NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21406, 6 August 1931, Page 16

NEWS IN BRIEF

It is'estimated that 90 per cent, of the ducklings (grey duck) which are hatched on the sanctuary at Kapiti Island, on the west coast, near Wellington, do not reach maturity. The loss is atttibuted largely to water rats, as the remains.,of many young ducks have been unearthed from their _ holes. , Two large whales were sighted fairly close inshore at .South Bay, Kaikoura., last Thursday. They disported themselves, spouting at intervals, for a quarter of an hour; and then made for the point of the South Bay reef and disappeared in a northerly direction. , . The well-known favourite shop ot t. Ross, 130 Princes street, Dunedin, has just finished stock-taking, and finds um immense surplus stock, of ladies and children’s wool stockings, underwear, and gloves. See windows for cheapest prices in town to-day... Every citizen of the Chilean Republic is compelled to save for his old age by means of a system whereby 7 per cent, of his "wages is withheld each week. Unless he requires the money for medicaP purposes or wishes to build himself a home he cannot draw on his savings account until he retires. Agitators are. promptly deported ‘before they can do any harm. Owing to distemper Mr W. V. M Intyre has had the misfortune to lose his well-known dog Boss (says the Wanganui Chronicle). Besides winning the .North Island Yarding Championship at-. Wangcinui early in June, Boss \yas a successfill performer* on practically,- every* trial ground in Taranaki. Sonic idea of the amount of correspondence which has to be dealt with as a part of the operations of the Unemployment Board was given to a Christchurch Sun reporter recently. It was learned that an average of 2900 letters is received at the' Wellington headquarters of the board each week, the bulk of them, presumably, bejng from the 250 local committees scattered all over the Dominion. Grnndism (1400): Character, a blend of dignity and age marks the veteran kauri —even as a blend of Old Scotch creates character that wins you to Grand House Whisky... , ' , ~ After evidence by a medical witness in the Arbitration Court at Auckland as to the .effect chemicals had on the skin and air passages, Mr Justice Frazer commented that such medical evidence was “an infernal waste of time i (including the doctor’s). His Honor indicated thau he had allowed it because he did not wish to offend the doctor. ■ Addressing the Canterbury Law students’ Society on Saturday night Dr John Guthrie described the law courts as the last citadel of defence of the English language, and the lawyers as its garrison. The courts, he said, demanded a dignified deportment on the part of the profession and the use of dignified language, and he expressed the hope that they would always discourage colloquialisms. _ , «It is our considered opinion, based on a wide experience of the performances ot many makes, that India British-built Super Tyres are far ahead of all for mileage, strength, and safety.’—The Otago Farmers’, distributors... Speaking at a meeting of the Weshnere, branch of the Farmers Union the" other « evening. Mr A. L. Thompson, of the Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture, said that he knew oneffarmer who was working on bringing in his heifers at 18 months old (says the Wanganui Chronicle). The beasts looked ; like others of two years. He gave, the I calves full milk for four weeks and after I that, with the skimmed milk, a certain amount of potassium iodide. That had the effect of building them up and at 18 months they looked like two-year stock. An anneal for the conservation of | mutton-birds is issued by the_New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society, it is stated that although the birds are still . numerous, the fledglings are taken for food, while mutton-bird oil has been in demand. The society adds:—-“ If commercialism gets the upper hand, the flocks may be so reduced in size that natural enemies ,j will soon be able to accomplish the final destruction of these unique birds.” The history of the clerical “ dog-col-lar ” has been under discussion in the columns of the Morning Post, with some discrepancies on the question of date. A clerical outfitter who ought to know, affirms that it “has been in constant use for ’at least 140 years.” Dr Ronald Maeleod, who claimed in 1894 to have been the first to introduce this detail of - professional attire, was perhaps, thinking of Scotland only. The first use of “dog-collar” in this sense cited by the Oxford Dictionary dates from 1883,

