NEWS OF THE DAY

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 56, 13 February 1931, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Heavy Rain Last night there were very lievay downpours of rain, with lightning. Early this morning there was an extremely heavy downpour, with strong wind, but the weather cleared about (5 a.m. Some Advances 7d From South Taranaki come reports of advances of 7d for cheese and Sid for butter in most instances, the reason being the too liberal pay-outs earlier in the season. An Old Relief Fund In 1918 the Raetihi and Ohakune districts were devastated by bush fires. Wanganui raised a relief fund, of which £323 remained after claims had been paid. This sum has been Oil fixed deposit ever since, and has grown to £435, which the trustees now propose shall be transferred to the Earthquake Relief Fund.

Fifty Years Ago On February 12, ISSO, the steamer Hawea took away from New Plymouth the following cargo: 21 sacks of grass seed, 5 bales of fungus; 3 empties, and 46 kegs and 8 boxes of butter sent by seven different consigners. The same day the Rowena from Waitara took away 377 sacks of grass seed. —"Taranaki Herald." New Film Star Al Capone, Chicago's gangster king, ig to be a film star. A prominent r.lm company plans to make the picture/ in New York studios as soon as it is sure that Mr. Will Hays, the film director, will approve. According to reliable reports, Capone will receive £40,000 for his acting, and he is to give it all to the unemployed. The play, a Chicago crime story, is said to be based on Capone's .own life. Perforated Bricks Apropos of the collapse of brick walls at Napier and Hastings, a Stratford man states that in his native district in England perforated bricks were the rule. Each brick would have holes right through it up to a dozen in number, and when it was ■aid the mortar would run into the boles, creating spikes which securely round the wall. So secure was this binding that the taking down of a brick wall was a work of considerable difficulty. Working Napier's Port Again The Federal Line steamer Surrey left Auckland for Napier on Wednesday evening to load wool and general cargo for Lrndon and West Coast ports of Great Britain. She will be the first overseas steamer to load at Napier since the earthquake. The Surrey recently loaded at New Plymouth. Several other oversea steamers were scheduled to load at Napier this month, but owing to the damage done by the earthquake the loading itineraries of nearly all the vessels have been altered.

Hackneyed Excuses When a defendant in a charge of speeding informed Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M., at Christchurch, that he was going to see his sick mother, he prompted a few remarks from the magistrate on the wearisome similarly of excuses submitted day after day by defendants. "During the time I have been here deefndants have spoken of relatives with all the troubles of the universe," declared the magistrate. "But it's true this time/' replied defendant. "No doubt," was the response, "but all the others were, too."

An Americanised Vocabulary The slang o l ' the Hollywood film seems to come spontaneously even to the very young, states the "Taranaki Herald." He was a small lad of five, and it was his first day at schoon, a new and wonderful place in his eyes. The attraction of a long corridor tempted him to try his paces during the luncheon hour, and the noise of fast footsteps brought the infant mistress to investigate. Gently she told the lad that the corridor was not a playroom, and that he should run outside. Imagine her surprise when two innocent eyes looked frankly up at her and a small voice said ingenuously, "0.K., baby!" General Elections "The committee considers that the holding of general elections in the month of December does have a disorgansiing effect on trade and recommends that this chamber's view be communicated to the Associated Chambers of Comerce, with the request that the matter be taken up with the Government, also that the Canterbury Progress League be advised of the chambers' action," was a paragraph of the report of the Christchurch Retailers' Committee presented to last week's meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. The report was adopted.