GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3928, 9 April 1929, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS.

Chamois .presented to the New Zealand Government ,by the late Emperor of Austria and liberated near'Mount Cook have multiplied so freely in their new habitat that an open shooting season for the anicvals has been gazetted under the control of the Wiaitaki Acclimatisation Society. In addition to chamois the holders of licenses .will be entitled ito thar, or .mountain sheep, another acclimatised animal, which has flourished in a new home. A bride .Who is to join her hus-

band in New Zealand and enjoy a honeymoon almost a year after her marriage, left Vancouver this week by the Aorangi. She is Mrs. L. W. 'Berkner, wife of the radio expert and aeroplane pilot with the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, .who was lent toy the American Bureau of Standards, and who has just been transferred for duty in New Zealand. The couple were married last May, and the husband left shortly .after 'with Com|manider Byrd. Mrs. Neville Chamberlain, wife of the British Minister for Health, in recently addressing . the West London Hospital Ladies’ Association, gave two amusing examples of present-day “cures.” “Last week,” Mrs. Ohamlberlain said, “I was staying at Yarmouth, and (the son of my host told me that to cure whooping cough he fried some spiders and inhaled the' fames. A friend of his wears the skin of an eel round his waist as a safeguard against rheumatism.” The. average New York business girl .earns to-day nearly £7 a week, according to investigations just made by American social economists among 1500 such young women selected at random (states an exchange). She spends £1 11s weekly on clothing, £2 on help for her family or for charity, and saves £l. It should ( be remembered that the terms business girl refers in America to. stenographers and clerks, and that factory and domestic workers receive much less. The

average household servant receives £3 to £4 weekly. It should 'be remembered that the cost of living in' Nejw York is much higher than it is with us. If is almost impossible to rent a bed-sitting-room for less than £2 weekly, and other expenses are .proportionately high. Teacher had been giving lessons on the Shepherd who had gone into the hills to lo'ok for the lost sheep, and, finding it, had wrapped his cloak around it and carried it back to the fold. Desiring to find out ■whether the class had grasped the lesson, she asked: “Now, children, can any of you tell me of an in - stance in which the same compassion has been shown to the suffering?” Skinn’s hand went up like a shot. “Please, miss,” he said, “father went to the racecourse once, and when he came home he told ,mulm he’d put his shirt on a horse that had been scratched.” Following upon the enactment of the Motor Spirits Taxation Amendment Act, 1908, which among other things allo|ws one month’s grace at the . close of each quarterly period for the filing of .applications for refunds iby owners of milking machines, launches, etc., amended regulations - havle been tissued, embodying the change. The Regulations made at the beginning of last year required certain documents to be attached to every application. The list of these has now been cancelled, and applicants need attach only invoices. The registrar of motor vehicles, however, may require or accept such other evidence as he flunks proper respecting the purchase of any .motor spirits. A new and rather more elaborate form of application has been provided. People get seasick, as a rule, in

a subconscious effort to correct the .movements of the ship, .writes a contributor in Tit-Bits. He says: “When the ship dips at the front we instinctively slope our .bodies backward. The regular’ sailor will lurch forward; lie does not try to recover himself. Sit upright, with the feet off the deck or floor, preferably in the open air, and yield to the motion of thje ship. If the vessel dips forward, lean forward; if jt rolls, incline in the direction in which it rolls. You will get accustomed to the motion in less than an hour. It is also desirable that a person fearing sea-siekness should (keep .as far away as possible from the' vibration of the engines and of the screw. Even when the sc-a is calm, this vibration causes a feeling of dizziness in many people.”

Au interesting memento of the fire and explosion in Gladstone road, Gisborne, last week is held by a young lady who was near enough to Ibe involved in a rush for safety when the explosion occurred. The lady was standing beside a gap in a fence, and when the rush commenced, her thought was to dive for the gap. In the execution of this thought however, she was hindered by a- youth, who grabbed her from behind and hurled her .back, following this action by himself beating a hasty retreat through the fence. The lady had sufficient presence of mind to grab at the youth’s leg as lie disappeared through the hole, and secured by why of a trophy a shoe of a type- generally favoured by (the more (d'teora'tivle dressers among the youngVmen of the town. How the youth concerned accounted for the loss of his shoe might make an interesting sequel.

An unusual ease of interference with private property, involving a possible danger to human life, is reported by the Daily Telegraph. Mr P. P. Higgins, of Napier, left his car in a parking place in Hastings where he is at present living, the other night and drove it into Napier this morning. On the way

in .with Mrs. Higgins lie noticed that the vehicle whs swaying in an un» usbaljiniahner on the road. He surmised that .a tyre had punctured. This, however, proved on investigation not to be .correct and Mr. Higgins continued his journey to Napier, although .lie experienced difficulty in steering the car. On arrival in Napier Mr. Higgins had a closer inspection of the vehiclo made, when it was discovered that someone had loosened all the nuts on the detachable rear wheels out to the last thread, thus giving the wheels play while the car was running. A new bre'ed of sheep, which is claimed to have very useful qualities, has been evolved by Mr. R. E. Beattie, a Woodville farmer, says the “Wairarapa Daily Times.” It ha's been given the name of Reform. It was originally bred from registered Lincoln ewes and Ryeland rams, and then bred up on similar lines to that by which the now wellknown Corriedale has .been established. After several years of careful selection and breeding the Reform .sheep have now become estab - lished into Compact animals, well covered with dense, fine wool and uniform character. They are of dual purpose characteristics and are early maturing. Then;, wool at the sales last year -realised 22;id, and the ewe hoggets-averaged 12 Jib. It is claimed that their lambs outweigh those of many other breeds of sheep, age for age. Mr. Beattie says that it has .been found that lambs by Reform rates, from ordinary flock ewes, -and not sold as fats, become pi'ofiibajble sheep to hold.

The dirt-track'motor-cycling races <a’t Wellington on Saturday provided some thrills and mishaps. M. Graham (Australia) experienced a heavy fall early in the evening when riding well and received a slight injury to his 'mouth and his machine was wrecked. The mishap occurred iu thei fourth beat of the Speedway Farewell Handicap, when, after going .one and a-quarter laps, D. Mariagh (N.Z. dir't-tratek champion) fell heavily while broadsiding on a .bend. The field was travelling at a terriffi'e .pace and Graham was close behind Mamag'h. Owing to a spray of cinders flying -into the Australian’s face 'from Managh’s back .wheel, In?did not see the latter rider fall and in an instantGraham rode over him as he lay on the track. Graham and his machine turned .almost a complete somersault in the air, and it waste are d that he had been severely injured. Manlagh was not injured by his fall, but on being struck by Graham’s machine, 'the New Zealander’s left thigh snapped. Graham, although .severely shaken, and suffering from an injured mouth, jumped up and ran back to pull Managli ,off the track and out of danger of being struck by the other riders.