NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22957, 12 August 1936, Page 16

NEWS IN BRIEF

By striking a house in Mackay avenue, Devonport, Auckland, while in flight and getting its beak firmly pinned in the weather-boarding, a kingfisher met its death last Wednesday evening. The bird was apparently flying in the direction of Rangitoto when if struck the wall, and waa found dead the following morning suspended by its beak. | Horatio Nelson has a rival. On a | recent afternoon a Waipukurau school teacher asked her class to name the man responsible for the famous message, “England expects. . . The j bright boy of the class was on his feet | with a ready, if somewhat surprising, | answer, “ Pop-Eye.” ! Overcoat Week. Ladies’, maids’, i girls’, men’s, youths’, and boys’ over- ! coats all at special prices this week. See special window displays.—A. F. Cheyne and Co., the Mosgiel Warehouse. Prior to the Rugby League match at ] Huntly recently between the English team and South Auckland a Maori party from Ngaruawahia gave hakas of welcome to the visitors. The performance was warmly appreciated by the visitors, one of the players leaving the ranks to photograph the group with a motion picture camera. The statement that no one is allowed in Cornwall Park, Auckland, between sunset and sunrise caused some surprise when made in the Supreme Court. “ Not even people on. foot?” inquired Mr Justice Callan. Mr West assured him that even pedestrians were forbidden, “and the bylaw is enforced pretty strictly, too," he added. “The superintendent has a busy time turning them out.” “Oh, well, I have broken that,” said Mr Justice Callan, with a sigh. “It was not very dark, but it was certainly after sunset. I did not know that regulation.” Why burn your fingers with broken pot or kettle lids? Bring the size—we can supply.—Dickinson’s, Ltd., 245 Princes street... For months those who regularly attend the sittings of the Magistrate’s Court, Wellington, have been waiting for it to happen, and on a recent morning it did —the voice of the court orderly cracked.. The clerk of the court read out the name of a defendant, and the orderly, as is usual, made as if to repeat it in a louder tone, but instead of hearing the strong intonation of authority, his voice trembled uncertainly on the lower register and then soared to a childish falsetto. The magistrate and the clerk of court remained impassive, the solicitors stifled their laughter, the onlookers at the rear of the court tittered, and the court orderly blushed a fiery red. Quickly covering his confusion, he called the name in his usual tones, and the sniggering at the back of the court ceased abruptly. Grandism (2955): Natural wine from the hand of the great Alchemist— Duoro Invalid Port, ss; Aragon, 4s; Tagona, 3s. Wonderful value... “ You are the best-dressed ‘ destitute man ’ I have seen for years,” remarked Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M., to a man who was charged at the Auckland Police Court last Thursday with default in maintenance. Counsel had previously said that defendant could not pay, as he had been destitute for a considerable period. One month’s imprisonment was imposed. An additional regulation prohibiting the entry of dogs to shops has been gazetted. It applies to all premises used for the preparation or storage of food intended for sale oi human consumption and the display and sale of food. Auction marts are included in the list ot premises. In such places there 'must be exhibited consipcuously a notice announcing that “Dogs are not permitted on these premises.” Ex Fordsdale and Rangitata, our new season’s Blue Mountain Jamaica. Only from A. Durie .and Co., coffee specialists, 32 Octagon, Dunedin... “Many regard the dairy industry as prosaic. The farmer, they look upon as a man who milks cows twice a day for 365 days a year except in a leap year, when he thanks God that he is able to, milk on 366 days.” was an observation of Mr R. H. M’Kenzie, chairman of the directors of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, which provoked laughter at a recent social gathering in Hamilton. “Farmers will be only fools if they continue to toil to the end of their days as they have done in the past,” commented Mr S. J. Bennett at the annual meeting of the Hawera Cooperative Dairy Company. It is time things were a little more pleasant on the farm,” Mr D. S. Richardson humorously suggested that perhaps Par-, liament could enact a provision for cows to cease lactation at each weekend. A voice; Let’s breed a new kind of cow. Parliamentarians, and Councillors would be greatly inspired in their deliberations if they partook of a tot or two of Wullie Crossan’s best. Visit the Waterloo for evidence... Children playing in the National Gallery in Wellington recently broke a plaster cast of a Maori head, the work of Miss Margaret Butler. The bust was knocked from its plinth, but fortunately the break was a clean one at the neck and can be repaired. Unattended children have already made themselves somewhat of a nuisance at the National Gallery, and dirty fingers have been applied to some of the works of art, but fortunately without damage. In future, however, children under 15 years of age will not be allowed to roam at large through the National Gallery unless accompanied by an adult. This will not discourage a love of art amongst youngsters, but it will help to protect the exhibits from damage. Many excuses are heard in Police Courts from drivers of motor, vehicles prosecuted for 44 stepping on the gas. An original one was given by the owner of a fleet of lorries, whose driver had been summoned for exceeding 25 miles an hour, in the Papakura Court last week. The owner said “ his driver had just got married, and was in a hurry to get home.” The magistrate, Mr F. H. Levien, S.M., commented with a smile that the excuse was a new one. The Winter Sale is on at the Big Store, Milton. We would draw the attention of Gray’s customers to the special effort they are making to meet new conditions prevailing... A Tasmanian-born family of eight are all living, and their combined ages total 643 years. The eldest is 89 and the youngest 70. All were born in Hobart. South Australia boasts a family of 12, reared in that State, though several members are now living in Queensland. The Cowley family numbers 12, the oldest being 85 years of age and the youngest 62. The age of the 12 aggregates 897 years. The father and mother died at the age of 91 and 97 years respectively. At a recent meeting of the Mackenzie County Council Mr J. Allan, making a request for more culverts on back roads in the Mackenzie Country, said that cars were often stuck in running streams that were frozen over. Even though the ice in some cases was five inches thick at the sides, it was usually weak in the centre, and when the back wheels of a car went through the vehicle could not be moved. Some people carried picks and crowbars for such contingencies. An experimental anemometer constructed by a young engineer of the Public Works Department has been erected at Rongotai aerodrome by officers of the Wellington City Council. It is of cheap, and simple design and construction and is to be tested alongside that of the Meteorological Department as to its efficiency in recording the direction and speed of the winds. It depends upon the results of tests over a period as to what use will be made of the appliance in future. It is considered that anemometers of the type of the experimental one can be constructed for £2O each, whereas the standard anemometer costs over £IOO. Lovelock, the champion sprinter, Hitler, the champion man. In Germany, unfortunalely, He can’t buy Hitchon’s Ham...