NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21409, 10 August 1931, Page 14

NEWS IN BRIEF

That there is still a good demand for dairy stock in Taranaki was'demonstrated at a' sale at Stratford recently, when 30 Jersey cows averaged £9 17s, and 10 heifers £9. , ‘ The annual report of the Auckland branch of the Plunket Society states that 20 years ago, before the society;' was founded, conditions for the rearing of infants were infinitely more favourable than now and the climate was just, as good, ,if not better. “ Yet the infantile death rate then was 8 per cent., and, last year it was under "4 per cent.,” adds the report. “These facts speak for themselves,” . Now the dark mornings are here you will require an Alarm Clock. Just landed this season’s stocks of Aland Clocks, Luminous Clocks, Striking Clocks, etc. Prices from 8s fid. —Peter Dick, jewellers, watchmakers, and opticians. 490 Moray place. Dunedin... “ British trade in the past has always been able to get on well enough without the aid of Government departments,” said Major C. B. Toms, at the luncheon of the British Manufacturers’ ‘ Association at Wellington. “There is plenty for them to do without fiddling with things they know nothing about.” “Goodness is not. news,” remarked the Kev. Prqfessor Hewiteon, in the course of a lecture in New Plymouth last week., “ There is a man who has lived, honourably with his wife for 40 years. His name has never once appeared in the papers. But let Him run away with another man’s wife and the papers will be full of him. They will even publish pictures of Him! ” Grandism (1403) : Sleep . to-night—You don’t need to toss and turn. Deep, natural sleep that really rests iboth mind and body—Old London Dock Rum... A An Englishman who served at Gallipoli says that catapults were used there by British troops. They were very primitive “ home-made ” affairs, somewhat resembling an artist’s easel. The propellent consisted of several strands of thick elastic, at the lower end of which was a cup in which the bomb was placed. The elastic was stretched downwards by means of a handle-and-ratchet arrangement until it was sufficiently taut, when a trigger released the cup and away roared the bomb to<burat (we hoped!) in a Turkish trench. The bomb which we used was as primitive as the catapult. It was called a “ crickqt ball ” bomb, and had a small length of fuse projecting which had to be lit with a match just before the cup was released. One had to be careful not to light it too soon or the whole catapult crew would probably have “ gone west.” Mr Hayley Mornss recently offered a reward of £SO. for the recovery of two valuable eggs which had been stolen from a nest on the lake in his grounds at Pippingford Park, Susses. The eggs were those of the Sarus crane, an Indian bird which had never bred before in England Mr Morriss stated that/he suspected an over-enthusiastic collector of having raided the nest. “ I have had the crane for nine years, and about a month ago I was delighted when I found that two eggs had been laid,” he said. “ Three weeks ago these eggs were stolen. Two more were laid, the two which were taken last night. So far as I know there is not a collector in England possessing such an egg.” The Sarus crape is 6 feet in height, and its egg;s, slightly larger than- those of a goose, are pale green with dark blotches.

There have been many suggestions and schemes for profitably utilising the rubble from the buildings damaged by the earthquake, the latest of which comes from an cld Napier resident (says the Telegraph), who suggests that a pier could be constructed from the Marine Parade out into the sea that would be useful both for mooring boats and for fishermen, who cast, their lines from this locality. It is estimated that the cost of providing the barest necessities for those in distress in Palmerston North' is £IOO per v/eefc, and a special committee of 15 leading business men has been appointed to deal with the finance question, which has become desperate. Ex Otaio we have landed the new * season’s Blue Mountain Jamaica —the finest coffee grown on earth. ' Only obtainable from A. Durie and Co., coffee specialists, 32 Octagon, Dunedin... '■ A correspondent, writing to the Dominion, Wellington, claims that his family possesses an “ old identity ” record for New Zealand. He says: “My grandfather is 91; his son. my father, is 62; my brother .is 36. He has a son seven years of age. All wore born in New Zealand; Also, my grandfather was the first white child born in Wellington.” - “ I have said it before and I say it again: You are a’ horribly respectable audience, you people of Ashburton.” said Mr L. M. Isitt, M.L.C., when ha addressed a prohibition rally in St. Andrew’s Hall, Ashburton, the other evening. “ Why, he exclaimed, turning to the Mayor, “ there is not a drunk men here to liven up the proceedings, as we used to .have in.;, the old days. Ashburton must be degene- . rating all right as they said it would! ” Stetson Hats reduced from 52s 6d to 29s 6d (posted Is extra) is only one of the bargains at our Winter Sale, —The “ Ascot,” corner Princes and Rattray streets, Dunedin...

“When all’s said and done, you can say what you like about the ethics of art unions, but I am sure, that everyone here to-night will agree with .me that there’s a, lot of hypocrisy written and spoken about art unions,” said the chairman of the New Zealand Olympic Association (Mr H. Amos), speaking before the drawing of the “ Big Windfall ” art union, which was run for the general purposes of the association. ■ ■ v.\:

An unusual discovery was made by the ... crew of the Government fisheries launch Nora at one of the oyster beds in the. Hauraki Gulf (states, the New Zealand „ Herald). While th’e men were scrambling over the rocks at low water a huge dead rat was found with its tail firmly imprisoned in an oyster shell. Evidently the rodent had come down from the side of the hill in search of food. In frantic efforts to escape drowning by the rising tide it' had partially nibbled through; its tail., - Special bargains are being offered this week while stock-taking proceeds at James Gray and Sons, Milton... For-five years not a crate of secondgrade cheese has been produced : .by • the Kaimata Dairy Company (states.the Tara-; naki Herald)’.: At the annual meeting_last ’ Monday night the chairman (Mr J. Dob-. son) statedT that could be very little the matter with their produce, and reports from the agents* bore that; out. He was. very- proud’’of the record, which -was, a ; credit to the manager -(Mr G» GibbinsV and his staff.- Some credit . was also due to-the suppliers for the; good,quality, of their raw material. - 1 1 - " new design in, cattle-stops, with the wooden grids resting on the ground instead: of being laid over pits, has been adopted by ,the .-Railways' Department in Canterbury , for country crossings, 'and .it is proving just as satisfactory as the old type,, besides costing . only about a third as much to install (says the Christchurch Sun). The surface, type of cattle-stop is used extensively: in America, though the-design-is a little different from that adopted here.- . - : '■ '~. r -y ’ We are always, open to buy well ted Bacop Pigs, highest market rates for 1101501 b; Cheques by. return mail.—BartOD’s.'.’. • /. : ' During a tour of America,'said the Rev. Professor Hewitson, 1 during-a lecture, in New Plymouth last Monday night; he had visited a•; women’s hoteh-r-run by women for women. ’ No men *wefe allowed to stay there, though women were permitted to " entertain male- friends at meals. Through the courtesy of the manageress, a Canadian University graduate, he-had been shown through the building, ‘ And would you; believe it? ”he said, in the kitchen there was a male cook 1” 'V.-A In Cairo there are now over 200 printing presses busily engaged in the publication of translations of the best books of the Western world, said the Rev. W. W. Cash, when speaking to Rotarians m Wellington on the subject of Mohammedanism (states the Evening Post); The influence of Western culture was beginning to be widely felt, and when the new edition of 1 , the “ Encyclopaedia, Britannica re- ? cently )came out, 12 sets were, sold at once ■ to Arabs in Mesopotamia, The well-known favourite shop’-pf IRoss, 130 Princes street, Dunedin,' has just finished stock-taking; and finds an immense surplus stock .of ladies’ and children’s woo] stockings, underwear, and gloves. ; See windows . for cheapest prices in town to-day..; . ■ } The first shipment of honey sent from Taranaki during 'the past two years was despatched late last month for the Home markets by a Commonwealth and Dominion Line vessel (says the Herald). The second shipment of 363 cases or about 20 tons will he taken by the New. Zealand Shipping Company’s, new motor vessel Opawa, During the past two years the honey season has been very poof, but. this year things have brightened up a - little, and Taranaki has again been able to export this commodity. “ Overcoat Week ” at the Mosgiel Warehouse. We jhaye the coat -you’ve been looking for at apnea you won’t mind paying. See special window displays. This week only.—A. F. Cheyne and Co.. . ; Even the prospect of heated oratory was not enough to tempt left-wing Labourites to the Domain for Sunday’s mass meeting in support of the hotel and milk boycott (remarks.the Auckland Herald), Huddled, in greatcoats, some 00 not unprosperouslooking men and women satin the grand stand and listened to impassioned speeches in the best Quay street manner, \but the' ; cold wind had the best of it. One of the three speakers said the boycott of hotels was meant to encourage habits of sobriety in the workers. It wah only a little temperance effort, for he was not a .prohibitionist. The trouble was that some workers had become such wage slaves that their only recreation was beer. Men’s Working Shirts, sizes 14J -to 17, striped “Tiger Twist” or plain grey “Oliver Twist,” 7s lid; Khaki Veldt, 8s 6d. Posted anywhere for cash.—Kilroy and Sutherland. Ltd.. 192 Princes street, Dunedin... . ,

“ First impressions of family life in: the East are apt to provoke amusement or sometimes horror,” said Mr J. A. Brailsford. in the course of a; lecture to the Masterton branch, of the Workers’ Educational Assertion (states the Dominion). In,visiting a Chinese family one might find a handsome ' coffin standing in the hall,, said Mr Brailsford. Any apprehension that one had intruded on a funeral occasion would be stilled by the explanation that the coffin had been presented to the head of the house by his eldest son. This: was in assurance to the father that he would be cared for in death as in life, and that the traditions of the family would be upheld. Barton’s supply Country Storekeepers, finest small goods freshly made daily. Liberal retail margin... ‘'When a man. is up against it and getting further behind, it is not. a fair thing for him to pay certain creditors and then leave the others lamenting,” the official assignee (Mr J. H. Robertson), declared during a meeting of creditors at Christchurch. Mr H, C. D. Van Asch, who appeared for the bankrupt, remarked that it was a vey common practice. Mr Robertson: “I know it is a common practice, but it is not a fair one, unless the man is reasonably certain that bis position will improve and he will soon be able to pay all nis creditors.” Another schoolboy howler comes from a Wanganui school the Chronicle). A mistress was conducting a geography lesson and asked the class to name the race of people who came from New ZealandThere was no difficulty about that, the class answering quite promptly. “New: Zealanders.” ,r And who come from Holland?” the teacher queried. “ Hollanders,” the . pupil replied. “And from Turkey? ” the teached proceeded. Beforeanyone could speak a bright member- of the class answered promptly, “ Turkeys.” Life is sweet and rosy, And brighter it is made By Hitchon's hams and bacon, ’■ Whose fame will never fade..;