Mr Hugh Stewart, who died last week / , at Timaru, after leaving certain annuities and pecuniary legacies, including £3OO to Chalmers Church at Timaru, bequeathed the residue of his estate to hie trustees upon trust for charitable objects. ' . . Contrasting the'; modern scholar with the, scholar of a generation or two ago, Dr John Guthrie told the Canterbury College Law Students’ Society on Satur- . day night that Whereas formerly scholarship was largely a knowledge pi the classics, nowadays it covered a very wade range of subjects (says the-Christchurch Times). The successful barrister, he said, had to possess a knowledge of industry . and commerce and also of science as applied to industry. He must be able to talk to'the engineer or . doctor as'if he; were himself an engineer or a doctor. Ex Otaio we have landed the new. season’s Blue Mountain Jamaica—the j finest coffee grown-on earth. Only ob-_ - tainable from A. Durie and Co., coffee specialists, 32 Octagon, Dunedin.;.. Speaking at Westmere the other night, Mr T. W. Lonsdale, of the Fields 1 Division of the Department of Agriculture, said i that he had come across pastures in New i Zealand that had been put down in grass i to clean them up .(states the Wanganui Chronicle). That was contrary to the practice in other countries, where, if; the j land became very dirty, it' was cropped | and turned'. Cultivation and correct crop- ! ping cleaned up the land and it was then fit for grass. He had known of land being put down in grass “ because it was too dirty for anything else.” 1 ", Of recent years the Maoris have been | earning good wages and relying upon the stores for their supplies. Cropping has | either been done too late or neglected | altogether, and many-Natives are without.« I the necessary seeds for planting this ! season,” said a Whangarei man who is I interested in the welfare of the Maoris 1 in that district • (states the Northern Advocate). He said that a certain amount of marrow and potato seed had been distributed among the coastal peoples, who had been strongly advised to pi apt early this spring. • < . ; • , The ladies know good value, and this is being expressed in the amount of goods sold in the showroom at Gray’s Big Store, Milton..., r ‘ ■ , “ Some of the men that we have had employed at t!he school under the No, 5 scheme have been most unsatisfactory,” said the bead master of a suburban school to a Christchurch Sun reporter the other, morning.: “We didn’t hear anything from one man until a. fortnight after he was due to start, and at the end of that time he simply., rang up and ’ said that he would not be along, as a job at another school. Another man walked off the job and took with him 60 feet,of hose and, a spade. We , notified the police, and got them-back, how“L would, advise everyone who has the ‘ blues,’ .and who can afford it, to get a I singing canary,” said Mr Ernest Davis, in 'a bright,speech .when opening, the. Auyk- ■ , i land Canary and Cage Bird Club’s show. I“T have two,” he; said,- “;aid in-this tiiorn- . i ing I rejoice to hear their- notes as the happiest, time of my day, and 1 go forth to my business feeling good. ; Now .that is a. tip for citizens ; who have the ‘ blues, and to,thoes who.cannot afford a. canary I would give this encouragement. I was thinking that instead off the; Prime Minister bringing; down, his Budget ’ on a gloomy, wet day,: how much better- it would have been,if he had presented it to i Us' on Boxing Day, in the middle of, the. summer) when we are enjoying ourselves. We are always, open, to-buy well tea Bacon Pigs, highest market rates for Xl«- . 1501 b, Cheques by return , mail.;—Barto“ Whether it pays; better to follow the school'of ‘high/ farmers, and, by intengive and liberal expenditure on fertilisers, seek ■to get. the meet,put of* our. land, or whether vre should follow, the.'