LOCAL GOSSIP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23275, 18 February 1939, Page 4 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP

Not Every Detail? THAT we have in our midst a mechanic capable of building in his garden a model village, correct in every detail, is something to be proud of, to be sure. Now, we are told he is going to build a few model State houses. Whether these arc to be correct in very,detail is not stated, but he i'S going to use for the most part scraps of wood and three-ply painstakingly cut by hand and stuck together with glue.

Houses for the Housers Cabinet is arranging to bring tradesmen from overseas because the workers are needed for housing". As it is also an axiom that housing is needed for the workers, is this an example of the vicious circle?

Speed An amazing turn of speed was displayed by a solitary fisherman, who had been sitting quietly in his dinghy below North Head, when the battery 011 the cliff above him went into sudden action during exercises last Saturday. Bending to his oars with a will, the fisherman made his little craft fairly skim across the water toward a more sheltered spot. As one of the officers at North Head brightly remarked: "If he had had an outboard motor, it would only have held him back."

A Persistent Demand "For some time past there has been absolutely no demand for opossum skins," runs advice received by the Southland Acclimatisation Society. Yet every opossum still likes to have at least one. 1 Puss in Boots?

A saleswoman in an Auckland store is wondering just what lies behind the action of a woman who called at the store this week. Alighting from a car that cost not a penny under £6OO, and dressed expensively, the woman swept into the store and bought, of all things, a pair of gumboots. They were obviously for herself, as she tried them on, yet the idea of this mirror of fashion splashing round a cow-yard in gumboots is something at which the saleswoman's imagination boggles. Nelson Distinguishes Itself

Modesty is sometimes supposed to be a characteristic of Nelson, but it is becoming more and more ambitious. It has lately again covered itself with honour as the.holder of the yearly bright sunshine record for New Zealand. But this is not enough. Apparently there is some jealousy between the powers above and those belqw as to which shall minister most to the dignity of the Dominion's oldest, though smallest, city. So it happened last week that there was a record high tide of nearly 16ft. The eager water surged into several of the low-lying streets, including the seaward end of Trafalgar Street, and the wide-awake residents were soon considering the expediency of betaking themselves and their belongings to the sunny slopes of the Church Hill or the summit of the Zig-Zag. Just then tho tide turned and the hurried flight was avoided. A record gale is all that is now required to give Nelson something to really blow about. Converted!

A motorist in the Waikato recently received from an organisation to which he belonged a bulletiu headed "Car Conversion —Appeal to .» Members to Assist." So he sat down and wrote the following reply: "I note from your bulletin that the matter has now reached such a serious state that members are invited to assist. I think it is a very sound.idea, as the penalty if caught, is so very light in view of the benefit to be gained if undetected. I propose to

By MERCUTIO =

Undertake a motor tour of some days' duration in the nesr future, and as my own car is a small one, I have my eye, on a largo new model sedan belonging to a non-member. If I name the make of car and the non-member, I take it that you would, as a sporting gesture in furthering your appeal to members to assist in car conversion, notify confidentially other neighbouring members of my prior staking of my claim. Would the Jegal service available to members he available in the event of 1113' being 'copped'?" A Depression is Approaching—

Reciprocal meteorological services are being arranged between Australia and New Zealand in preparation for the Tasinan air mails. It will mean sending all kinds of things across the Tasman—but no more of those depressions already forwarded so freely, it is to be hoped.

Writing on the Pavements The prosecution the other day of a now nrrival in Auckland, who sought to air his views regarding Japanese goods by painting notices on a footpath, draws attention to a by-law that is frequently surreptitiously evaded. A year or so ago bold stencil notices on the same subject appeared on some of the city pavements, and they remained there for some considerable time. In the latest case the defendant he had lately come from London, where painting on the footpaths was allowed. The use of pavements and walls and so forth for the display of slogans and pungent remarks has long played a part in controversies in England, particularly in matters political. Still Auckland is not quite like London —not yet. Raising a Dust American tourists have commented unfavourably on the dust encountered while driving from the Chateau to Taupo. From the land of the great Dust Bowl, they object to bowling through the dust. The Lambeth Walk

An interesting little piece of news from England last month concerned a taxi-driver who sued his passenger for ,'{(l. The journey in question was to Lambeth, a place name now internationally famous, and the passenger refused to pay more than a shilling, although the taximeter showed Is 3d. He was ordered to pay the 3d and 10s 9d costs as well, and there is little doubt that he is now assiduously practising the Lambeth Walk, as he would find it entertaining and cheaper.

Not So Hot Fossils estimated to years old, discovered at Waiheke, are said to indicate a climate for the period considerably warmer than the present. Tf the present means this summer, 30,000,000 years ago hadn't much to boast about. 111-directed Air Sense

The mention in two of the Hkralp's "Fifty Years Ago" extracts recently of Professor Baldwin, quite a_ noted balloonist and parachutist of hi? day, recalls the keen interest that was taken in his visit to Now Zealand. He made a very successful "descent from the clouds," as it was termed, at Potter's Paddock, Epsom, and, generally, his feats aroused much enthusiasm. He had many admirers and would-be-imita-tors among the small boys. One young disciple in Dunedin ventured on an experiment of dropping from a height. Using his father's umbrella as a parachute, he ascended to the dizzy altitude of the roof of the family abode and confidently dived into space. The result was not altogether satisfactory. When the doctor arrived, he discovered that the lad had broken —not a record —but one of his arms. The juvenile passion for aeronautics perceptibly cooled. What happened to the umbrella was not recorded by the enterprising newsgatherers of the day.