LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19352, 4 September 1934, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Improvement In Condition.—Although T. \V. Gray, who was knocked off his bicycle at the corner of Grey and Bridge Streets on Friday evening, is still unconscious, the Waikato Hospital authorities .state that his condition shows a slight Improvement.

Methodist Sun.day Sohoo! Union.— At a meeting of the South Auckland Methodist Sunday School Union executive oommittee the secretary intimated that the schools now affiliated number sixteen. The memners entered into further discussion regarding lesson literature.

Problem of Transport. —A giant 42ton stator casing constructed in Manchester for the Battersea power station is on its way to London by special train. Where necessary, the railway track Is being moved to allow the requisite clearance. The train stops at every signal where a special crew is ready to alter the line if required.

Pride of Race. —" The more one’s knowledge of history increases, the less one has of pride of race. There is no such thing as a pure-blooded race. We are a mixture. So when at times we are apt to overstep the mark and do something we ought not io do, we may attribute it to some old Roman soldier whose bones lie in England, but whose blood still courses through our veins.” These observations were made by Mr Claude Weston, K/C., in addressing the Wellington Rotary Club on the Roman occupation of England.

n/llners' Phthisis Pensions. letter to the Miners’ Union at Walhi relating to miners’ phthisis pensions, the Hon. M. Fagan, M.L.C., drew attention to conditions obtaining in Western Australia where the men were insured by the State office, and, in the case of total Incapacitation by pneumoconiosis, received substantially higher payments than applied in New Zealand. Mr Fagan advocated the amendment of the Workers’ Compensation Act to bring it more into line with that in Western Australia. The meeting unanimously endorsed Mr Fagan’s proposals.

Properly Bunkered. —A golfer from Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, had a rather unusual experience while playing on the Fairlie links the other day. As l.c was finishing the stroke which drove his ball from the first tee, he lost his grip on the club, which sailed over the wall of an adjoining swimming bath and disappeared into six feet of water. Several players gathered round to make an inspection, but no one was willing to dive in and retrieve the club. So permission was sought to empty the bath. This was obtained and the club was rescued.

Time’s Changes. —lt was the curious experience of the late 'Count de Gaserta, who fought against Garibaldi in 1860 and later headed the Carllst troops in Spain, to see his son marry the daughter of Alfonso XII, against whom he had fought for Don Carlos. It is not the only instance of the Romeo :nd Juliet motif in history. The Wellington and Napoleon families were united in marriage through the union of the Marquess of Wellesley with the sister of Elizabeth Patterson —Jerome Bonaparte’s first wife. Scarcely less unexpected is the fact that Napoelon’s cook was afterwards in the service of Wellington.

All Amongst the Hay. —A cow in the Halswell district will probably in the future welcome anything that looks like a flood. Her usual paddock (says the Christchurch Times) became submerged in water the other afternoon, so her owner let her into a small yard where there was a stack of hay. The yard eventually collected a lake of its own. so the cow solved the problem by climbing to the toy of the haystack and grazing there as comfortably as she did in her paddock. Her owner had some difficulty in inducing her to come down when the paddock dried sufficiently.

Essential Evidence. —A ruling as to whether he should make public details of an arrangement between mortgagor and mortgagee was sought by a representative of the Public Trustee when giving evidence in Hie Supreme Court, Hamilton, yesterday, before Mr Justice llerdman. "I am authorised lo give this evidence if Your Honour requires it, but the Public Trustee wants to know whether it is advisable for such information to be divulged," he said. llis Honour replied that in the case under consideration he was entitled to the information, otherwise he could not- decide the issues. ■

Unpleasant Experience. —An unpleasant. experience befell a -salesman in the Waipukurau district recently. Wishing to visit a farmhouse well Hack from the road, the salesman left liis car on the road and look a short cut through some paddocks. In the middle of a 50-acre paddock lie found himself surrounded by a mob of steers, drawn to him merely through curiosity. A record flash was made for a near-by tree. For an hour and a half the salesman kept to his vigil in the tree, with rain falling heavily throughout. Towards dusk he grew desperate, and cautiously retreated knee-deep through an adjacent swamp U was poor solace to him when lie arrived bedraggled at I lie farmhouse to find that Hie cattle were quite harmless.

Fashion's first choice in fabrics is admirably expressed in a glorious new range now attractively displayed in our Dress material section. The Individuality of Spring you will note in the rich and beautiful pattern effects in sudi fabrics as Crepe Sarafar, Crepe Deauville, Flairola, Flairoso. Dropslilch Voile, etc., and then the new plain shades are particularly charming in Crepe Klinore. Moss Crepe, Crepe Kglise, Lizard Skin, Crinkle Crepe Goldie and Faille and numerous other materials. The delight of the fresh colour effects will make a visit to Hooker and Kingston's Dress Department an event to be remembered.**

Now Library. —A now library at Cambridge University, built and equipped at a cost of about £500,000 from designs by Sir Gilbert Scott, is to be officially opened by the King on October 22.

