General Items

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 81, 10 August 1923, Page 2

General Items

The land tax outstanding in New Zealand at March 31, 1923, was £307,950, and the income tax outstanding £449,2114.

While searching on Riverton beach, a young man found about £3OO worth of ambergris, which was in good condition, and quickly found a buyer, says an Inveicargill correspondent.

"What do you do for a living?" queried Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M., of Alexander Gough at the Petone Police Court. "Oh, I just scratch along," laconically refcurnod the defendant.

Considerable damage was occasioned to the top greon of the Hamilton Bowling Club's area. Three boys were seen on the. green playing hockey, and as a result of their manooiivros the sward was considerably damaged.

The total returns of the commercial travellers' "Birr day" movement at are £l-595 13s 3d. A fair amount of money bad to be spent on goods, but there is stil' some to come in, and it is estimated that over £I4OO will bo handed over for the relief of the poor.

A railway official state 1 ? that n great deal of coal is coming through Otfra tunnel, and it looks as if thi* traffic will be heavy. Comparatively small of produce are going through from the East Coast. hut Canterbury merohints have not yet got into their stride.

In the gummy berries of a parapara tree at Te Araroa one recenfi morning, no fewer than 20 pihinihi or Wight bi'-ds were found to have bwn caught. Some were dead. Boys, of the district are now using twigs of the which there are berries instead of bird lime for catch-; ing sparrows.

At the Counties' Association Conference a remit was suggested, under the Dog Registration Act, that for the purpose of the section "farmer should mean any person owning more than two sheep or more than two cattle, or cattle and sheep of a greater number \ than three."—The chairman: "Instead of three acres and a cow, you want three cows, and one acre." (Laughter.)—The remit was) thrown out.

Amusing stories of notes received by sch:ol teachers, explaining the absence of pupils, are frequently told. Here (says the Gisborne 'Times') is the text of a note that came to the Gisborne main school last week: "Please excuse j John for being away half a day; his mother is in hospital with a little baby'. I will see it doesn't happen again."

As the result of the appeal by the Otago A. and P. Society for funds to carry out the necessary improvements ■to'.the Tahuna Park, the sum of £i.0,135 19s has been subscribed, Tno society, however, has decided that, no extraordinary expenditure shall be authorised until all the informatioii with regard to the cost of connecting the park by railway is available, and some assurance given that permission will be granted for the ueviation of the railway line to the park.

Monday last was the eighth anniversa.'y of the formation of the National Government, which held office from August 0, 1915, until August, 19i9, when its was terminated by the withdrawal of Sir Joseph VVurd and his colleagues of tlie Liberal Party. Monday was also the 17th anniversary of the formation

of Sir Joseph Ward's Cabinet, following the death of Mr It. J. Seddon.

An extraordinary story of the alleged meanness of an old Scotchman was told in Court in Melbourne on July 24. It was stated that llobert Selkirk, whose estate was worth considerably more than £60,000; by his will left his wife £1 a week;'that ho refused to buy boots or underclothing; and that he had made his wife get a refund of his Caledonian Society subscription. His son is applying for the revocation of probate on the ground of his father's testamentary incapacity, owing to excessive drunkenness. He also alleges that the will was made under the influence of William Palmer, collector for the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum, which, with the Ballarat District Hospital, would beneltt considerably by the will.

The following libel on our friends the Ratana lady orchestra concert party is going the rounds of the press; A visitor from Taranaki says that a party of Natives in motley garb of alleged English style, varying from pink shirts to broadcloth, have been touring in an up-to-date motor car with the object of obtaining money for the erection of "Ratana's Church," by means of concerts in the various centres.

An amusing incident occurred during a marriage service m an Auckland Methodist Church recently. The officiating minister had ju ß t reached the most solemn and impressive pa t of the ritual when the gravity of the congregation was upset by the sudden appearance of a white goat which walked down the aisle and collided forcibly with the bride. It was necessary to suspend the ceremony until the animal was removed.

A story of how the people of Oamaru nearly had another sy-eleetion thrust upon them was related to n reporter on Saturday by Mr J. A. Macpherson, M.P. "A few nights npfi I cam© down to the ferry wharf in Wellington to see a friend off, and while 'standing on the edge of the wharf I lost my balance, and fell forward," said Mr MflcpherKon. "Luckily, however, a friend eanght hold of me and saved me from fillin? into the harbour. Tt was a closp thing, not onlv for me, but for the people of Oamaru. who mirrbt have had to go through with another hyolection. And T think that after their last exrwrienee +hpy don't want another by-election, for a Ion? time vet.";

The methods of using explosives in mittineg and on hillsides on the Western front during the war are now heine applied on railway construction work by the Public Works Department. The small hill at Waikokopu was blown away in the same way a few months a<ro, Paid Mr Faekwood, of the Public Works Department, during a lecture at Wairoa. The New Zealand Tunnelled adopted their own methods of mining, and both the British Royal Engineers and the Germans took not'oe of their work which speedily convinced everyone of the many advantages gained thereby.

Influenza appears to be general in the Wanganui Education Board's district. A feW schools have been closed, mainly due to the teachers being unable to carry on. It is not the intention of the Board, except the position becomes worse, to close the for the spring holidays earlier than anticipated. It is recognised that by chosing now there is no guarantee that the flu would have run its course in two weeks and the position mipht be as bad as ever pobably necessitating another period of closing. The teachers', exams are also due on August 28 and will last for a week, candidates sitting at Wanganui am! Palmerston. These are always held during the holidays and closing now v,»iuld seriously interfere with the arrangements. Dr. Gunn has drawn up the following circular which is* baing sent out to all schools,- prescribing a simple gargle which will be used daily by the pupils as follows: "The mixture should consist of 3 drams of Condys to one quart of water. The gargle is quite simply carried out by giving the children the i solution in their toothbrush mugs."

While waiting for cases to be called on at the Wanganui Court on Monday, an interesting discussion took place at the counsel table regarding the difficulty of gelting' the correct names of Chinese who have

b:eu guilty of breaches of regulations (says the Herald). Mr Golms stated that a Chinaman will give t. name when requested, but when he is asked to write it down it will be Something diffieent altogether. A solicitor remarked that on one occasion a Chinaman, whose name could not bo ascertained, and who had been left out of the list, came along to the Court and paid the fine. The senior sergeant capped the story by relating what had occurred on the West Coast in the good old digging days. A policeman there had to take an escort of prisoners over the hill, and one of these was a Chinaman who had w disappeared. The grardian of the peace was equal to the occasion, and promptly grabbed another Chinaman as a substitute. Jt was no use the unfo.tunato Celestial protesting, for ho simply had to go and hive the brunt for the offence of his defaulting countryman.