GENERAL NEWS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 74, 6 March 1931, Page 8

GENERAL NEWS

Always "D.P." "Never now in Australia do you hear the word 'depression' used. People always talk about the 'D.P.' instead," declared Mr J. T. Spears, president, of the Wellington Manufacturers' Association, when talking about the position in Australia, whence he has just returned. He explaned that, as the depression was the one topic of conversation, people had found it necessary to shorten the word to "D.P." so often did (hey use it.

Striking Practical Sympathy. A striking instance of practical sympathy on the part of a well-known firm of publishers in Sydney was brought under the notice of a Gisborne Herald representative by a leadins local stationer and bookseller. He stated he had received the following letter by mail: "We hasten to express our heartfelt, sympathy with you and yours in the appalling calamity that, has overwhelmed G-isbornte. If we can help you In any way, please let us know. At times like these, words seem futile. We are glad, therefore, to be able now to emphasise our sympathy—slight, though the emphasis may be—by enclosing your account receipted In full."

Gradually Growing. Excellent progress continues to be made with the construction of the gap in the South Main Trunk Railway (states the Marlborough Express). The permanent rails have now been laid to a point south of the Blue Slip and a few miles north of Wharanui, and construction is well forward as far as the Clarence, the advanced gangs being close to Ohau Point, between the Clarence and the Hapuka. At the southern end construction is well forward almost to the Conway bridge, and the advanced gangs are working at the mouth of the Conway.

Wool Replaces Kapok. A surprising number of people in the Ashburton County are using wool instead of kapok to pack pillows, cushions and mattresses, and from all accounts it appears that the substitute is giving results quiate as satisfactory as in the case of kapok. The wool is thoroughly scoured, clipped into short pieces and well teased before being used. After the mattresses have been in use some time they are periodically placed in the sun for an hour or two and the packing again becomes fluffy and soft. It was stated at Ashburton recently that a family had been using a woolflllefl mattress for 20 years, and when it was opened recently the wool was in just as good condition as when it was put in. It had not deteriorated and there was no trace of dust in the mattress casing.

A Lucky Injury. A knock received on the football field proved a blessing in disguise to a youth who was a student at Wellington College some years ago. The youth received a severe injury to his head, and when the wound healed it left a large patch of grey hair. From bh: home in the King Country the youth went to Scotland, where he passed his final medical examinations with distinction. Deciding to stay in Scotland, as his practice was flourishing, the young doctor wrote to a girl in New Zealand asking her to go Home to become his wife, and the girl consented. People who knew the doctor by sight, but who did not know the cause of his grey hair, were surprised that the girl was marrying a man who appeared so many years her senior, although, actually, there was only one year between them. In a recent letter to a friend in Auckland the doctor said that his grey head had been a great help to him in establishing himself in his practice, and he regarded the knock he had received on the football field as the luckiest thing that had ever come his way.

Clergyman Outspoken. "Four years' experience at social work, during which time I have granted over 23,000 interviews to people seeking food, lias convinced rue of the utter futility of organised charity as a means of feeding the multitude of unemployed," said the Rev. C. G. Scrimgeour at the Methodist Central Mission, Auckland. "The amount given away yearly in charity is simply staggering, and yet it is far eclipsed by the greater amount that is taken from people in the overcharge for .bread. 'Daylight robbery' does not adequately describe this iniquitous process. It is robbery under cover of the statement 'for the protection of the New Zealand wheat growers.'" Christ's practical mind was always working on the problem of the people's bread, and if he came to New Zealand to-day he would have some very hard things to say to those responsible for the exorbitant price people are compelled to pay for their principal article of diet. Mr Scrimgeour asked: "Are we then to go on in the same vicious circle while the Government, grants favours to powerful vested interests by way of protective tariffs, when in a critical period such as the present none should exist? It is not enough to accept the promise of the Prime Minister that something will be done a year hence."