In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23308, 18 September 1937, Page 8

In Town And Out

A Children’s Union? “Boys and girls are not in a position to subscribe to the funds of their association,” said Mr D. Marshall at a meeting of the directors of the Southland A. and P. Society yesterday in discussing Government support for the Southland Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association. “Can’t they form a union?” asked one member amid laughter. Motor Drivers’ Licences Unanimous support of the objection of the Southland County Council to the Government’s proposal to issue motor drivers’ licences through post offices was given by the conference of the New Zealand Counties Association at Wellington, said Cr W. M. Norman, the council’s delegate, in • his report to the Southland County Council yesterday. Support of Teachers “The teachers of Southland, through their excellent support, have been largely responsible for putting the association on so sound a footing,” stated the organizer of the Southland Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs’ Association (Mr K. I. Robertson) last evening. The executive greatly appreciated their work in providing entries, he said, and it realized that it was on the teachers that the future success of the movement depended.

Price of Apples “Apples must be got to the consumer at a lower price. While they are being sold from the retail . shops at high prices, apples will remain a luxury and will not become part of. our national diet,” said the chairman, Mr B. T. Turner, at a meeting of the Canterbury Fruit Growers’ Association. Mr Turner referred to a system in Auckland, whereby first-grade apples were sold from door to door at a low price. By this method, he said, people .would buy apples in large quantities. Pig In Box g

Plaintive squeals coming from the back of a car parked in Dee street yesterday afternoon led some passers-by to believe that a child was in distress. The occupants of the car, however, took no apparent notice of the shrill, protesting noises. Nor was there any reason for'them to be concerned. The disturbance was caused by a small pig which was in a box strapped on the back of the car. The transition from market to close confinement had apparently upset the tranquillity that is usually associated with pigs. Insurance and Juries..

“You know, of course,” said Mr Justice Ostler, addressing a jury in a claim for damages case in the Supreme Court at Auckland, “that in the old days before compulsory insurance it used to be an offence for counsel to mention insurance to a jury. Now, I think, everyone knows it. You may know that any damages you may award may be paid for by insurance, but you must remember that if you award damages you are casting a slur upon the defendant and you must not do that unless you are justified by the evidence.”

Speed Mania “You will never have any reduction in the number of road accidents while you have the speed unrestricted,” said Cr. J. H. Perrett, when speaking at a meeting of the Manawatu County Council on the subject of a letter from the Transport Department dealing with the road safety campaign. “The authorities cannot cope with the trouble while the speed is unlimited,” he said. Cr. R. A. Wilson remarked that the road conditions were not good enough for the speed c* the modem car. ‘The speed mania is ridiculous,” interjected Cr. Perrett, who said that he noticed the procession of, speeding cars every day, and it appeared that all that the motorist had on his mind was the wish to pass the motorist in front.

The. Soviet Trials “The recent trials in the Soviet Union have perhaps assumed exaggerated proportions in New Zealand eyes. The theoretical attacks by the Trotskyite intellectuals have evidently succeeded in bemusing liberal opinion in New Zealand and England,” said Mr I. F. G. Milner, a New Zealand Rhodes scholar, when interviewed in Christchurch. He visited Russia and other parts of Europe when abroad. He said that there was only too much evidence , of Nazi espionage and sabotage ■at work in every country in Europe and overseas. It had worked with General Franco and the Spanish generals before the rebel attack on the Government, arid obviously its energies were concentrated most thoroughly on the country which was the sworn enemy of Hitler’s Germany. There was nothing in the trials of the Trotskyite saboteurs and the generals of the Red Army to indicate anything in the nature of widespread discontent in Russia today.