AROUND THE DOMINION

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 240, 11 May 1933, Page 8

AROUND THE DOMINION

Seven Grandparents! A little girl Jiving in the Owen Valhy, Nelson, has just lost a greatgrandfather, but even now is in the position of having' seven grandparents. There are two great-gradmothers, ono great-grandfather, two grandfathers, and two grandmothers, all living hale and hearty. Fair quantities of mush rooms ■l Marton and local districts were available at the Auckland cii-y market on Friday, says the New Zealand Herald. A ready sale was effected, prices paid ranging from 3s to 7s a tin of about 111 b. Easy Money "There is only 5(1 worth of silver in a shilling." said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. 11. E. Holland, in his address in Hie Theatre Royal at Tiniaru the ether night, "and the unemployed, if they had the right, could make silver shillings, and make (Id on every one they made. They would make more money this way than on relief work, but I would not advise them, to try it." Fourpenny Pieces The use of fourpenny silver pieces in place of threepences was a common tiling in the nineties, according {.i a statement of Mr. John Mac Gibbon at a meeting of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. When he was a young man in a, bank in Christchurch at that time, lie said, lv.i had to collect the worn silver coins, so that they could be replaced, and ho discovered that the Union Bank had ••. store of £l3 worth of good fourpenny pieces. Though they had mostly been used as threepence, they were sent to England, and the bank received full value for them. An unusual case came before the Otago Football Association, when a referee was suspended until he apologised for using offensive language to boys from the Y.M.C.A. in a sixth grade match, reports a Dunedin correspondent. The secretary of the Y.M.C.A. complained that the referee cursed the boys for being late in turning up. The referee appeared before the O.F.A. management committee and denied the allegation.

Freak Pheasant A freak, in the form of an absolutely white cock pheasant, was brought down by a sportsman at Puhipuhi, about 1G miles north of Whangarei, when the shooting season opened. The pheasant was pure white, even to its legs, and such a bird is very rare indeed. It is not the first time, however, that a pure white pheasant has been obtained from that district, as some years ago one or two similar birds were shot. As far as is known, though, the white pheasant is peculiar to the Hukerenui and Puhipuhi districts. The birds are evidently some sort of throwback.

Napier Harbour Board In Hawkc's Bay the issues before voters in the Harbour Board election were of considerably greater interest than of mere party voting, -for Hawke's Bay—after fifty years of disputing over inner and outer harbour development—is still heartily divided, and this question was at the bottom of the warmth of the election of board members. The Hawke's Bay Tribune sums up the result of the election as follows: "Napier confirmed its approval of the breakwater construction programme by electing Messrs. T. M. Geddis (chairman). P- F. Higgins and E. Williams to the Harbour Board. The other four candidates stood for the more modest policy of restoring pre-earthquake facilities. The voting in Hastings Avas an endorsement of the policy of prompt and economical restoration as expounded by Messrs. R. Baker and R. D. Brown, who have expressed opposition to any major expenditure on ..cither of the harbour schemes."

Danger Ahead for Farmers "1 am afraid to contemplate a return to prosperous conditions for the man on the land. So many farmers have become so deeply involved financially that if fanning became payable again scores of mortgagees would foreclose for arrears of interest, and the man who had kept the place in order during the slump, who had home the heat and burden of the day, would be turned off," remarked a prominent, Waiknto farmer at the Douglas Credit meeting at Otorohanga.

Chased Through the Streets A motorist who was a party to an accident, at the intersection of Durham and Salisbury Streets, Christ - church, on Sunday evening was the cause of a spectacular chase through the streets, but eventually got away. An eye-witness of the occurrence stated that a car went along Durham Street in the direction of the city. At the intersection it collided with another car, travelling east along Salisbury Street. Instead of stopping, the motorist put on speed, slewed round into Salisbury Street, and made off. A motor-cyclist who came along went in chase, and a few moments later a policeman on another motor-cycle also joined chase. The three vehicles careering through the streets provided a thrill for the spectators, but there was no climax. The other car involved in the collision was bjidly damaged.

The first postal service in this country was under the jurisdiction of New South Wales—the "Mother State." Even after the proclamation of British sovereignty at Kororareka (Russell), in the Bay of Islands, by Captain Hobson, in 1840, New Zealand remained for a while under the suzerainty of New South Wales. Captain Hobson, writes Mr. L. Fanning in the New Zealand Railways Magazine, was Lieuten-ant-Governor here, acting for the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Georoe Gipps. Mr. Fanning quotes Mr. Donald Robertson's "Early History of the New Zealand, Post Office" to the effect that "as stamps were not in use til 1845, letters were handed with the cash' to the postmaster, and the address, with the amount of the postage, was entered in a ponderous record-book, from which was transcribed in triplicate a monthly return." In 1931 the number of letters and letter-cards delivered in New Zealand was oyer 137,000,000.

The Spelling of Pelorus Several publications, including &. Dicffenbach's "Travels in New Zealand," indicate that the name Of a well-known Marlborough Sound is a misspelling of "Pylorus," the name ot a British brig which visited the inlet in 1838. The question was referred to Mr. Johannes Andersen ltf>rari an of the Turnbull Library whose researches support to belief that the ship's name was Pelorus not PylorM; "McNab, in 'The Old Whaling Days, appeared to have no doubt, says MJ. Andersen, "but I suppose bettor .minorities are contemporaries, such as a. Russell in 'A Tour Through the AusSaC' Colonies, 1840, who speaks of the Pelorus examining the rccen > discovered "river'-the sound and better 'A Naval Biographical Die writing of Captain Harding, who was : n the Belorus from 1837-39, and tag the Umo she was in New waters in 1838. 1 suppose th spell » •pylorus' would hardly bo used, as he word 'pylorus' has a detinic meaning -being the opening of the stomaca iu to the duodenum." The name Pcl6i us was borne by a pilot in Grecian mythology. _