ROUND THE TOWN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19867, 15 June 1927, Page 8

ROUND THE TOWN

Business in the manufacture of woollen goods is brisk at the present time, and numerous outside orders arc being carried out at the Wanganui Wooiien Mills at Aramoho.

Strange languages are frequently required to be interpreter! in legal actions. Yestendciy, in the Wanganui Magistrate’s Court, a witness was called upon to interpret Arabic.

The housing position is now not an acute one in Wanganui, and there are numerous flats and houses vacant in the city and suburbs at rentals more mod-crate than those asked recently.

Excellent progress is being made '*ith the construction of the new theatre at Aramoho. The theatre is being built with the view of meeting the demands of the large population in upper and lower Aramoho, .and the area across the river.

Weather conditions yesterday were a welcome change to Monday's wind andrain, and many more suburban and country people came to the city in consequence. Shipping movements were resumed anid several steamers took their clearances from Wanganui.

Moutoa Gardens, one of the city’s most peaceful spots, is a recognised rendezvous for numerous old residents. On any .fine day, groups of elderly men frequent the gardens and engage in close conversation—undoubtedly the accepted topics of old men, politics an-d incidents of former days.

Apparently falling in with the generally pleasant outlook yesterday, the Wanganui river assumed what was practically its usual tranquil appearance. There was a slight discolouration in the waters, but there had cvi-d-cntly been only a meagre rainfall upcountry, as there was no definite fresh visible in the river.

Arabic has its varied constructions, although it perhaps a-oes not present to the student such complications as arc provided for foreigners by English. A witness at the Wanganui Police Court yesterday said he had learnt Arabic as a boy in an English college in Syria, but there were widely different branches of the tongue.

Overseas vessels expected to discharge cargo at Wanganui within a month or so are the Ihumata ana the Gabriella, from Sydney and Newcastle, the Wirral, from New York, and the Persian Prince, from Nauru Island. The freighters Port Auckland and- Cumberland will lift Home cargo here shortly.

During the past week or two there has been considerable improvement in the butter market at Home and this has been reflected in the form of an increase in price for the commodity in Wanganui. Recently there was an advance of one penny and this was followed on Friday by another similar rise.

Although the present period is generally looked upon as a slack period for goods traffic on the railways, business has been fairly brisk at the Aramoho yards. A steady output from the fertiliser works and the woollen mills is chiefly responsible, while local nurserymen are also contributing to a large degree.

Humour is never entirely absent in a courthouse. Yesterday at the Wanganui Police Court, Mr J. S. Barton, S.AL, remarked that the famous Mark Twain once learned Arabic, and a group of listeners stood round while he interpreted. There was one toothless old man who could not understand a word. The others said that he spoke 7 'gum” Arabic.

At the Police Court, there are generally a few representatives of the public taking an interest in the procedings. Some merely call out of idle curiosity, while others arc well-known figures in the courthouse. One old man makes his appearance practically every day at the local hall of justice, am I. listens eagerly to the evidence, however uninteresting it may be.

With the interest at present being shown in Maori affairs in Wanganui and district, it is interesting to note that the establishment of a school in Rotorua for the preservation and teaching of Maori arts and crafts, is assuming definite shape. A building of finely-carved-' timbers has been secured by the Government in Ohinemutu for the -display of carvings and other native works, which will probably include some from the Wanganui district.

"The Government is very dilatory in this matter of unemployment, and is only acting now because there is a pistol at its head.” —Mr J. Siddclls, speaking at a meeting of the committee of the Wanganui District Unemployment Fund yesterday afternoon.

There are 240 men on the City Council’s books waiting for work. The Labour Department has 67 registrations, four more than last week. During the week four men were placed in private employment.

At a meeting of the Wanganui District Unemployment Fund Committee yesterday afternoon, a member said that when unemployed men went in search of work, such as felling trees, some of them asked for 16s or 20s a day. An unemployed man who was present at the meeting said that ho was willing to work for the basic wage and if any man said he would not work for less than £1 he should go idle. Mr E. W. F. Gohns, of the Labour Department, said he rarely found a man who would not work for 12s a day.

Yesterday, at the Wanganui Magistrate’s Court, judgment was entered for plaintiffs in the following undefended cases:—Wanganui Traders’ Association v. E. O. Elizabeth Hague, £1 15s; Burnett and Brown v. Tau Paranihi, £5 Ils 3d.; Wanganui Traders’ Association v. A. E. Pi-ddock, £l6 6s 9d; G. S. Howat and Co. v. P. Butler, £6 17s; J. P. Cowie v. Hawke’s Bay Poultry Suppliers, £3 0 6d; S. Wright and Co. v. J. Kilkolly, £4B 9s; Co-operative Motor Supplies, Ltd-., v. P. Butler, £6 18s 6d. In judgment summonses, Ralph Voicey was ordered to pay J. F. Ross £4 9s 6d, in default five days’ imprisonment; Rangi Hacreroa Arapita was ordere-d to pay J. F. Ross £9 7s 6cb, in defult 11 days’ imprisonment; R. H. Arapita was ordered to pay Alfred Carter £2 IBs, in default three days’ imprisonment; and R. H. Arapita was ordered to pay R. Lazarus £2 19s, in default three -days ’ imprisonment.