LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21640, 4 November 1933, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Clock for Cathedral A four-faced clock with dials of n diameter of five feet has been ordered for installation in St. Peter's Cathedral tower. A sum of £226 has been subscribed toward the cost, which is £3oo. Fault In Power Supply

The electric-power supply to a small area on the western side of Queen Street, and also on portions of the Kennicra and Point Chevalier tramway routes, was interrupted for a few minutes early yesterday afternoon as a result of a minor fault at Arapuni. The trouble was located and rectified immediately and resulted in little inconvenience. Babies at Royal -Show

A decision to spend up to £5 for the care of babies whose mothers visit the Royal Show at Auckland in February was made at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association. The president, Mr. S. Austin Carr, remarked that he had been approached in the matter on several occasions. Americans and New Zealand

"I find among Americans a desire to visit New Zealand," said Mr. J. David Larson, trade counsellor to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, who arrived by the Monterey yesterday on a visit to the Dominion. He said that since visiting this country earlier in the year he had had opportunity on many occasions, in public and private, to voice praises of New Zealand.

Strong Wind on Harbour Some difficulty, owinfc to the strong wind blowing across the harbour, was experienced in berthing the liner Monterey yesterday morning. The berthing occupied about an hour, the wind at times threatening to blow the large vessel on to the Prince's Wharf, where she had been allotted a berth. The difficult task was eventually accomplished with no damage occurring beyond a few scars on the paintwork on the ship s side. Dominion and Depression

"Englishmen and Australians seem less depressed by the depression than New Zealanders," said Mr. C. F. Cotter, of C'hristchurch, on his return from a tour abroad. "They have not 'got right down to it' in the same way, and they seem to have moro confidence and optimism in working to make things better. New Zealand is depressed by tho outlook of tho people on their troubles. Australia is busy and confident, and Britain is enjoying much brighter times—factories are busy, and the people are getting back to employment."

Bankruptcy Barometer C'hristchurch had only one bankruptcy in October, compared with three in October last year, and six in October the year .before. Therp have been 35 bankruptcies this year, as against 48 in the same period last year and 70 the year before. The opinion is expressed, however, that probably many creditors are standing out of their money just at present because they felt that even if they made the debtor bankrupt they would have little chance of realising on their accounts. A considerable increase in bankruptcies is expected when conditions begin to improve, as creditors would then consider that they had a better prospect of getting their money back. "Spanish Prisoner" Trick

Still another attempt to perpetrate the old familiar "Spanish prisoner" confidence trick has been brought to the notice of the Hf.p.ald. A letter contained in a light green envelope from Spain was received by a Remuera resident this week after it had been readdressed from Penrose- Obviously run off with others on a duplicating machine, the letter purported to come from a person in Spain "imprisoned by bankruptcy" and sought assistance in obtaining a sum of £75,000 he had in Australia. The letters are usually a forerunner to requests for definite sums of money to be used in recovering the fabulous amount, \ and in this case a "reward" of £25,000 is offered.

A Motorist's Difficulty Several motorists were fined in the Magistrate's Court in Wellington recently for not having the proper lights on their cars and in more than one instance where the offence was that of having no tail light the plea was made that it was unfair to penalise a driver who did not know that the tail light of his car was not burning. "It is obviously unfair t<» expect a man to get out every ten yards to see if the tail light is functioning," said one solicitor. "No Court is going to ask a man to do that, and yet if it fiaes him that is what it is virtually asking him to do." Counsel admitted that it was different where a man deliberately set out to drire without a tail light. His plea on behalf of his client was unavailing, for a fine of 10s was imposed.

High Land Values in South Island Apart from the settlement of a number of men on individual holdings it has not been found possible to prosecute small farm settlement to any extent in the South Island. Explaining this position in comparison with the greater activity in the North Island, the Minister of Lands, the Hon. B. A. Ransom, stated yesterday that there were practically no areas of suitable unoccupied Crown land available in the South, while the better class lands suitable for small farm settlement were, generally speaking, comparatively closely occupied. The Minister said that the prices at which South Island properties had been offered had been so much in excess of valuation that it had not been possible to recommend their acquisition. An efTort is to be made, however, to extend the scheme to the South Island.

Marriage Fees Waived During the expired 10 months of tho present year there has been an increase of 93 in tho number of marriago certificates issued in tho Christchurch registration district, as compared with the corresponding period of last year, but there were 11 fewer marriages in tho office of the registrar. One explanation of tho decline in the proportion of marriages in the registrar's office is that a number of ministers aro now solemnising marriages without asking for any fee. Tho cost of a marriage in the registrar's office is £2 ss, but if a marriage is solemnised by a minister without a fee being charged, tho cost is only £1 2s 6d. Some years ago a minister in Wellington was -very popular with young couples because lie adopted tho practice of giving half his fee as a present to tho bride. The result was that in many instances he was given double the ordinary fee, because the bridegroom knew that half of it would be received by the bride. Tho present economic conditions, however, have reacted rather hardly on ministers who solemnise a large number of marriages, as tho fees have shown a very pronounced shrinkage, and in many cases no fees at all can be collected.