NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3696, 27 September 1927, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

There is one £>oliceman to every 1312 persons, in New Zealand and the upkeep of the force costs 5s BJd for each inhabitant. No State in Australia has so. economical a force, Victoria being, the . closest with its cost of 8s o£d an inhabitant. Queensland, which has a policeman to every 743 people, heads the list in extravagance, the cost being 11s 9d.

Legal phraseology at times bewilders “the man in the street,” as was shown by an incident at the Timaru Magistrate’s Court the other day, when a defendant in a case was told by the court orderly to “stand down” (remarks the ,Post). Defendant remained standing. “ ‘Stand down’ really means sit down, you know,” came the aside from, Mr. J. Emslie, one of the solicitors in court. Defendant hurriedly) resumed his seat.

A story showing the ingenuity, of the rabbit in protecting itself in time of flood comes from Mataura Island. On the occasion of the recent heavy rains a farmer who had some sheep in a paddock subject to flood shifted his flock overnight to a safer paddock. Included in these were 10 ewes with lambs, which broke from their place of .safety during the night and returned to the home paddock. During the night the field was submerged, and when the farmer came on the scene next morning he found the sheep huddled together on the highest point of the section in about 2ft. of water, their lambs drowned, and a rabbit safely perched on the back of each sheep.

A rumour was current in Timaru the other night that a store had been broken into (says the Herald). The rumour proved to be well founded, but inquiry revealed that the “breaking” had not been intentional. A young couple had seated themselves on the doorstep of the store in question, and had become so absorbed in conversation as not to notice how heavily they were leaning against the door, which was an old one. Suddenly the door gave way, and just at that moment a passerby , erroneously concluding that the store had been broken into, gave the alarm. A constable was quickly on the scene, and the discomfiture of the young couple may be imagined when explanations had to be made. ' Mark Twain once said: “Woman is a conundrum —but I will never give her up!” This was in allusion to the changeable views of the adorable sex. . The sex is certainly apt to alter its point of view. Time was when ladies “couldn’t bear tobacco smoke” —said it made them “ill.” In those days father and the boys*had to seek the seclusion of the coal-house or the backyard when they wanted a whiff. Nowadays the girls—young, old and middleaged—will tell you when tobac-co-smoke is mentioned that they

“love it!” Well, there are worse habits than smoking, and so long as the “baccy” is good and not overcharged with nicotine it won’t hurt anyone. Apropos of that, its a pity the imported tobaccos are so full of nicotine. How is it? Our N.Z. brands are almost free from it. You can smoke them “till further orders” and take no harm. Sweet, cool and fragrant they appeal irresistibly to p.ll smokers. All tobacconists stock them. Ask for “Riverhqad Gold” (mild), “Navy Cut” (Bulldog) medium, or “Cut Plug No. 10” (Bullshead) fullstrength. 72.