In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23199, 14 May 1937, Page 6

In Town And Out

City Estimates The city estimates for 1937-38 are now being prepared and will be before the standing committees of the council at meetings next week. Farmers’ Tax Demands

A protest to the Commissioner of Taxes about ihe “peremptory nature” of demands made on farmers for detailed accounts' for taxation purposes was made at the monthly meeting of the Waikato sub-provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union. One case was cited where a farmer was requested at four days’ notice to make a detailed account covering a period of years. Diamond Studded Tooth

Because of a diamond glistening in one of the front teeth, a dental plate left with a Wanganui dentist recently was thought to be unique in New Zealand. It is owned by a Dunedin resident, and the diamond is mounted in a gold setting, which is securely wedged right through the tooth The value of the stone is not known. Diamond-studded dentures are reported to be worn by some of the famous film actors in Hollywood, but the one seen in Wanganui is the first novelty of the kind encountered by the dentist, who has been in practice for a number of years.

Lottery Propaganda Evidence of the keenness of those in charge of State lotteries in Australia to sell tickets in New Zealand is provided by the experience of a leading Auckland merchant (says The New Zealand Herald). He receives regularly each week tickets to be filled in and posted, as well as a number of other slips setting out the advantages accruing to whoever might be fortunate enough to hold a winning ticket. In one mail this week there were four blank ticket forms, a small slip, reading “every additional ticket purchased increases your chance of a fortune,” and three further pamphlets dealing with possible benefits. “Arawata Bill”

The principal speaker, Mr J. T. Holloway, at the last meeting of the Royal Society of New Zealand (Otago branch), at Dunedin, related a story concerning “Arawata Bill,” the old man who lives a hermit-like existence in the wild districts of north-western Otago. Mr

Holloway’s exploratory party encountered “Arawata Bill” on the slopes of Mount Victoria. He was heavily laden with food and materials, and was wearing gum boots. Usually deep snow covered the mountain, and “Arawata Bill” was bravely endeavouring to negotiate a pass, cutting'steps with a long-handled shovel. He said he had crossed that way 36 years ago, and he did not see why he should not do so again.

For Service in Spain A civic farewell was given at Palmerston North this week to two nurses who will leave shortly for ambulance service on the Spanish front. They are Nurse M. Sharpies, of Levin, and Nurse. I. Dodds, of Wellington, who, with Sister Shadbolt, of Auckland, have been selected to sail with the New Zealand Medical Aid Corps on May 16. The nurses were congratulated on their courage and on their ideal of service. A motion was carried pledging financial support to the unit “in its heroic and humanitarian efforts to support democracy against Fascism on the battlefields of Spain.” It was announced that already £5O had been raised. Nurse Sharpies, in her reply, stated that they were not afraid of what might happen.

“Elastic Imagination” The fact that 14Ayds of elastic was included among the articles alleged to have been stolen from a city department store resulted in a short discussion on the question of purchasing elastic, when a shoplifting case was being heard by Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court recently (says The New Zealand Herald, Auckland). Counsel for accused expressed the opinion that it was possible for one person to buy 14|yds, but a woman assistant from the store concerned stated that she would be unlikely to sell more than two yards at a time to anyone in a year. “A person would have to have a very elastic imagination and a very elastic life to buy that quantity all at once,” remarked the magistrate. The Yacht Morewa

There is a possibility that the 80-ton schooner yacht Morewa, owned by the Mayor of Auckland (Sir Ernest Davis), will be sent to Suva towards the end of this month, preparatory to making a cruise among the islands of the Fiji group. Sir Ernest was recently granted two months’ leave of absence from June 15 by the Auckland City Council to enable him to take a winter vacation in California. He has now reconsidered his plans and may instead spend the holiday in an islands cruise, with Suva as his headquarters. In that event he will leave Auckland by the Monowai on June 15, joining the yacht at Suva and spending about a month visiting some of the more interesting of the outlying islands.

Elephants Eat Tutu A circus travelling through Awakino Gorge last week was held up by its two elephants developing gastric trouble and being unable to appear. They had been permitted to browse on the foliage of the countryside while a number of monkeys were being rescued from the river, into which they had fallen—inside a cage—when their trailer broke down. Suddenly the two elephants collapsed and groaned in pain. A passing doctor adx/.ed reference to a veterinary surgeon, who was secured from Te Kuiti, and who at once recognized the symptoms of tutu berry poisoning. With the regular remedies he had the elephants on their feet and fit to travel to Te Kuiti, where one of the patients took part in that evening’s circus performance. Pride of Ownershir

Nearly everyone nowadays knows what it feels like to have just bought a car (says The Evening Post, Wellington). When it is a bargain the feeling is intensified. Possessed of a new -odel sedan but a scant half-hour, a new owner parked the vehicle handily to a Willis street hostelry, and sought friends, whose habits he knew, inside. Feeling exuberant, he ordered refreshments for his four friends and himself, and, still expansive, insisted on taking the party out to see the car. So fired were the party by his pleasure that all filed out to the street, leaving the untouched refreshments as mute testimony to the persuasive powers of the owner. “You shouldn’t have left the price ticket on it,” remarked a friend, indicating a neat white docket asking for a call at the traffic office to explain parking in the wrong place. What a lot can happen in a minute or two! Meal Charges in Sydney The system adopted by leading hotels and restaurants in Sydney of charging for meals according to what was eaten instead of making a fixed charge, was criticized by the Hon. G. R. Hunter, M.L.C., in an interview on his return from a visit to Australia (says The Christchurch Star-Sun). He said that when he was entertaining two friends I to dinner in a Sydney hotel they were

reluctant to order roast turkey, and when he asked them the reason they said they did not want to involve him in too heavy a cost. The different charges were not always shown on the menu, he added, and one dk. not know until the bill was presented what the cost was likely to be. He considered the New Zealand system of making a fixed charge for a meal regardless of the number of courses one ordered, was a much better one. The hotels in Sydney were generally far dearer than the New Zealand hotels, and he also considered that the service they provided was inferior.