NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22742, 30 November 1935, Page 28

NEWS IN BRIEF

An example of youthful wit was given on a steep North Taranaki hill, recently. A cumbersome motor horse float pulled slowly up the hill, stopped, and then moved again. It stopped again and the driver was unable to move on. A small boy on a bicycle with much blowing rode up the hill, passed impudently on the inside of the float, and, calling over hie shoulder, said, “Like a tow, mister? ’ Just landed latest designs in English Striking Clocks; prices from £3. Timepieces from 26s 6d. —Peter Dick, jewellers and opticians, 490 Moray place, Dunedin... Obvious antagonism to British tourists on the Strathnaver was noted at the Italian ports which the vessel visited during her Mediterranean cruise last September (says the Auckland Star). However, an officer of the ship, who has many acquaintances there, found that the hand of friendship was extended to him as usual. “1 f our country goes to war with your-country, you and I are not at war,” was the manner in which his friends summed the position up. “ I have read the newspapers well during the current election campaign, and am surprised at the amazing amount of fairness they have shown,” declared Dr C. E. Beeby, executive officer of the Educational Research Institute, Wellington, during an address to the Palmerston North Rotary Club (reports the Manawatu Evening Standard). He added that newspapers had not hesitated to give columns of publicity to the enunciation of principles to which they were obviously opposed. Mon, we had a great time at Flora M'Donald’s waddin’. Her father laid in a good supply o’ Wullie Crossan’s best wines an’ speerits frae the Watterloo Hotel...

A suggestion that the society should do something towards teaching hoys to flyfish correctly was made by 'Mr R. Ashworth, at a meeting of the council of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. He said the chairman, Mr C. F. Champion, might undertake the work. “ I would be pleased if anyone could tel! me where to' catch fish just now, apart from teaching boys how to fish,” replied Mr Champion, amid laughter. . It must have been with pride that a well-known Hawke’s Bay resident looked over the Strathnaver at the Queen's wharf, Auckland (says the Star). Mr Kinross White is the only survivor of the first agents appointed in New Zealand in 1880 by the then superintendent in Australia, Mr Withers, of the P. and O. Company. Thirty-five years ago Mr Kinross White, who is still vigorous for his years, relinquished his business in Napier to retire to his sheep farm near Taradale.

"It pays to advertise, and the sooner that the truth of that saying is brought home to every man, woman and child in New Zealand, the better for the Dominion,” said Mr W. Shakespeare Binks to a large audience at Christchurch. The finest powers and gifts in the world were useless unless the man or woman who possessed them used them ‘in the right manner and made them known—advertised them—said Mr Binks.

Of the many useful gifts put in the plate at church, one of the strangest was included in the collection at an Auckland Presbyterian Church on a recent Sunday. It was a certificate for one fully paid-up £5 share of the Christchurch Press Company, Ltd. The certificate was put in the plate by a Sun shareholder, who received it as his allocation when the distribution of shares was made under the agreement for the voluntary liquidation of Sun Newspapers, Ltd. In order that the church ‘ treasurer may convert the gift into cash the Christchurch Prese Company, Ltd., has been requested to sell the share.

Turnbull’s Sample Room, Middlemarch, To-day (Saturday), 30th; Monday, 2nd, -Tuesday, 3rd. and Wednesday, 4th. Showroom Goods at Special Prices. Christmas Gifts. Call early; your inspection invited. —A. S. Gheyne and C 0... When addressing the Southland Chapter of the New Zealand Institute of Secretaries on mortgage relief legislation, Mr Eric Russell said there was a precedent for the legislation effected in recent years. In Rome, during the reign' of Lucullus, 200 years- 8.C., considerable economic distress prevailed. Then the penalty for non-payment of debt involved the debtor being taken into slavery by the creditor. Committees of three persons were established and empowered to investigate and adjust debts and grant relief in many ways similar tc that vested m the present courts and adjustment commissions. As the fundamentals of British law were based on Roman law, said Mr Russell, it was interesting to find a precedent over 2000 years old. A boy of about 14, a pupil of Marlborough College, -had a most unpleasant experience the other night (states the Express). He was crossing Seymour square when he was accosted by a man, who' grabbed him and tried to drag him under an adjacent tree. The boy’s struggles and the approach of a passer-by evidently brought the man to a realisation of what he was doing, and he liberated the lad and made off. The matter has been reported to the police, but until the man has been placed behind bars it will | be as well for children to give the square a wide berth, and for parents to see that their daughters do not go out at night without male protection. Why burn your fingers with broken pot or kettle lids? Bring the size—we can supply.—Dickinson’s. Ltd., 245 Princes street.