Radio Singer Shot. —Russ Columbo, a radio and motion picture singer, aged 26, was shot at Hollywood last week, when a pistol _ he was inspecting in the home of a friend was accidentally discharged. lie died in hospital.

Ewe With Five Lambs —A six-tooth ewe on the property of Mr W. Lean, Hastings, has given birth to five healthy blackface cross lambs. Three of these are being reared on the bottle and the remaining two have been left with the mother.

Chinese Escapes from Gaol. —A Chinese, Yee Kee Hing, escaped from the Napier gaol between two and three o’clock on Friday afternoon. No trace has been found of him. Hing was serving a sentence of two months' Imprisonment for opium smoking. At the time of his escape he was working in the prison garden.

Death by Suicide. —At an Inquest at Sydney yesterday the coroner returned a verdict of suicide owing to mental depression and ill-health in the case of Thomas Malone, aged 67. Deceased, who was the Australian Jockey Club’s ohief detective, was killed by a fall from a window in the club's building in Sydney on August 20.

Consolenoe Money. —The Treasury Department acknowledges the receipt of the following amounts forwarded by persons unknown as conscience money to the Government: —10s, 13s and £4 forwarded to the Treasury; £1 10s to the Lands and Survey Department; 4d and £1 to the Railway Department; 5s to the Customs Department; Is 2d and 3s 3d.to the Marine Department; and 5s and £2 10s to the Post and Telegraph Department.

Claim for £l —The perigrinations of a £1 note among three parties formed the basis of a claim by Ivan Slakich against Ivan Milicich which was heard in the Magistrate’s Court, Hamilton, this morning. Slakich claimed £1 from Milicich, alleging that he had lent it to defendant. A third party, Horace Moyle, admitted liability and said that he had offered to repay Slakich, but he had declined to accept the money. Judgment was given for plaintiff, with costs. ;

Profit from Broadcasts. — It is estimated that the electrio power and light department of the Dunedin City Council benefited to the extent of £147 through people listening to the wireless broadcast of the test cricket matches in England. The city electric engineer states that the first test claimed an extra 6190 units, the second test 3250, the third .9000, the fourth 10,190 and the fifth 6760 units. The total number of extra units was 35,390, or an increase of 5.3 per cent.

Dilllnger’s Gangsters. tion with the Government’s campaign to break up the late John Dlllinger’s band of desperadoes seven persons were arrested at Chicago on Saturday. They comprised Louis Piquett, who acted as the gangester’s attorney, two suregons who performed facial operations on Dillinger in an effort to disguise his identity, and two men and two women accused of harbouring the criminal at various times. All are being held under heavy bail.

The Mamaku Sawmill. A number of men are still being employed at the Mamaku State mill stacking timber and pulling up about 70 chains of old tramline. The mill will he visited tomorrow' by the manager and the controller of stores. Cutting ceased last Wednesday. The final part of an order for the Waikato Land Settlement Society scheme is being put through and unless the Raihvays Board alters its decision in the next few days the belts will be taken off the machinery and the buildings will be closed.

Higher Dividend. The DunlopPerdrlau Rubber Company, Limited, Melbourne, has advised the Stock Exchange Association that the directors are recommending, subject to final audit, payment of the usual halfyearly dividend of 5 per cent, on preference «shares., making 10 per cent, for the year ended June 30, and a dividend of 5 per cent, on ordinary shares. The ordinary dividend last year was 4 per cent., in 1932, 3 per cent., and in 1931, 2£ per cent. In 1930, G per cent, was paid.

Generous Bequests for Charities.— Under the will of the late Mr William George David Brown, of Wellington, the whole of his estate, after specified relatives have received income from it during their lifetime, is to be used for charitable or educational purposes in Wellington. The amounts mentioned total £24,000, which sum, together with any residue from the estate, is to be controlled by a board of trustees. The testator directed that the trust should be known as “The Bill Brown Trust."

A Recovered Watch. —After being lost in a paddock at Okaiawa for six months and trampied under foot by stock, a valuable sterling silver watch (says the Ilawcra Star) was recovered by its owner some days ago apparently little the worse for its exposure to the weather and severe usage. The watch was handed to a Hawera watchmaker for cleaning, and when opened it was found perfectly dry and the movement intact, except for a broken shaft. The glass face was broken and the hands gonei but in every other respect the timepiece was in a perfect state of preservation.

Religious Instruction In Schools.— Favourable consideration of resolutions supporting the Religious Education Bill, which were carried at large public meetings in Wellington and Auckland, is sought in a open letter to the Prime Minister, tiie Rt. lion. G. W. Forbes, and (lie Minister of Education, the lion. R. Masters, by the secretary of the New Zealand Bible and Stalo Schools League, the Rev. E. O. Manures. In the letter Mr Blamires emphasises the “growing sense of injustice found in the religous section of the Dominion, due to Ihe definite handicap to religion resulting from the Slate system of primary education.”