NEWS OF THE DAY.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 8, 1 August 1930, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Heavy Weather at Sea. Since July when tins two liners j Tainui and Rotorua were batten'd j by a terrific cyclone off Pitcairn Is. j land, every vessel 'which lias arriv- i ed at New Zealand ports from over- . seas, with one exception, has been ! delayed by unusually heavy weather. I This has boon particularly the case | with vessel,. aipproaching New Zealand from the north and east. The Musicians’ View. A telegram .was sent to the Prime Minister last, week by the Auckland Professional Musicians’ t nion in connection with tilm and amusement taxation, urging that a, provision should be made for a rebate of tax in theatres which employed orchestras. They claim that if that was granted it would probably ensure musicians now employed being retained. and also probably increase employment amongst) professional musicians. Radio Telephony “There have been, no developments during the past year which warrant a departure from the vicfvs previously expressed”, Stated a report from the Post Department, which was received by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. The report added i that the chamber was no doubt i p.-a.ro that negotiations were in train for the establishment of a ra- j dio telephone service between Wei- ! lingtoii and Sydney. It was expected that that link would ultimately form one of a chain by mean s of which New Zealand would ho able to communicate with persons in England and adjacent countries. The inauguration of such a. service would bo a great step in the direction of dispelling the belief, mentioned by a correspondent of the chamber, that civilisation in the Dominion was backward. Counsel’s Appreciation. Rather unexpected appreciation of the feelings of a man Tinder the influence of liquor \was made by a well-known counsel appearing for a prisoner in the Wellington Supreme Court the other afternoon. He had asked a lady witness to explain to the court the accused’s condition when she saw him near hi home. “The ar/ used was not Staggering about”, replied the witness, “but liis condition seemed to be that of a man whoso head feels several sizes bigger than it actually is,. You know what I mean?” “Yes, I know the feeling”, said counsel quite seriously, no doubt thinking about the next question he proposed putting. Everybody in lie Court enjoyed counsel’s frank admission.

Thefts from Meters. On proceeding to start up their motor vans the other morning several Papatoetoe tradespeople found that thieves had been busy during the night (says the New Zealand HeroUT The benzine tanks had been emptied and a. number of accessories had been removed. A similar happening occurred two years ago. Plants Stolen. A suauk thief paid a visit to a Mount Albert garden late last Tuesday night or early on TVednesdaj mornjng and raided a large anemone bed. So eager was he to get the ili* ,vt 1 rs picked that* he pulled up mor than half of the plants (says the Auckland Star). At first it looker as if a child had been responsible, but the discovery of large footmarks on tlio garden proved the mischief had lieen committed by someone who should have known better. At Takapuna a week ago a resident lost a number of newly planted rose cuttings. Australian Depression. “The air of depression in Australia at the present time is very noticeable. You may he having lunch with a business man. He will laugh and joke but very quickly ho becomes morose and comments upon the Ifid state of business. The deI pression is seen everywhere, and | busiipessj men arc, in some cases, nearly distracted. On the other hand it is strange to see long queues of people lining up outside the picture theatres as if nothing were the matter. It is a strange combination of worry and gaiety”, said the Rev. Thomas Tait, of Alberta, to a representative of the Christchurch Press recently.

In Ceylon. In Ceylon when night falls and the rooms are lit up the walls of the houses are simply swarming with lizards but the people do not mind jat all. So said Professor Wall in the course of a lecture on that island in Christchurch on Saturday evening. Another unconventional feature of houses in Ceylon was tha presence of tame frogs which wandered over the floors and in and out among the feet of the' residents searching for '.white ants of which they gorged almost to bursting point. A daily scene in Colombo that neve rfailed to amuse tourists said Professor Walt was the bathing of elephants in large pools. They sit in the water while men work on them with scrubbing brushes, and then they suck up the water in their trunks and delight in squirting it over themselves.

Business Stabilised. Tim stopping of speculative buying in Christchurch was one effect of the temporary financial depression, according to a Christchurch, real estate agent. Such builders who had found it easy to arrange credit with timber merchants, brick merchants, and ironmongers, and been able to raisin money by first and second mortgages alb easy* rates and on small margins, now found it impossible to do so; in consequence, they had turned ’their attention to contract work only. The result teas that though for a short time there was a surplus of houses that surplus was being slowly but steadily absorbed, and in the near future property owners could look forward to such an improvement in the market, he thought, as would enaWe them to sell their properties which they now held without loss.