ITEMS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 68, 13 December 1932, Page 11

ITEMS IN BRIEF

About People nud Events STRANGE CURRENCY In Welliugton at present are some examples of one of the strangest moneyissues that have ever been made. They are certificates iu denominations of one dollar, 50 cents, aud 25 cents, lithographed ou extremely thin two-ply slice-wood of Sitka spruce. The certificates were issued as part of the plan of the Chamber of Commerce, Teniuo, Washington, U.S.A., to thaw out the frozen assets of Tenino’s only bank, which became insolvent 12 months ago. Certificates were issued to depositors to the extent of 25 per cent, of their deposits, and they are now an efficient circulating medium. The timber is sliced to a thickness of one-eightieth of au inch, and is made strong and pliable by means of a sheet of paper pasted between the two surfaces. Estate Sworn Under £BO,OOO. The estate of the late Mr. Charles Rhodes, of Auckland, reports a Press Association message, has been sworn at under £BO,OOO. College Prize-giving. Wellington College will hold its annual prize-giving in the Memorial Hall this evening. The Mayor, Mr. T. C. Hislop, will speak, and Mrs. Hislop will present the prizes. Blissing Sewer Coverings. In several streets of Wellington sewer coverings have been removed. After rains a thin covering of debris is left by storm-water and the holes are a trap for children. £l2OO from a Fair. The gross proceeds of a fair held by the New Zealand Institute for the Blind last week, reports an Auckland Press Association message, amounted to £l2OO. lielief Workers’ Thanks. ReHef workers ou the Prince of Wales Park job have forwarded a letter to “The Dominion” expressing their appreciation for the soup aud bread distributed to them during the winter by the Sisters of Mercy, Buckle Street. Savage Dog Destroyed. A savage Airedale dog, apparently a stray, which had frightened a number of women and children in the Point Chevalier district, was recently caught and destroyed. The dog also killed a number of cats, including several valuable animals, and its savage habits resulted in parents being fearful for their children’s safety. The animal’ was finally enticed into a washhouse by means of leaving meat inside, and was ultimately shot. Christmas Cheer. Employees of the Shell Company have arrangements well in hand for their usual Christmas cheer effort, and the goods will be handed over at Miramar at 2.30 p.m. on Friday, December 23. It is expected that the Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, will accept tbe goods on behalf of the people in straitened circumstances who are to benefit. The Shell employees’ committee extended its activities this year, but the resources will only permit catering for the most necessitous cases. A Lengthy Tour. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Stiarman, of Oakland, California, are due to arrive at Auckland by the Niagara on Boxing Day, and will be iu Wellington on January 4. After a comprehensive tour of the Dominion they will leave for Australia, aud then go on to South Africa. From there they intend visiting Beira, Mozambique, Zanzibar, and so up the east coast to the Suez Canal, Egypt, aud Palestine, then on to London by way of Turkey, Greece, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, and Holland. They are due to arrive back in New York on September 16, 1933.

Old Insurance Policies. In the Wellington office of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company exists a copy of one c* the oldest insurance policies extant. It is a policy for £2OO ou three buildings “situate near the White Hart in Hampton,” belonging to one Piper. This property must have been acquired by David Garrick, the famous actor, for on January 12, 1777, the insurance policy was transferred to him and bears the assignment fee of 1/6. There is also a superscription at the foot of tbe policy recording tbe renewal of the policy on April 3, 1778. Insurance iu a wooden-built town like London was not so very formidable a business financially as it is to-day, as a still older policy, a copy of which exists in the Wellington office of the company, records that a house then being erected by Dr. Berger Hoadley in St. James's Square at a cost of £l2OO was covered for the sum of 30..'-. The Royal. Exchange Company was one of the very few of the "South Sea Bubble” companies (established in 1720? which survived the historic crash.