the adoption by the Price Tribunal of the term ‘Star,’ a grading distinction which has been used exclusively by the Automobile Association,” said the association's touring manager (Mr R. E. Champtaloup). “The association’s gradings are purely for the information of members.” he said. “We are not competent to express an opinion concerning the cost of operating hotels, price fixation is not a function of the association, and w<e do not undertake to grade hotels for the tribunal. We are nevertheless concerned with such details -as comfort, furnishings, equipment, the tone of a house, and the cuisine. These are considered from the viewpoint of the guest and we do not concern ourselves with the costs'of providing'and maintaining services. Therefore the Price Tribunal and Automobile Association gradings must differ, because they are viewed from different angles.” —(P.A.) Paying Taxes “If everyone paid his taxes when they became due there might be a substantial decrease in taxation.” said Mr J. H. Luxford. S.M., in the Magistrate's Court at Auckland on Friday, during the hearing of a prosecution by the Commissioner of Taxes for failure to

pay income tax. “In fact, I have been assured that this would be the case if payments were made at the right time,” added the magistrate.