LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 27 February 1931, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A decree nisi in divorce was yesterday declared absolute by Mr. Justice Adams in favour of Isabella Maisie Wcdderspoon against John Jamieson Wedderspoon. Mrs. Wedderspoon was given custody of the child of the marriage.

Although an Oriental is placed at a great disadvantage when he comes to an English-speaking country, it is remarkable how soon he learns to express himself, not accurately, but to the point, in the unfamiliar language. Following the earthquake on February 3, a Chinese business man at Hastings sent the following terselyworded telegram to a friend: “Earth crash. Shop smash. All right.” Owing to the fact that during the “Learn to Swim” week it was not found possible to coach pupils of the New Plymouth High Schools as well as those from the primary schools, instruction classes for boys and girls attending both high schools have been arranged. Yesterday afternoon about 60 girls from the high'school were given their first swimming lessons at the New Plyriroutb municipal baths, and in the majority of cases very good progress was made.

Men’s suits are awfully cheap at the Melbourne Clothing Co.’s great summer sale now in full swing. Fancy tweed sports suits reduced to 29/6; Petone 2-piece lounge suits reduced to 39/6; Tweed sport coats, now 12/6; Kaiapoi sport coats, 32/6; famous Challenge indigo serge suits, now 75/-; Lynx, Sincerity and Petone worsted suits reduced to 79/6.*

Owing to the supply exceeding the demand tons of raspberries have been left to rot on the bushes in various gardens in the district, says the Nelson, Mail.

The blight on the coal trade has affected even Denniston, where the miners last week worked only two days, states the Westport News. It is many years since slackness of trade so affected Denniston.

The question of the appointment of association professionals was considered at a recent meeting of the council of the New Zealand Golf Association. Norman H. Fuller was appointed for 12 months from March 31 and Arthur C. Pass was given a temporary appointmferit. “Is bottled beer a food or a drug?” inquired Mr. T. E. Maunsell at the Magistrate’s Court at Blenheim during the hearing of a case brought under the' Foods and Drugs Act. “ft just depends,’’ said Mr. F. F. Reid, “on how one views the prohibition question, but the legislature, in its wisdom, has decided that beer is a food.” No one who has not been in the Dominion for six months can be employed under any of the Unemployment Board’s schemes of work, Mr. W. E. Leadley stated at a meeting of the Christchurch Unemployment Committee. The board had had to do something in that way, he added, to stop the influx from Australia. At the last meeting of the Westown Progressive Association it was decided to make representations to the Underwriters’ Association with a view to having Westown placed on the A tariff in regard, to fire insurance premiums, which is°the same tariff that Fitzroy is placed under at present. It was considered that the improved, water service warranted such a concession.

An attempt to test the recollection of a witness in a collision case in the Supreme Court at Auckland drew a comment from the bench on the evidence, reports the Star. Counsel closely questioned a witness about the distance between, his car and that of the defendant when it came into view. He put it to witness that he had given a certain estimate of the distance in the Lower Court. “The memory of a witness is not infallible,” said Mr. Justice Herdman. “I pa.y very little heed, to" a cross-examination of that kind. A witness might have made a calculation and forgotten all about it.”

That hot winds, and not the drought conditions, had been the principal cause of young trees dyiffg in plantations in the Selwyn Plantations Board’s areas in Canterbury was the effect of a statement mtide by Mr. Godfrey Hall at a meeting of the board. He said that in young plantations the trees out in the open had died, while those alongside the larger shelter belts were still in a healthy condition.

A special train conveying about 329 Taranaki Boy Scouts and Girl Guides to the combined rally to be held at Well ington to-morrow will leave New Plymouth at 8.48 a.m. to-day, and is scheduled to arrive at Wellington at 7.13 p.m. The return journey will be made by special train on Sunday. It is estimated that 80 Boy Scouts and Girl Guides will go from New Plymouth, 91 from Stratford, 67 from Eltham, 63 from Hawera and 28 from Patea.

A document produced before Mr. Justice Herdman in the Supreme Court at Auckland this week was signed by initials only, and his Honour raised the question whether it could be regarded as a binding document in a relationship between a principal and his agent. According to the Statute it was essentia), that the signature of the principal should appear, but counsel said the man who signed the initials had already admitted that they were his and did not dispute the matter. It was difficult, said counsel, to find authorities on the question. A gang of armed men masquerading as nuns has been discovered by accident at Rennes, France. ' A motorist driving along a road near the city passed a “Little Sister of the Poor,” who asked for a lift. He willingly assented, but, after driving for some "distance, he observed that the “nun’s” feet were curiously large. Deciding to get rid of his suspicious passenger by guile, he brought his car to a standstill, explaining that it had engine trouble. At his request the “nuri” got out of the car and he iinmediately drove off. The motorist afterwards found in his car a valise which the “nun’* had left behind. It contained two revolvers and two daggers.

The siren’s shrill call rousing the half-holiday quiet of Inglewood about 1.30 p.m. yesterday was responsible for the fire brigade turning out with its usual promptness. Some of the members appeared in the flannels that they had donned in preparation for the sports events of the afternoon. However, the alarm was more or less a false one. There was a rubbish fire at the back of the Railway Hotel "in which two motor tyres had been placed, creating a blaze and smoke that probably gave cause for someone thinking there was need for the brigade. The incident may easily have had a very serious aspect as one of the firemen, H. Julian, while cycling io the scene of the conflagration, collided with a taxi and was considerably bruised, as well as sustaining a cut hand. His bicycle was badly damaged.

About 520 children and adults arrived in New Plymouth from Eltham and Ngaere for the combined schools picnics of° thojse districts which took place at Ngamotu befell yesterday. A considerable number also made the trip by motor-car. A very pleasant day was spent at the beach, where races and novelty events for the children were held. The presence of the sloop Laburnum and the Home liners at the wharf proved an added attraction. The train left on its return trip about 5.45 p.m. The Midhirst school picnic, which was to have been held at East Erid, did not take place, the train arrangements being cancelled by the promoters the previous day. David Low, New Zealand's only caricaturist of note, whose latest book is attracting much attention, once used his remarkable gifts in the service of the Law. At the age of thirteen, one night he happened to be sitting in the gallery of a theatre in Dunedin. During the interval, his attention was attracted to two men of a somewhat repulsive appearance. The young artist, always on the lookout for copy, took out his notebook and rapidly sketched the villainous couple. The sequel came two or three days later, when the same two men appeared before the Magistrate’s Court on a charge of burglary. In attempting to establish an alibi, the accused denied having been in the theatre on the night before the offence was committed. Mr. Low, sen., who was in the court, remembered having seen a sketch of the men in his son’s notebook. As a result young Low was summoned as a witness for the Crown. He stood up in the witness-box, hardly reaching the top, and gate his evidence against the men. The rest of the story is best told in Low’s own words: “To my dying day, 1 shall never forget the looks of concentrated hatred on, the faces of the prisoners as I showed the magistrate my sketch-book. If looks could have killed, there would have been a dead boy in the witness-box.” —Christchurch Star,

A fully furnished private hotel is advertised for lease on page 1 by \V. H. a/id A. McGarry, Eltham.