“There are only two methods by which humanity can advance —revolution and evolution,” remarked Dr R. J. Tillyard, late chief of the Division of Economic Entomology in the Australian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, in a lecture at Canterbury College. , "We scientists know that evolution is Nature’s method, and we prefer that method.” The vagaries of the wind are soipetimes humorous and curious, and often its strange actions seem incredible unless actually seen. A Wanganui resident, however, can vouch for an unusual happening on the river on a recent morning. As he was "assing Dublin street bridge (states the Chronicle! his attention was attracted by a small, fast-mov-ing _ disturbance on the water. It was a miniature- waterspou f , peculiarly formed, making it appear like an “Alice in Wonderland ” mushroom, the stalk of which was as thick through aa the trunk of a medium sized pine tree, and about three feet in height. Surmounting the spout wan a circle of fast-revolving white spray, which extended downwards about a foot. The freak travelled about 100 yards before it suddenly disappeared into a whirling mass of foam. Peculiarly ; enough, the path down which the waterspount sped was unruffled, while the rest of the river was unusually rough, Grandism _ (2740)Among the important things in life—the sun, good wine. Grand Hotel Wines make up for any deficiency in sunshine... The prediction 1 was made at Christchurch recently by the fields superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, Mr R. M'Gillivray,. that the wheat yield in New Zealand this season would need to be extremely good to provide sufficient for ordinary requirements within New Zealand. Allowing for normal imports of wheat or its equivalent amounting to approximately three-quarters of a million bushels, the quantity available, calculated on the basis of 30 bushels an acre to be eight million and a-quarter bushels, would still be insufficient for the Dominion’s normal requirements when the necessary seed was included.

Seagulls are catching so many fish in Lake Lyndon that there are few left for anglers, was an opinion expressed recently by a local fisherman (states the Christchurch Press). Another man suggested that the scarcity of fish in this lake was causecTby opening it too early to fishermen. He suggested that the fishing season for Lake Lyndon should not open until December 1. Christmas time and the holidays now within easy reach, the Milton housewives do well to get their grocery supplies at Gray’s Big Store... There has been an exceptional demand of late for small holdings of from 40 to 150 acres within 30 miles of Christchurch, and several sales have been made in the Lincoln and Dunsandel districts, at prices ranging from £3O to £46 an acre. One firm of real estate agents also reports the sale of several grazing and pastoral runs during the past three months.

Some persons talk about the "good old days, and repeat that what was good enough for their fathers is good enough for them,” said the Rev. L. C. Horwood at a social in Christchurch. “Some look to the past, and others to the future. They take Karl Marx as what they look back upon in the past, and for the future they look to a world made into a socialistic commonwealth. Thus we all take refuge in either the past or the future; we must, however, face to-day,” he concluded.

Though Lord and Lady Galway showed that they are destined to be immediately popular wherever they go in New Zealand, their four children will be equally well liked (reports the Southland Times). The Hons. Mary, Celia, Isabel, and Simon Monckton-Arundell, all of whom are of school age, accompanied their parents everywhere at Bluff, evincing delighted interest in proceedings both formal and informal. They were present at the civic welcome, and joined in extending greetings to the returned soldiers, their spontaneous smiles making friends for them everywhere. The jaunt up Bluff Hill was enjoyed to the full by the children, as was the ramble along the wharves in company with their parents. , The greatest treat from their point of view was still to come, however. In the evening the vice-regal party and officers of, the Matai attended Wirth’s circus, the children making the complement a total of 22. Kenya coffee, a good medium; Mysore, a better body and richer flavour; and Blue Mountain Jamaica, the world’s best all obtainable from “ Durie’s,” coffee specialists. 32 Octagon, Dunedin... Potatoes, in common with other vegetables, are still scarce (reports the Wanganui Chronicle). Many factors have contributed to this abnormal shortage. The failure of the South Island market, the exorbitant demand on Pukebohe potatoes, and the inability of northern growers to supply the demands and the recent wet weather which was practically universal throughout the Dominion, preventing crops from being dug, are only a few of the main reasons why potatoes are so expensive at the present time. The root of the trouble may be traced to the dry winter and the lack of growth, followed by excessive moisture in the spring. In conversation with a Chronicle reporter the other day, a Wanganui business man stated that he had never known such a shortage of root crops. Cabbages, cauliflowers, carrots, and parsnips are difficult to obtain, and present prices are high. So far as potatoes are concerned, there was a decided rise in price last week. From £l4 a ton, new potatoes rose to £IS 10s before the end of the month. The business man in question doubted if two ton's of old potatoes could be obtained from any merchant in Wanganui. Have I a wife? Bedad, I have. And she’s a perfect treasure; With tasty meals of Hitchon’s ham. She sure makes life a pleasure...