News in Brief

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 521, 2 August 1932, Page 6

News in Brief

Use cf Bird Lime Condemned. The Wellington Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has received reports to the effect that the practice of catching birds with bird lime is very prevalent. The society considers that this is a cruel practice, and its inspector has been instructed to deal severely with any case coming under his notice. Most of the offenders are boys. Tram Accidents. During the xnonth of June trams in Christchurch were involved in twenty-five accidents. A summary of the mishaps that was presented to the board at its meeting y-es-terday afternoon showed that there were nine collisions with motor-cars, four with trucks, two with carts and two with cyclists. There were six cases of accident through passengers alighting while trams were in motion. Two accidents came under the heading of miscellaneous. A Bargain A-begging. “ We tried to give it away, but no one seemed to want it,” remarked Mr J. Rowe, ptesident of the Auckland Trotting Club, at ‘the annual meeting, when asked about the position of the club's property at Otahuhu. He said that it had cost £36,000. The original, price was £24,000 and the sum of £12,000 had been spent on it. To-day it was offered at £IB,OOO, and no one seemed willing to take it. “We would only be too delighted to get rid of it, I can assure you,” he added. Lloyd George as Policeman. An exciting incident in the career of Air Lloyd George was recalled in the Supreme Court at Auckland when Detec-tive-Sergeant P. J. Doyle was giving evidence in a charge of taking part in a riot. Referring to his previous experience of rioting, Mr Doyle said he had been present at the Lloyd George riot in Birmingham, and was one of those who marched out of the hall with Mr Lloyd George, who was dressed in police uniform. “ I believe he did not measure up to the police standard of height,” remarked the Crown Prosecutor. “No, and he-was noticed by the crowd,” said Mr Doyle. Not Healthy Playthings. There have been so many accidents through children playing"”with detonators, and when it was reported to the Hastings police that a house, used as a storeroom by one of the big firms, had been broken into and a quantity of detonators stolen, action was quick and thorough. Some of the detonators were found lying outside the building, and the indications were that they had been stolen by children. First thing in the - morning the police visited all the schools in the town and described the detonators and warned the children of •the very real danger of playing with the things. The use of an ordinary house for the storage of explosives also came in for some discussion in Hastings., Black and Tan Shoes. According to the manager of an Auckland boot company, the demand for tan shoes, particularly men’s, has increased considerably within the last eighteen months or two years. Although unable to account for this, except by attributing it to a change of public taste, he said that he thought ‘that there was a slightly better value in tan than in black shoes. This was due to the fact that more careful selection of the hides was necessary, owing to any faults in the leather being more easily noticeable in tan than in black shoes. Another manager of a boot factory stated that there had been a fair increase in demand for tan shoes, but that black shoes still slightly led the sales. He was of the opinion that black shoes kept their new appearance longer, and would always be wanted in large quantities by the public. Incidentally, he said that the demand for shoes was now far greater than for boots. This change had come about only within the last five or six years. About (X) per cent of the footwear now worn was shoes.