LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18173, 19 August 1922, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

I —■— ■ BY MEKCUTIO.

« offl p]ajnt is made in Dunedin that capinred German machine-guns, which were !' handed to local bodies as trophies of the aro being treated as lumber. This* altogether surprising. If one roa- . Ajne-gun had been brought to New Zeal d there would have been the keenest • jlry f or its possession, but seeing that ' Se wicked engines of war were brought home* b y the ton ' n ° ° nS ° areS the pr °" erbial "tuppence" about them. PerL* however, they might have their -ij'vhen tfc« German commercial tr»- ' Jailers reappear. Patriotic establishments m iM mount a captured gun or two at rt«ir office doors and have a maimed solVTr near by to inform the Hun ; ..drummers" that 1914 is'still a year ass* vividly remembered. The estimates for the current financial | [ii a vote of £565,000 for the general elections. As the whole of the expenditure is Government money, there T ould ho no point in making provision tor collecting the amusement tax. ConBering seme of the features common to m elections, there would be a case for it The department came very near to .it once, though. A certain very popular member of Parliament undertook to look after the interests of a neighbouring con- ■ stitnency during the absence from New Zealand of its representative. At the '; : conclusion of his term of stewardship, the nember was entertained by the people of «little country place as a token of their 1 aoprtciaiien °f his efforts on their behalf while their own member was an absentee. The term? of admission wero those com_on at country socials—gentlemen half- .'.■' Ktown, ladies a basket of provisions- ; The State immediately put in a claim for the amusement tax in respect to the halfcrowns paid up by the masculine section ■ 0 ( the gathering. There was apparently l}-"w> demand for any of the contents of the ladies' baskets. In defence of the . .jctaon of the department in levying the t»x it may be added that the affair was aot' «itirely a political meeting. Therefore it may have been entertaining. ;He poultry-keepers of the North Island this week that there was a good .nflij of eggs in the country, sufficient for the bakers and the public, with a ■jicplus for oxport; never a word about elections. For the last-named method ""oUtilissiion, they So not need to bother .'■'i'JSffA cold-storage space" Hn fact to'irtilise it would be to depreciate the nine of the article. '■', ■ rvA man who went from C!hristchurch to 1% Dunedin found a rat in one of his bags. ft is understood that a deputation from Dnnediu is to wait upon the Hon. C. J. Parr about the matter. .";, leagues of Canterbury and Hofcstica want to change the name of the Oj&ra Tunnel to Arthur's, Pass. The [good people of Greymouth are against it. But perhaps Canterbury and Hokiiika are right. For their own sakes, anything tending to erase the memories which, in the rest of New Zealand, linger -i-bufc do not fondly linger—round the , fjtira Tunnel, is all to the good.. If \ ! ft*y t really want * new -name for it, ;.; make a competition out of the :[;':■ offering a. prize for the most .% appropriate suggestion. It would not do io ask the whole of New Zealand to decide by ipte on the best name. The wiiming title would vsurely be " —'s Fttßy." To avoid being too personal, no tftanpt will be made here to fill in the &nk before the word " folly." After all .& latter, is what makes the name apSane Maoris have been laying claim to z/fiw- ownership of a block of land at •fWanku, on the grounds' tftai after its ctHsfiacation in the Waikato war Sir George Grey promised it would be re- ; .'tamed to them. They are basing their idaaa on the word of an Englishman, ,y~ *hkh supplies more definite grounds than • «ane of the contentions advanced by native claimants! to title. The late Judge f' Jfenksg told an enter story of some T . of the grounds advanced to him when : finthotried to become a landed proprietor in Old New Zealand, before the days of Native Land Courts, when good spears- ■". asaship after all was one of the most ' . s .flpnvincing arguments l thai could be used. However, the most famous of the pakeha Maoris complains whimsically that one gentleman said he would nave to be paid 'part of the purchase price because his , -grandfather had been murdered on the ■ "piece of land in question. Then up came ; , another, asking what about his rights, ; linceit was his grandfather who had .committed the murder! Land titles are gained nowadays in iQore prosaic and less interesting fashion. Witness the statement made in the Assessment Court this week that value •» given to land by people walking up and down Queen Street- The greater % number of people who pass a given point the higher the value of the land. . Oii this basis iit would seem that some jeiple are wearing out a great deal of «hoe leather and others are getting the unearned increment. A man on the jury panel was consistently challenged because he wore a ward. He proved that the beard was ms impediment, because after he had it daved off he was allowed to take his seat along with the other 11 "good Wen and true." His experience is an 'ttikm.d reflection upon the elderly seeing that beards are not fashionable among yonthg under 50. Is it thought that *Jderiy men are unfit to the mnctions of a juryman, or is the'idea wat youth brings a more or less sportmg mind to the grave task which is considered desirable by counsel? Howler that may be, the information will '* .of value to the growing number who «j««ire to evade their responsibilities unMer the jury system. At next session we I '"ay hear of . applications for exemption ' Wi the ground of beards. ..It is stated that continued shooting at tne fallow deer has failed to make any ■ appreciable diminution in the herds of ytogo. And yet thoro are people who o Pposed encouragement being given to 1 '; ' ™e shooting. I *be Lieutenant-Governor of Nebra*ca is - j°ii gas a railway strike guard for fivn dollars a day. It is suggested that after ™ general election in New Zealand a "umber of the members of the present 'aniament will b e among the unemployed with no prospect of a strike to break.. . ouch is our sense of gratitude. | .'•'. -J reasure wm eh went down in a Spanish ■EW.eon m Tobermory Bay over 400 vears ; >§° is being secured" by the Scottish. They are a persistent race" the Scottish; It P ' ■ !r ma , tlia t a? earlv as 166.1 some gentleLj • m«n from Sweden tried their 'hand at \, jf" m 6 the contents of the galleon but :>: "ls Roted that after thev had located U 6 tk f<!ck Uls Clan Maclean put a stop BjJ e -,? amft ~>t th ese meddlesome Norsc- ■ riM' Iresenfc operations are being carjrV I , on f° r a svndicate by one Colonel "STu Zl ° Foss - Tho Macleans may want for *L w hit a-man with "Mackenzie" I v ristian naln « has to do v»ith m W» B,ba »»rJne atoro of bullion. Before may hear °f the fier °y crow! WIW *° u nd and see a gathering of the '•JMtta acd the Mackenzies. Is■ I :£;'. . ■'■'■'•>'■"""' l