BREEZES

Wairarapa Daily Times, 29 December 1931, Page 4

BREEZES

' A Hop Crop. By fertilising his ranch freely, planting it scientifically, and cultivating it with diligence, a Colorado farmer recently harvested 30 bushels of grasshoppers to the acre. *■ * * Shortage of Husbands.

A serious shortage of husbands is suggested by the publication of the voters’ lists for the nine Parliamentary divisions in the county of Cheshire. In each district the women voters outnumber the men, and the total excess of women over men in the county approaches 30,000. . # * * Town with Perfect Baby.

That it possesses the perfect baby is the claim made by Halifax, England. Twins on view at the town’s baby show were adjudged 99 per cent perfect One mother proudly stated that liei baby weighed 121 b when he was born, and had been singled out for special merit at three different shows. * * * Duke Must Sell Estate.

The Duke of Norfolk, England’s premier earl, marquis and duke, has been forced to offer for sale the histone estate, Arundel, seat of the House of Howard since before the Norman conq Some time ago the duke sold Ins town house and a number of famous heirlooms, but now the mam estate, which surrounds the finest mediaevel castle in England, has to go. It is stated that if he were to die Ins successor would be wiped out by death duties 1 ’ T*l The duke, who is just over 21, is not a robust young man. He failed m examinations both at Sandhurst Military School and Oxford. The King gave him a personal commission m the Roy Horse Guards, but he is already on the retired list. He succeeded his father as the sixteenth Duke of Norfolk in 191/, inheriting an estate of about 48,000 acres. The dukedom was created m * * *

School Pees. The playing fields of Eton are facing their Waterloo. Nothing for generations has evei. troubled their sancitity or the who e splendour of the fountain-head of the English public school system. That is, until quite recently, n en a faint cloud .grew in the skj cloud of depression. . , It magnified as dividends slumped and income tax increased. It burst as suddenly when economy became the pass-word and the demon income tax hovered at 5s in the pound. _ . Parents began to write in increasing numbers asking house-masters '' v ie there was any possibility of school fees being reduced. . ■lt costs £230 a year to send a. boy Eton, without, of course, considering the numerous extras that grow to gar gantuan size each term. Two hundred and thirty pounds, plus £62 10s deducted at-source for income tax, represents the income derived at 5 ,per cent from £6OOO. **■ , *

“Prejudice Against U.S.A. “There seems to be a sense of P ie judice in New Zealand against the United States, which would not e. of her people understood the economic situation,’’ said Dr. A. F. Grlmore, o Boston, Mass., in an interview Hamilton. There was a misunderstanding, he added, and a resentment agains the United States tariff laws, but i should be remembered that nearly < per cent, of the imports were admitted duty free. Referring to war debts lie said that many people talked a ou cancellation, but they did not realm that the United States had to raise the full amount of the money to paj 101 own citizens. During the war a drive was made to persuade people to buy war bonds. Rich and poor aline subscribed to them. The poor went to their little treasuries and bought bond , some even on the instalment P lan - Every dollar mus raised would, it debts were cancelled, have to be nturned to the investors by taxation, or by some other means. That, however, did not relieve America of the need of modifying or cancelling altogether all her debts. It would mean a process of education, the same as that found necessary to persuade the people of the United States to enter the war. One trouble was that the average per son in the Middle and Far West did not think internationally, as did those on the Atlantic seaboard.