REMARKABLE CASE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 244, 14 October 1937, Page 9

REMARKABLE CASE

SALE OF SPECTACLES CUSTOMERS WERE SATISFIED PALMERSTON N., Oct. 12. *fo estimate the error in refraction in the human eye and prescribe a lens to correct that error is, under the Opticians Act, the sole privilege of a registered optician. That, however, does not prevent anyone from going to a shop where spectacles can be purchased and making his or her own selection without the aid of the vendor. In other words, a purchaser tries on several pairs and takes the one which he thinks suits him best. Percy Gerald Hendra, of Wellington, however, hawks spectacles from door to door and, because it was suggested that he gave advice in selection and produced a chart for reading purposes, he had to face three charges in the Palmerston North Magistrate’s Court. The first was that he practised as

an optician without having first qualified. The second and third charges were that he practised as an optician without having secured his annual licence to do so. The second and third charges were dismissed, the magistrate holding that there was no evidence to substantiate them. On the first charge, however, he reserved his decision.

A remarkable feature of the case was that all the witnesses who had bought glasses from the defendant declared that they were perfectly satisfied with their purchases. The evidence disclosed that the defendant, on calling at a house, would display a case full of spectacles, allowing the customer to try them on until a pair was found that suited. However, if one eye was weaker than the other, by keeping the better eye shut he would find a pair of glasses that suited the worse eye and then change the lenses to meet the needs of each eye separately.