NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12040, 19 January 1925, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

In Glasgow, these days, it is possible to -be shaved and have one’s, haircut not only by a real live member of Parliament but by an ex-Minister of the; Crown to -boot. For Mr James Stewart, Socialist'M.P.-for St. Rollox, -and Undersecretary to the Scottish Board of Health in the late Government, has, in the - interval before the’ opening of Parliament, returned to his barter's shop in' Queen street, Glasgow, and during busy spells dons the white apron and arms himself with razor or scissors in order to help. his staff through the' rush. Mr Stewart is “mum” on politics when Hie. apron is on. ;■■■:..■ v The” selfishness- of some railway passengers was illustrated on the northbound .New Plymouth mail train on a recent evening. The train was very ' wall filled l , and a good,many additional passengers stepped on board at Hawera. A lady entered a carriage and found that every seat was taken. Two -people occupied two seats, the adjoining seat being covered .with luggage. In answer to an inquiry, they pointed out that the seat was occupied, so the lady in question sought accommodation 'elsewhere-. These passengers subsequently alighted,'when it .was seen that -the articles: placed on the spare seat be-, longed to them. Exclamations of disgust were ( made by other passengers When, this fact became apparent. It is anticipated in some quarters that-a bill will he introduced during the next session of Parliament to alter the Bankruptcy Act in so far as it-re-lates to the method of handling bankrupt estates, says the “Otago Daily Times.” « The proposals which are mooted will, if adopted, result in the Official Assignee’s office, in its present form, being abolished. In its stead, an officer will be appointed very likelv from the Publio Trust Office, whose' duty it will-be to preside over the. first meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate. This meeting will then appoint a responsible person to carry out the winding-up of the assets, much in the same manner as a liquidator carries out the winding-up of a company. The assignee who is appointed will be responsible to the creditors for the realisation <rf the assets. This method, which is based on the method in which bankruptcies are handled in England, is expected to Bave the Official Assignee a great amount of work which be has 'to oarrv out at present, in the wav of , selling the assets in a bankrupt estate It is stated that the chief reason for j the change ns that the official assignee’s '.offices are not paying their wav. (The fees which are charged hardly I meet the salaries of the officers conducting the offices, and the department is I very much out of pocket every year on this score.

A threshing millowner in South Canterbury has announced his intention of charging an additional shilling an hour for threshing this season, to cover tho cost of the new taxation under the Motor Vehicles Act which, he says, will amount to nearly £2O for each of his plants. . The matter is, to be discussed at the next meeting of the local branch of the Farmers’ Union. It was insisted by Mr F. V. Moore ! at a conference of local body representatives in Carterton that five-ton j lorries should be charged an annual fee of £76. He did not mind a modification of the other fees suggested in ! the regulations under the Motor Vehicles Act, but they should tax the j five-ton lorry off the roads altogether! ' as this vehicle did the damage and was barred in other countries. In connection with the reduction in the wholesale price of sugar, it was anticipated that a similar reduction would he made in the retail cost. Information from several of the Christchurch grocers last week was to the effect that there would be no retail reduction in price, as the new wholesale reduction barely gave. them a chance to recuperate from -the small marginal prices at which the commodity is being. sold ait the present time - When the wages question was-under discussion at a conference of local bodies in Carterton, it was pointed out that employees of the Masterton County Council came uhder a super-annuation--scheme) towards which they contributed £ls and the council £l4. If the employee left" before superannuated he could withdraw the amount-i paid by him from the fund. One man was already enjoying’ the full benefits of the scheme by drawing about £5 per month for life. A local sporting -body wae waxing hotin argument in committee in Christchurch when- agencies outside their control took a hand in adding to the unusual liveliness.. A pane of glass in- a -window just behind- the president fell out on to the pavement with a crash, and a few minutes later a constable’s helmet appeared round the door, the ruan under the helmet asking for the gentleman whose car was standing outside without lights. Members agreed that the meeting wae the liveliest they had hold for some considerable time. Some excitement was caused on the waterfront on Saturday afternoon just as the C. and D. Line steamer 'Pert Hunter was about to leave for London. As the vessel’s gangway was lowered several, firemen, the worse for drink, started - .to fight amongst themselves, and on one of the ship’s engineers f ing forward to quell the disturbance e -firemen set on to him, and the position looked _ very ugly. Except ,for the prompt action on the part of several of the crew, who saw the engmeer’e plight, he would have been badly handled, The Milford A correspondent of the “Southland News” writes: An enthusiastic cyclist tried to cycle from Glade,House to Pompalona Hut on the Milford track last week. He managed bo go five males up the track as the road is fairly level- and- smooth at this part. The strain- of watching scenery, with one - eye and keeping his other eye on the track proved rather strenuous and lifter bumping the tress and sundry rooks he abandoned the bicycle and continued the rest of the journey on foot. - However, he is reported to have been the. first to use a cycle' on* the famous walk if- that,is any satisfaction* to him. . ' According to ;the Auckland “Star” a number of city people- who have returned from their holidays spent in the ißoglan and -Kawhra districts and (who had hoped: -to enjoy a good deaf of surf bathing, say that that part of .their holiday was completely spoilt'by the: larris number -of sharks which infested the water, and which made it dangerous to’ go very far' out. Some of the residents did not-dread the black' shark, but those most • Seen this season were the ' man-eating , kind l and Were more . numerous than any of the old residents had ever remfe-miber-ed. It is thought that- shoals of smaller fish had caused/the. dreaded fish to come out of their usual haunts in deep .water into, the shallower -Water. Wireless jokes are. in the fashion nowOrle. was narrated by Mr G. W. 'Hutchison in liis address to the Cham-' ter of Commerce in - Auckland. An English clergyman, delivering a broadcasted sermon... ended his ■ peroration with the words; "And we shall understand these things jbetter, dear friends; on that happy day when we all meet in Heaven.” Then, turning to tho operator, he added: “I don’t think I spoke too quickly.”, Unfortunately, the operator Was.a few seconds too late in’ cutting off the transmitter, with the result that .the clergyman’s concludingsentence * was picked up by the startled listeners-in in the following form: ‘.'And we shall understand these things better, dear friends, on that happy day -when we all meet in rHeaven—l don’t think 1”. : - ; - 1 ■'■. - A Wanganui resident who has just made a motor trip through-the Taranaki district. considers that the Mount Messenger route is one of the finest scenic/drives in the Dominion. He found the roads, generally, speaking,, in good order, although he met severalmotorists who journeyed from Mokatrand had unpleasant drives. One man, who had a terrible-experience ever the last ben -miles of the journey from Mokau, -advised him-not to proceed any further'than the Amount. The roads had beeh made like-quagmires by tho recent rain, and the than had had to literally plough -his way through the road. “His appearance alone told the story;” remarked the Wanganui -resident; “for -. his • hair, -hands, and clothing were covered with mud, while the car looked a perfect wreck after a rough journey.*’ The arrangement under which Dunedin is to have no opporifunity of seeing .at leant part of the American Fleet during its coming visit- to New Zealand is not going to he accepted without- determined protfest (says the 4 'obago Daily Times”). The following telegram has been dispatched to the Prime Minister (Mr Massey) by Mr D. Larnach (chairman of the Otago Harbour Board) : .-“It has been announced in the Press that no unit of the, American Fleet is to visit our port. ' There is apparently 6ome pusunderstandSng somewhere, as I cannot conceive of a port of the importance of this one being overlooked. Will you he so good as to give the matter your kind and early consideration, as 1 -assume that the draught of the whole of the fleet will not be such as to prevent at least one representative vessel berthing at our port, thus giving the citizens the opportunity of showing hospitality to the representatives of the American Navy?” The man who saves a few shillings weekly and deposits the money in the Post Office is thrifty: the man who : starts married life in his own home is thrifty; the man;' who has a large family and pays rent, gives up in despair any chance of practising thrift; but ; where there’s a will there’s a way; j nslc Leslie Jones, . estate agent, 100, Willis street, how it’s done—it costs nothing to ask questions.—Advt.

