HERE AND THERE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1563, 8 April 1920, Page 36

HERE AND THERE.

Mr. and Mrs. Neville Newcomb and family, Auckland, left.for England by the Athenic.

Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie Smith, Masterton, left by the Athenic on a trip to England.

Mr. R. D. Welch and Mrs. Welch, Hawera, are leaving shortly on a visit to England.

Mr. and Mrs. Victor Hyams have returned to Sydney . after a stay in Wellington.

A proposal to raise a loan of £20,000 for the erection of a bridge over the Thames River at Puriri was carried by 94 votes to 53.

The Prime Minister, Mr. W. F. Massey, is making good progress towards recovery from his recent operation and hopes to resume his normal duties after the Easter holidays.

The Prince of Wales, now en route to New Zealand, is in his 26th year. He was born on June 22. 1894,- and his 26th birthday will be celebrated while he is in Australia

Mr. W. 11. Hamer, engineer to the Auckland Harbour Board, has left on a trip to England. Mr. D. Holderness will act as engineer to the board during his absence.

Owing to a partial breakdown in health Mr. C. R. Smith, the general manager for New Zealand of the Alliance Assurance Company, intends leaving shortly for California on a lengthy holiday. He is to be accompanied by Mrs. Smith.

Mr. A, Hansen, principal lightkeeper at Taiaroa Head, is being retired on superannuation after a service of some 45 years. Mr. Hansen is the oldest of the light-keeping staff in New Zealand, and it is his intention to settle in Wellington.

Mr. George Bernard Shaw refused an offer of 1,000,000 dollars for the moving picture rights of his plays, on the ground that the sum would be greatly, reduced by the American and British taxation;

Thirty-two acres of land in the Tauranga. district, on which 500 lemon trees are growing, recently changed hands at £lB7- 10s. per. acre, a price which is believed to be a record for the Bay of Plenty. -

It is stated that accommodation at Rotorua is fully booked for both Easter and the Prince’s visit. The Grand Hotel at Rotorua has been taken over by the Government for the use of the'Prince and his suite, thus limiting the accommodation for other visitors.

It is reported in Melbourne that dressing for the Prince of Wales will be on conventional lines. The outfit for a civilian will cost, at present prices, upwards of 60 guineas. The King clings to the frock coat, which is regarded by many people as correct'for ceremonial occasions. There was a time when the frock coat — with belltopper and etceteras —was regarded as the only possible dress for an English gentleman. Times have changed, and manners, also, and the Prince of Wales favors the morning coat. In Australia this style of coat has been known as the "Beaufort.” The newest models are made with one button, or two, at the most. Full dress will be worn on the day of the Prince’s arrival in Melbourne —that is to say,. Naval and Military officer, University, civic, and other officials will wear ceremonial dress, with all decorations and appurtenance.

Mr. Donald Robertson (Public Service Commissioner) will relinquish the duties of his office at the end of April and, with Mrs. Robertson, will leave on a trip to England by the Remuera on May 24.

Widespread regret throughout the Public Service of New Zealand has been expressed at the death at sea of Mr. George Allport, late Secretary for Marine while on the way to Sydney. Mr. and Mrs. Allport were proceeding to London on a long-antici-pated trip to meet their only child, Mrs. Strauchon.

Speaking in the Supreme Court at Masterton with reference to the high land values at present ruling, the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) said that he did not think the present wave of inflation could last. He added that it was impossible to say what land values would be three years hence, and he accordingly adjourned for that period a case he was dealing with, as the judgment in the case would depend upon the value of an estate in three years’ time.

The death took place recently of one of Hawke’s Bay’s best-known settlers, Mr. Michael Edward Groome, J.P., for many years owner of the Te Onepu station, near Te Ante, which is now occupied by his son. Mr. Groome took a keen interest in public affairs, and for a number of years he was secretary of the Hawke’s Bay Hunt Club. He retired from sheepfarming a short time ago owing to failing health. * • « Considerable excitement was occasioned at the Matawhero saleyards the other day by a bullock, which became restive in the pen, and, charging at the bars, lifted a heavy gate off its hinges. The spectators, who had been following the auctioneer’s efforts, beat a hasty retreat as the infuriated animal charged down the alleyway, dragging the gate, still balanced on its neck. Swinging round the beast jammed half a dozen persons up against a fence, but fortunately the animal’s head prevented the gate being pushed close against the fence, a fact which it was generally considered saved those concerned from injury. The animal was eventually yarded elsewhere, and relieved of its weighty obstruction.

Sir Neville Howse, recently addressing the Red Cross workers in Orange, (N;S.W.), related an interesting story of a remarkable coincidence which happened at Gallipoli. After referring to different stories of how a soldier’ life had been saved by a Bible given him by his mother, and how the course of a bullet had been deflected by a love-letter from a soldier’s wife, he assured the Orange war workers that the following pretty little story was absolutely true. One day on Gallipoli an Australian colonel was badly wounded and sent to hospital. Surgeon-General Howse sent to the depot for a set of pyjamas, and in course they arrived at the hospital, nicely folded, with the coat buttoned up. While an attendant was unbuttoning the coat, a rustling noise was detected in the pocket, and on investigation a note was found from an Australian war worker, bearing a name and good wishes. The lady’s name was eagerly looked for, and to the great surprise of all, it was the colonel’s mother. “The colonel was so overcome with emotion,” said Sir Neville, “that he wept like a little child.”

Dr. John R. Elder, M.A-, of Aberdeen, has been appointed to the chair of history in the University of Otago. \ © • . • A case of special interest was decided at the Magistrate’s Court at Wanganui, when a young man was charged with being on licensed premises at a time when they were required to be closed, the defendant not being an inmate, servant or lodger on the premises, or a bona fide traveller. The evidence of the police was to the effect that the constable met the defendant speaking to another man at the entrance of an hotel a little after midnight. The defendant said that he had been invited by a soldier friend who was staying at the hotel to spend the evening with him. He did so, and was in the act of saying “good-night” at the entrance when the policeman came up. His Worship accepted the defendant’s explanation, and said that the defendant, if he were not the lodger’s bona fide guest when he entered the premises, became so during a stay of a couple of hours. The defendant’s stay upon the premises was not in contravention of the provisions of the Licensing Act, so he dismissed the information.

Recently two persons of alleged “water divining proclivities” visited Hastings, and publicly announced their willingness to locate water (states the “Hawke’s Bay Tribune”). In answer to their advertisement, several local residents, who no doubt had their mind’s eye centred on the prospects of a drought, at once availed themselves of the offer, and paid a fee of £3. Up to the present, however, there has been no appearance of the “water diviners,” and their victims, it is reported, are now endeavouring to divine their whereabouts. . s'