LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2649, 18 May 1923, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The ruling Berlin exchange rate is 215,000 marks to the pound sterling. Mr Lloyd George’s eighteenth article comments on th e replies to Germany’s latest offer.

A memorial service to the late Rev. A.. Daull will be hgld at St. Andrew’s Church at 1.30 this afternoon. Floral tributes may be left at the church in the forenoon.

At a meeting of citizens held in the Dpera House supper room last evening, t was decided to tender to Mr S, B. "arson, who is leaving Palmerston \orth, a complimentary concert in •ecognition of valuable services he has ■endered at musical functions, especidly those in the cause of charity. The ;oncert will take place on Thursday, !4th inst., in the Opera House. The assistance of various musical socieies and vocal ana instrumental artists ias been secured, and a splendid prorramme has been prepared. In view if Mr Larson’s ever ready willingness o give his services the generous support of the public should be assured.

A meeting- of the general executive of the Nash Presentation Committee will be held in the Council Chambers to-day at 4 p.m.

A smile passed around the room at a meeting of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce on Monday, when a letter was received from the Prime Minister promising to place a certain recommendation by the. Chamber with reference to the railways before the Minister for Railways. The Premier is, at the present time, as a matter of fact, himself Minister of that Department.

“Do the Customs take samples of every cask of whisky that comes into the country?” asked His Honour, Sir John Salmond during the hearing of an appeal case in reference to hotel stock yesterday. “What, but whisky, do they expect to find in it?” Counsel explained that a test of every cask v/as taken for the purpose of excise. “How about the bottles?” asked his Honour, amid laughter. “Do they sample them too?” but counsel was not clear on this point.

“This is a very extraordinary position,” observed His Honour, Sir John Salmond yesterday, when a petition for alimony and motion for decree absolute came before him. Apparently these people have not lived together at all. “That is so,” replied counsel; they separated immediately after they were married.” “I wonder why they took the trouble to get married at all, then,” remarked his Honour. “They lived together for years before they were married, and then separated o.u the uay of the marriage.”

An extraordinary accident occurred on the West Coast of the South Island recently. Mrs. A. Ritchie was walking in her garden when suddenly the ground gave way beneath her. She clung to the surface, however’ and her cries soon brought assistance. When she was rescued it was diejovered that an old digger’s shaft, which had apparently been covered over with timber and earth, had been sunk in the garden many years ago. No one knew of the shaft, and the possibilities of a serious drowning accident were hidden under a well-kept lawn. The depth of the shaft can only be estimated, as a pole, 16ft. long, could not reach the bottom of the water, which was about five feet from the surface.

The meat war in Wanganui advanced another stage yesterday (says the

"Herald). A few days ago, it will be remembered, the Wanganui Meat Fr e ezing- Company made substantial reductions in prices, and the Eatox Company on Wednesday announced a penny reduction all round under the prices of the former firm. The Mgat Freezing Company promptly brought their prices to the level of the other firm, with the addition that they are giving the putnic the advantage of their battery of motor cars to deliver the meat to the do.or of the householder. In the meantime, some of the smaller butchers are astounded, and their wailing to their customers on the rounds is almost pitiful to hear. One of the men interested in the meat trade remarked that lhcr e is going to be a regular spring cleaning in the butchery business.

Mr Henry Ford possesses a remarkable “mechanical memory,” if we may believe a story told by a friend of his in one of the American magazines. A few years ago a Detroit business men’s association was taking a steamer excursion on the St. Mary’s River, and the famous automobile manufacturer was of the, party. As a group was engaged in conversation on deck, Mr Ford suddenly slackened his interest in what was being said, his attention being diverted to another boat that was nosing along the river not far away. It, could be seen from his attitude that he was listening t'o the throb of the engine. “Why, I helped build that engine years ago,” lie explained, “but that isn’t the boat we put it info?” “How do you .know?” asked his friend.- “I can tell by the sound of it,” replied Mr Ford. “To the person who loves and understands them, engines have voices just as human beings do,-’ Knquiry was subsequently made and it was found that the engine was one which Mr Ford had helped to build —for another boat.

“Will Londoners eventually become blind?" is a question, that has puzzled me ever since I anived here (says a South African, writing in the London “Evening News”). In South Africa, especially up country, one scarcely ever comes across a spectacle wearer from one year’s end to another. But Londoners are a very spectacled people. Perhaps the “healthiness” of the average South African’s eyesight is due to the fact that his vision is not cramped every hour of the day by the nearness of buildings, which prevent the eyes from being used at long range. Ninety-nine per cent, of European city dwellers visiting Africa for the first time are amazed at the remarkable eyesight of the natives. I have seen a good pair of native eyes recognise a person, once seen, at a distance of over a mile away. Acquaintances are frequently recognised at a distance of one and three-quarter miles away, and intimate friends or relatives at two miles distant. In Zululand the contrast is even more striking. Here the air is so clear that the natives are able to pick out objects over seven miles away. And this by starlight—not daylight. Berthing lists of boats sailing during the first half of 1924 will be opened up very shortly now for convenience of persons wishing to travel home to England for the 1924 Exhibition. Many applications for accommodation have already been pencilled and the New Zealand Shipping Co., anticip-, ates heavy bookings. There will be no reduction in the present fares for the Exhibition.

Both mothers and little daughters will be delighted with the smart hats I that are. showing for the latter upstairs in the Millinery Salon of The C. M. Ross Co. Ltd. Each dainty! model is cleverly trimmed in just the! way that little girls will specially like. ( Maids’ serviceable beaver and plush 1 hats from 12/6 to 22/6 net cash are also showing. N.B. —Ladies’ knitting competition closes May 21st. Junior Knitters’ competition ou June Ist.*