The desirability of fostering the art of handwork and of perpetuating native songs and dances in Maori schools was emphasised by Dr. J. W. Monwraith, inspector of schools, in an address to native school teachers in Auckland.: The Maori, he said, possessed an innate love of these things, and it was a pity they should be neglected. Less conventional learning and more time devoted to the native aptitude for ' this work might result in preventing Maori art from becoming archaic. Hedgehogs are apparently acclimatised in the Auckland district. A young ■ man thought he saw a haby rabbit in I the dusk at Edendale this- week, tried to catch it, but was astonished to find it had rolled itself into a ball. * An English lady who was passing remarked: “Why, that is a hedgehog.” Another one was seen this week in Gardner road, Epsom. Hedgehogs are very fond of slugs and snails, added to which it is stated that rats, for some reason, avoid a place the spiny creatures frequent. Queer things are often found in drains. , ,The other day in Wanganui some borough employees made a remarkable discovery when attending to a blockage lit the sewerage on St. John’s Hill (saystEe Wanganui “Chronicle”). After they had' Ideated and removed) the offending obstacle they found that the damage had been caused by a portion of a willow tree which had grown, until it had completely blocked the drain. The growth was sueh that the employees came, to the conclusion that the willow had been in the drain a number of years. “There are many applications for employment on hand, but. few positions for them,” remarked an' official of the Palmerston North Labour Department to a “Manawatu Times” reporter. It wad stated that there are 14 applicants waiting, but the only position offering at present is one labouring job. The figures for December, now to hand, show that during the month there were 23 applicants for employment, eleven of these being assisted. - Many inquiries for positions have not been recorded, the applicants being men passing from due town to another looking for work. A- hardy veteran: in Wanganui, who lives in retirement, started to build a motor-shed the other day *in order to, fill in his spare time (relates the “Chronicle”). He had nearly -reached the roofing stage when an inspector arrived on the scene and explained that the ladder the ancient one was using did not comply with the requirements of the Scaffolding Act, or Some other adjacent Act. Persistence 1 in the use of the ladder would result in sundry pains and penalties. The veteran solved the problem by chinning up the studs as occasion demanded, and he kept going until the roof was on. -\i - : When a party of Palmerston North business men was cruising in the H&uraki Gnlf during the holidays, they sailed into a cove and accosted al man whom they thought to he a fisherman Of the village, with,a request-for fishing bait (relates the “Manawatu Times”-). The village, fisherman turned out to be Sir James Gunson, Mayor of Auckland, who was .enjoying the relaxation of a complete rest among the- bays and inlets of the gulf- The (party was entertained by Sr James and a. number of prominent Auckland (business men at the summer residence of the former, the northerners expressing keen delight that the party from Palmerston North should journey to (the Auckland district for the vacation. Sea bathing at night has been more or less popular -around the Auckland beaches for the past few years (says the "‘Star”). There is a legend across the harbour about a theatre party that, after coming home, got) its “togs” and finished up a long, day aoihewhere about midnight with a dip in the briny., That, of course, is carrying things to extremes. Since the Devonpaft Borough Council lit Cheltenham so well with electricity, that beach has beep highly popular with the ! night-bathers. These warm : evenings: we have been having lately, with, an evening tide and a moon that has been rising early, have been conducive to this bathing after Sunset. Over ,at Devonport a goad deal has been, talked abopt constructing ,a pool on the harbour front for swimming when the tide is out. This would be a great attraction, as the - Beaches are so handy to town. .