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Taranaki Daily News, 2 June 1934, Page 6

During the hearing of a civil claim in the Supreme Court at Napier, Mr. Justice Blair commented that there were many deserving people on relief work. “Yes, sir,” replied counsel, “I understand that there are a number of members of the legal profession on relief.” more deserving cases than that,” rejoined His Honour, amid laughter.

The pampas grass, recognised by the Maoris as a glorified toitoi, is at long last being planted as an ideal shelter against the cold blasts of winter and the scorching sun of summer, states the Manawatu Times. On one farm in the vicinity of Palmerston North over a mile of its white plumes may now be seen. In its own country of origin it is used most extensively as a shelter for stock on most boundary fences.

Natives on the African Gold Coast have taken to bicycling with such a will that the ambition of everyone is to possess a “round-legged donkey with one eye.” To satisfy this desire the British Post Office and a firm of bicycle manufacturers have co-operated, so that all the native who desires to be in the fashion has to do is to post the money, and back comes a shining' new bicycle' delivered to his door by the postman. The British manufacturing firm hit upon the idea of selling its product abroad by posting bicycles in small parcels for assembly on delivery. To facilitate matters a “parcel post” bicycle was specially constructed, thus saving much expense, for postal charges are extremely low compared with steamer or rail transport. Now all that the energetic native has to. do is to join five pieces together, a task that produces dozens of helpers, pump up the tyres, and ride off, the proud possessor of a new bicycle. A totalisator official at the recent race meeting at Bulls, conducted by the Rangitikei Racing Club, paid out £3O too much to an investor. Subsequently the amount was refunded. A Palmerston North enthusiast handed an amount to a visitor to the races to invest on the last race. The horse backed won and the person who actually purchased the tickets collected £6O odd. Apparently he did not notice the overpayment, but parcelled the money up and handed it to a third person to pay to the investor. When the cash was handed over subsequently in Palmerston North the mistake was noticed and the £3O over payment was refunded. Mr. G. Spriggens, of Wanganui, who had charge of the totalisator- at the meeting, who has had a long experience of that work along this coast, stated that this was the second occasion he recollects on which money was refunded when an overpayment was discovered. The other case was at New Plymouth many years ago.

To glance up suddenly and see a 20ft. kauri girder hurtling down from the top storey of the Capitol building was the alarming experience of one of the workmen engaged in erecting the scaffolding in front of the building in Dunedin on Wednesday morning, states the Otago Daily Times. The timber, which is 6in. by 4in., was being hoisted by means of a rope on a pulley from the verandah to the top storey, about- 50ft. up, and one of the girders had just been raised and was being pulled on to the platform at the top when it slipped. At the same moment the man standing on the verandah below looked up and sprang to one side as the girder crashed, end on, just where he had been standing. His escape from death was so narrow that the beam grazed his arm, removing some of the skin, as it landed. Fortunately it struck another girder lying on the verandah, making a heavy depression in the wood, otherwise it would have cut through the verandah like a harpoon arid possibly struck a pedestrian. The fact that deterioration was being allowed to take place on the East Coast railway was the subject of strong criticism at the annual conference of the Hawkes Bay Provincial District of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union held at Hastings, says an exchange. One delegate said that the neglect of keeping culverts opened had caused fillings to wash out, leaving the rails and sleepers hanging “like clothes out to dry.” . If a few pounds were spent in having men do ordinary maintenance work, many hundreds of pounds would be saved in having to repair fillings later on. Another described the deterioration that was going on as idiotic. For a small cost the line could be protected from damage by water. “Just recently two men with shovels could have cleared away a small slip in half an hour and saved a filling which will cost £2OO to repair.” It was remarked that the Department made a promise that when the construction was stopped, the line would be maintained in good order, and it was decided to communicate with Mr. H. M. Campbell, M.P., to request him to place the matter before the Department. Mr. M. McDonald, Land Agent, Stratford, has a few cheap properties on his books for sale. A preliminary announcement appears in to-day's News to-the effect that Newton King Ltd. will conduct an unreserved sale on behalf of Mr. Cyril James, Albert Road, on Tuesday week. In addition to the dairy herd and other stock and implements, the furniture is also to be sold. Full particulars will appear in later issues.