NEWS AND NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 December 1932, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

THE PILLAR OF FIRE. A Cardiff engineering firm lia s produced a novel street traffic signal which at night time looks exactly like a pillar of fire. It is a red pillar mounted on a yellow base, with yi white cap at the top. The cap has black-edged fins. A powerful lamp concealed in the top floodlights the pillar, which stands out bold and arresting, though without the glare, to warn the oncoming motorist. Cardiff has already adopted the pillar of fire. TRUNKS ON WHEELS. The newest invention in the way of luggage is a rank with’ a small wheel at one end, so that it can ho moved easily. It was shown at, 11,1 exhibition in the Textile Exchange, Ludgato Hill, London. All the exhibitors were manufacturers of leather goods, and they wore all trying to show what they ha cl done to meet the needs of people taking a pleasure cruise. When the pleasure cruise first became popular it was obvious that the fashion would help British shipping; but it helped other people as well — tho folk who make luggage and rugs and clothes. FINED ONE PENNY.

Two shopkeepers who were summoned by the London County Council recently under the Shop Hours Act were, at Westminster, fined one penny each. In one case a small quantity of cheese was sold at 8 p.m., and in the other case a purchase was made of a small quantity of peas and mint.

The magistrate. Mr Hopkin Morris, in imposing Id fines, said he did not like to stop people earning a living. Mr Griffiths, for the London County Council, said the council’s view was that the law had to be administered. Mr Morris: I have administered it. EXPERIMENT IN BARTER. It is reported from Falkirk in Scotlad that a number of unemployed men have determined to help each other by performing work directly for each other without the use of money. It is a most interesting experiment in barter. An old building has been taken, and the men, by common agreement, are to work for each other for a stated time. The shoemaker mends shoes, the carpenter make s wooden articles, and so on. By this means these enterprising men hope to eke out their subsistence on unemployment pay, while making a real addition to their incomes by work which they could not afford to command with money. AMERICAN LION HUNT. All America has been laughing heartily at the efforts oi a fcjt. uoue leather manufacturer, Mr Denver IvVright, to capture the thrills oi a lion hunt without grossing the ocean to the continent where full-blooded lions roam at large. Purchasing two caged fiioneeses, named Nelli© and Bess, from a bankrupt circus proprietor he set forth with his two sons, his plumber, his barber, and three s mall dogs to find a suitable jungle in which to let loose Ills beasts.

For over 1000 miles he wandered, with county sheriffs chasing him and threatening him with arrest. At last he found an ideal spot, an island in the Mississippi covered with a dense thicket. The .party was transported across and the following crowds lined the river bank s to watch. The lions were released and given an hour or two’s start while the hunters took lunch. Their Tuck, however,i was ■entirely out, for two sheriffs, fearing that the beasts might swim to shore and terrorise the neighbourhood, crossed over to the island and killed them. Thru ended America’s first lion hunt. magpies starve raven. How a pair of magpies, either because of greed or jealousy tried to starve a raven to death was revealed recently. Their owner, a Nottingham resident, had two magpies in a large pen. Then he was given a raven, which he put temporarily 'with the magpies. The birds agreed, but in a few days the raven became noticeably thinner, its feathers lost their gK’gs, and it became dispirited. The owner doubled it 3 food supply. That had ' no effect, and so, in order to save its life, he released it. ■Some days later, when cleaning out the pen he discovered tucked away in all sorts of nooks and crannies the pieces of raw meat which he had intended for the raven. Being too replete to eat the meat themselves, the greedy magpies had secreted it, so that the raven got none.