HERE AND THERE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12636, 22 May 1919, Page 4

HERE AND THERE

.Norwich Corporation, ■who are t« huild 600 houses at a cost of £250,000, have bought the Harford Hall estate, to bo laid out as a garden, suburb. A proposal that Heligoland should bo made into a sanctuary for birds was put forward at a meeting of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at Middlesex Guildhall recently. Ijord Desborongh wrote:—“ Heligoland for a bird sanctuary instead of a hid-ing-place for submarines and destroyers .is a most attractive schemed’ The cult of tho motor-tyro boot appears to be extending, and various Gkw*. ernmejnt institutions are effecting considerable saving by this means. At the Otekaiko Special School boots are made almost entirely of old tyres, tho canvas being used for the uppers and the rubber for tho soles. Similar boots are mode at Wcreroa and Stoke. Feather bouquets nro being worn in London by women instead of flowers- A handful of ostrich feathers, in different shades, placed on the waistline at tho junction of the corsage draperies presvidod a novel effect for an evening dress seen recently. Ostrich feathers, uncurled and arranged as a fringe, are also seen outlining the tunics and panels of some of the new indoor frocks for spring wear. A statue to the memory of Gotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, is to bo erected in Auckland. The entire cost of providing the statue is to be ; defrayed by Mr J. M. Mennic t who mode the announcement at tho last meeting of the St Andrew Scottish Society. Mr James Oraigie, M.P., for Timoru, is to lecture on Robert Burns on tho next anniversary of the poet’s birthday. The I/ongton appeal case was dis-> cussed at a meeting of the Wellington!, branch of the Railway Officers’ Instn tute, and the following motion was car-' ried: ‘ 1 Th& Wellington branch of the) Railway Officers’ Institute emphatically protests against the unjust application of the veto of tho Minister oil Railways in'.the recent Long ton appeal case. Such a ruthless misuse of power in setting aside the unanimous decision of the board robs an appellant of any chance of obtaining justice, and, further, reduces tho board to a farce.” It was announced recently that the Admiralty had promised to give New Zealand an up-to-date aud larger vessel to replace the Amoknra as a training ship. Tho Minister of Marino (too Hon T. M. Wilford) states that the two; ships offered by the Admiralty , were not suited to the Dominion’s requirements,, and the Cabinet, has therefore decided! that Commander, Hooper, of the Ampkura. shall go to England to select :u ship suitable to our needs/'and bring it!. to New Zealand. Mrs Beatty, an American, reported to tbe London police too loss of a handbag valued at about £IOOO. The bag, Of platinum and gold squares studded with diamonds* and having a plain gold top with a diamond-studded knob fastening, was taken by Mrs Beatty to a. private dance given w an American,in a West End house, hire Beatty carried the bag on her Wrist during the evening, hut about one o’clock in the morning she placed it on the piano while she wont to another room to fetch her wraps. When she returned tho bag had disappeared. The extortions practised by small and unscrupulous traders on Canadians and Australian soldiers in London continue to call forth protests from the men (says the “Daily 'Mail ’’)• Barbers are alleged to be the worst offenders. “ I’ve been asked 8d for a shave and Is for a hair-cut in a barber’s shop where I feel certain that the ordinary run of prices is much lower,” Said one Australian. All Australian Sergeant who complained of small traders’ extortions in a particular district added: “I toiuk we get pretty well treated by the big shops in London generally,” The only instance of a rainless month) in the history of Auckland is February,! 1909, states the “ New Zealand Her-, aid.”. At this period no vain fell from January 30 to March 11; The February ..of 1908 was also remarkable in that) the total rainfall of .54in for the month represented only one-seventh of. too average for forty years. Fehrriar'yi ' of toe present year also had a low rainfall. The total registered was Jilin,; which was 2.13 in below the average over sixty-six years. February .also has supplied the two highest monthly totals on record, that of 14.15 in in 1869 and that of 12.67 in in 1917. A West End (London) jeweller states that there is hardly any sale nowadays for tiepins, which were at one time almost essential to a well-dreSsed man. They wore on toe wane before the war, but now, with so many men. Oi>. their return to mufti, wearing regimental! ties, they will almost become extinct. It, has long been considered a serious offence to wear a tiepin with any tic which expresses membership of a club or regiment- There seems to bo, howver, no copyright in the matter of tics, and the only time one does see a flashy pin thrust through toe exclusive red and blue colours of the Guards’ tie is when it is adorning the nock of a member of sonic out-of-the-way suburban cycling club. The “ Lokalanzeiger ” learns from competent quarters "that , before the seizure of lyis private- fortune by the, • present Government, the ex-Kaiser was remitted 600,000 marks through Dutch banks. When the ex-Kaiser expressed a wish for an advance on his property for the purchase of Dutch landed property, the Government, placed 1,000,000 marks at his disposal. For the rest!, alii legal questions connected with the"l’utore treatment of the ex-Kaiser’s property are heiuig investigated by a Commission. comprising representatives both of the Government mid the .ex-. Kaiser, ns well as non-official experts.: ■ It is already said to be certain that the ex-Kaiser’s own private fortune will l ' be quite untouchedAn interesting feature of the Papuans development, according -to Judge 'Murra.y? lias been tbe extent to which jiatires of the Territory have como by degrees to take -a more important part in it (says the 'South Australian Register”), He refers particularly to tho remarkable way in which these native, l 3 savages of the Stone Age, all of! them, not much more than a generation ago - —have adapted themselves'to civilisation. At present, he says, nearly nil the oil launches in tho tern ton- ar'd run by natives, many of the sailing boats are sailed by them: tbev build' boats and houses; and are beginning to find employment as clerks, aud can ored ho taught such delicate work'as skin grafting. Tho medical officer at Samarai even entrusts to a native the administration of anesthetics for surgical operations. The Government will shortly be able to do something to assist in the education of tho native, both primary and technical. The necessary funds will be raised by native taxation, a Bill for which lias already been passed. The Government Statistician’s “ cost of living” index number for the three food groups for the mouth of March (Dominion weighted average) is 1595. a decrease of 17 points as compared with the February number, and an increase of 40.65 per cent ou the number tor July, 1944. The data from winch the rent index number is calculated arc* collected only half-yearly, and if the Tost ascertained rent index number (February, 1919) be combined in its proper proportion witn the index number tor the three food groups, it is found that toe war increase in food and rests since July, 1914, is 28.18 per cent. It js not practicable at present to calculate index numbers to show tile increase in retail prices over the whole of the domestic expenditure of an average household ; but the three food group s and! rent, in regard to which the above increase of approximately 28 per emit has taken place, cover tho mast important and necessary items in the aver- \ ago domestic expenditure, and formmore than half of i-hp total. Tu some, liable to revision.