..school oi ‘ low ’ farmers and take as much as pos-. sible from our; Ijmd. with :i a ..minimum of expenditure, is a. pfQblemfthat comtorts " us ; always,” said;. Mr. T, W.. Lonsdale, ■of the fields division' of the. Department of Agriculture, speaking to a meeting or the Westmere branch of the-Farmers union the other ' night. (states the - Wanganui .Chronicle). : It was a-ffibre acute problem in hard times, he said. He had heard, it argued that on good land high - farming might be advisable, but on poor-, land never. ;Mr Lonsdale stated that the most successful .farmers he had met who farmed pb°r land were certainly, those who spent most oh it. ■ * ' •' Stetson Hats reduced from 52s od to 29s 6d (posted Is extra/ is only one o,i the bargains c ;gt i our . ■ Winter -Sale.r- Tne “ Ascot,” : corner Princes and Rattray streets, Dunedin.... .Lieutenant-colonel Bramhall, international auditor for Salvation - -Army, ' who is at present m New'Zealand' en- ; gaged in auditing the Army s'accounts, ' recently gave a lecture on his experiences in. the; Scandinavian countries, ij,® related- a story -oi a' visit he paid to an isolated settler in ■ Finland, This -man lived in the ,midst of a forest manyoMilcs front the nearest settlement. when the colonel and another officer.reached his liut after -a long -and trying, 3™rp e y a young girl first saw_ them .approaching. She ran indoors, crying, quick, here are two things, like father. She had never till,/that .moment.seen another man except her. father, so lonelj was the existence of the family. “ Overcoat Week ” at the Mosgiel Warehouse. We have the coat .ypqye ;.baax looking for at h price,you won t mmd pay- ,- ing See special window, displays. > -this week only.—A. F. Gheyne and Co.',. , Mr Robert White, instructor in. English, is the only Englishman ,on_board,the Chilean training ship Genera!, Baquedano, which will shortly visit New Zealand. He had been farming m Patagonia, and was spending a holiday in Chile when the Minister for Marine advertised .for an Englishman who could speak Spanish fluently to act as instructor to cadets. Mr White was chosen from 22 candidates. He told an interviewer at Sydney that the visit of the Prince pf Wales had done much to improve the rations beWn the Empire and the republic, and lie looked forward to a large increase m trade. It was only natural that Britain should get a good share of Chilean trade. The republic had an Irishmah for ite« President, a Scotchman founded its navy, and all its war vessels, were built ,m Great Britain. ~ , . ; ' , Men’s Working Shirts, sizes UJ to, U, striped “Tiger Twist ” or plain ,gr^ " Oliver Twist, 7s lid; Khaki \eldt, 8s 6d Posted anywhere for cash.— JViiroy and Sutherland, Ltd., 192 Princes street, Dunedin... “Farming conditions have completely changed during the past 26 years, stated a well-known farmer to a Mataura Eusign representative on Saturday. Modern methods of providing fupphes of Wlnt *l r feed for stock have revolutionised agricultural work. We talk about snow and bad weather these days, but from m> own experience I should say the wiqteß \ are becoming. milder. About 40 .years ago it was nothing to see snow be weeks on the flats, and ? ! of this farmers were compelled to trenen •a ton or two of turnips and to re.y on oaten straw to'carry stock over. Dairy cows and horses were usually housed while the snow lay on. the ground 1 1 i» only during the past, 20 years that hay has come into vogue as. a winter feed, and latterly the preparation of, ensilage has been encouraged by the Department ot Agriculture.”, 1 , Barton’s supply Country Storekeepers, finest small goods freshly .made daily. Liberal retail margin... Held to be due to a favourable autumn and to the fact that more farmers, feeling . the pinch of reduced prices, of meat,, wool, and grain, are turning their attention to dairying, the supply of cream taken to the Ashburton dairy factory this. winter has almost doubled compared with the returns of last year (eays the Guardian). It is expected that the season will com* ■ menee earlier than usual this, yegr, and I that there will be a substantial increase ! in the number of suppliers, with a consequent increase in the output of butter, The Blackbridgc and Staveley cheese factories closed down some time ago, and , as they will not reopen during the. forthcoming season on account of the falling* I off in supplies, many farmers who were sending their milk to these factories will i do their own separating and consign the cream to the butter factory. The Ashburton butter factory has made excel.ent progress, as is shown by the number o suppliers, which3s increased from I about 14 years ago to nearly 900. “Do you take sugar in your cup?" Says the hostess'to her guest. But when serving out the bacon, “ This is Hitchon’s—it s the beit. ....