LATE CABLE NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 30 December 1931, Page 3

LATE CABLE NEWS

AUTOMATIC AGE. SHOP WITHOUT SHOPKEEPER. LONDON, Dec. 17. “A shop without a shopkeeper,” is the latest development of the automatic age. Mr E. U. Baker, of Woiking has constructed a touacconist s where the customer walks in, selects his requirements, puts in the money, presses a button and the purchase and change come out. Mr Baker is constructing shops on a larger scale which will shortly be installed in 'London, and will supply proprietary articles, from a box of pills to a pound of tea; If . STUDENT’S PRANK, A BERDEEN 1N Cl DE NT . LONDON, Dec. 18. “How long?” asks the bunday Times,” “is the si 111-hatted skeleton perched on the pinnacle of the Mitchell Tower of the famous Marisehal Callege at Aberdeen to remain the cynosure of the city ? ” It was placed in position 250 it U’ olll thq ground by an adventurous undergraduate a week ago, and, braving the wind and rain, has been gazed oil o.v thousands, yet the authorities have not removed, it. Apparently, like true Aberdonians, they grudge the cost m providing a steeplejack. The after climbing l/.si'i the inside stairway, scaled the remaining 75 feet outside the granite spire, despite a stiff breeze, with the skeleton tied to his back. The skeleton, which has been roped to the weatlievane in a ridiculously perky attitude, is a skull affixed to a life-sized wooden frame arrayed in white pyjamas and with the hand pointing to the sky. UNCLOTHED ‘“CULT.” SPREAD OF NEW CREED. VANCOUVER, Dec. 18. “True modesty begins when 1 l as t rag of clothing has left the human body.” That is the creed oi the mid-dle-aged men, and rather fat, matronly women, have combined, in an extreme back-to-nature movement, according to the magazine, “Nudist, which they have just issued. The magazine states that the growth of the unclothed cult in' New York has been rapid since it crossed the Russian Riviera, the coast of the Crimea, swept through. Germany, and was pioneered in the United States. Professional “nudists” boast that they will make a test Court case of. the recent raid op a ‘“nude” studio, and im the event ol victory will begin a great membership drive.

According to the magazine, nothing very startling goes on at “cult ’ meetings.

Men and women troop forth in gymnasium suits, and for half, an hour engage energetically in throwing handballs about or playing leap-frog. This removes, any remnants of self-con-sciousness. A whistle blows; doors are locked ; the class disappears, to return a .moment later unhampered by any vestige of clothing. A group where some are partly dressed is regarded ns demoralising and embarrassing.

• There is an “‘outlaw” or left-wing branch of the nudists, who practise nudism without the benefit of sunlight or fresh air.. REEKS WITH GRAFT. 9 NEW YORK REVELATIONS. NEW YORK, December 18. Mr Samuel Sea bury, counsel assisting the Parliamentary committee which is investigating allegations of vice, graft and civile maladministration, declared that he'..would prove soon that every municipal department reeks with graft. inough the committee lias had before it an imposing array ol city officials, vice and prohibition, policemen and bootleggers who, on small salaries, tailed to explain • bank accounts ol £20,000, £4O,UuO, or / £20u,000, it is known tliat ->xr Sea bury s big bomu wnl be withheld until next year, so that it will explode as the Presidential campaign approaches. Mayor Walker will be an important witness then, and if irregularities are revealed iNew Yorks Governor, I ranaliu D. Roosevelt, now boomed as the Democratic Presidential candidate for 1932, may face the choice of repudiating powerful Tammany support by removing Walker or a people’s revolt for inaction. The committee’s investigations have shown that Murray Birnbaum ; a convicted bootlegger, Banked £250,000 since his .release, from a Federal penitentiary in-1922. The chief City Court attendant, Edward on an annual salary of £750, deposited in eight banks over £31,200 in six years. ART DEGRADED. EPSTEIN’S PROTEST. LONDON, December 18. The belief that his art is bd.ng degraded by its association with trade, has prompted the famous sculptor, Jacob Epstein, to make an indignant protest against the exhibition of his statue, “Genesis,” now the property of Mr Alfred Bossom, M.P., as “‘a sideshow in a trade exhibition, which is disgraceful to people of any sensibility.” ,

The statue is being displayed at a West Bromwich tradesmen’s exhibition, to which Mr Bossom lent it. It is laoeiled: “Genesis, by Epstein. The mystery of life. The wonderful creation attracts as it repulses. Proceeds to your local hospital. Admission 3d.”" ’ „ Mr Bossom, in an interview, says tluit he is assured that ‘'Geiiekis” was not placed among the. trade exhibits, but shown separately 16i*“ the hospital funds. {• ' An official of the West Bromwich Corporation, which merely hiked the hall to the exhibitors, agrees that the statue is unsuitably shhwri, being in a corridor behind a plot bf artificial grass with small trees and flower pots alongside it. The effect is 'lnebiignious »n- 1 very bqdvi. People/simply look and laugh ‘. without understanding. They , think it is an amusing sideshow. “CUTS ” AT OXFORD. UNDERGRADS ECONOMISE. LONDON, Dec. 18. Oxford University, once regarded as the resort of the wealthy, is now economising thoroughly, as business houses and undergrads are cutting expenditure in every direction, not oiily because lavishness is out of fashion, but because they do hot possess.. the money. . ( • ’ Merton College took the lead.; \ -A bursar, noticing that many undergrads were applying for advances, and seeking to postppne payment of bills, called a meeting and proposed various economies, including the renunciation of dances, bump suppers, and plays. These suggestions were enthusiastically received, whereupon the authorities inaugurated cheap teas and a three-course dinner for Is 9d, which have proved so popular that nearly all undergrads taking .advantage; of them. The econpmies are saving many £3O a year. Other colleges have formed a committee of economy experts to devise reductions m expenditure: 1 •