NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2573, 28 April 1923, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

The Lord Mayor of London has opened a “Save the Victory Fund,” asking for £150,000 to restore Nelson’s flagship. While angling from Eastbourne pier, Mr Thomas F. Foreman, of the Wye Agricultural College, Kent, landed a weighty metal object containing what looked like gold in crude metal form. On the usual acid test being applied to the “catch” about three quarters of a pound of the pure substance proved in fact to l>e pure gold. “It is not every day that a man is mistaken for the Prime Minister,” said the Hon. E. H. Clark, at a deputation to Mr Massey in Palmerston South. Mr Clark went on to explain that a little boy had come honn» from school that day and told 1 1 is parents that a big man. like Pat Collins had come along and given them a holiday. “If you come so seldom to see ns,’’ said Mr Clark, “you cannot blame the boys for mistaking you for Pat Collins.” It would he interesting <,-> know where, a letter that has just been returned to a resident, of Christchurch has been during (ho past eight years (says the Christchurch Sun). It was addressed to a member of the Otago Battalion who was believed to be a prisoner of war in Turkey, but who was subsequently posted as being killed in action. The letter bears all the stamps of the various censors which were familiar during the war. Despite its long sojourn abroad, it has been returned to the sender in an excellent state.

“A donkey in the lion’s skin” was the terse description applied by Mr Justice Frazer in the Arbitration Court to the cooks and stewards' award in respect to certain small steamers recently held at Wellington. It was admitted that the award was bristling with complexities, and the Judge remarked that, if he had his way, he would be inclined in the case of small vessels running on what practically was a ferry service, to insert a clause, similar to the hotel-work-ers' hours clause, instead of tlie intricate provisions that now existed.

A belief in the future of the Themes goldfields was expressed by the lion.. A. M. Myers nt the Thame- Old Boys' reunion on Saturday' evening states an exchange. Mr .Myers said he believed that more gold would yet come out of the Thames than had ever been got, but owing to the exigencies of the times the gold-bearing area had not been exploited in recent years. He hoped to be able to associate himself with the movement for the development of the held by assisting in the formation of a company in London with the object of giving the area more thorough test than it had so far received. This statement was received with appreciation and enthusiasm by those present. Three male -passengers who sailed for Sydney by the Royal Mail steamer Niagra on Saturday were so busy talking to friends on the wharf that they failed to notice that the gangway had been pulled ashore. They realised their position as the mooring lines were being let go and hastened to board the vessel. The tide happened to be low and one of the men climbed up a rope, but owing to-his lack of agility he made an undignified landing on the vessel, being hauled over the rail after the manner of a sack of vegetables. This spectacle deterred his two companions from following his example, and they boarded the steamer by' means of a convenient port hole. —Auckland Herald.