NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 131, 30 November 1939, Page 12

NEWS OF THE DAY

Smiles in Court,

An original explanation, which made the Court laugh, was given by one defendant who appeared in the Christchurch Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on a charge of proceeding against an automatic signal, states the "Star-Sun." Thd defendant said he had been talking to his wife and had moved on. to the crossing before he noticed the red light. It was then too late to stop but, he added, he had pulled up at the next corner. Laughing, Mr. E. C. Levvy, S.M., said that the excuse was original and he would accordingly impose only a 10s fine.

Not "Gathered to Fathers."

"We extend our apologies to Mr. H. H. Driver, of Auckland, for the report which we published last week that he had been gathered to his fathers," .states the latest issue of the "Outlook," the official journal of the Presbyterian Church. "Mr. Driver has asked us to make it clear that there is no foundation whatever for the report. We. regret that there is reason for this apology, but join with the many friends of Mr. Driver who will rejoice to know that he is able .to repudiate what Mark Twain called a great exaggeration."

First Ascent of Egmont,

Dr. Ernst Dieffenbach, the first European to climb Mount Egmont, went ashore at New • Plymouth 100 years ago last Tuesday from the survey ship Tory, which had brought Colonel William Wakefield, representative of the New Zealand Company, to negotiate with the Maoris for land. The celebration' of the centenary of the first ascent will take place on Sunday, when many alpine club members will climb to the summit where a commemorative tablet will be placed, states the "Wanganui Herald."