MISCELLANEOUS.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 30 June 1920, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

“A Scotsman -wandering about tin United States with a corkscrew” was . —lir Walter Itunciman said at a Liberal Demonstration in Edinburgh— Ihe best definition of an optimist kc had recently heard. * * An Auckland j lerchant is quoted as saving that his most recent advices from England were to (he eil'cct (lint Hie demand for matches was so great there that il was not expected that any orders could bo accepted from JS’ew Zealand for a year or two. Dairy cattle in England are bringing big prices. .11; a general price bad to nc struck for cows in milk (remarks a Home paper) it,.would be returned at -fin, for that was the figure in vogue at tlie majority of the .March end sales. Here and there it was topped, to wit, C3O at Kirkby Stephen, £73 at Dorchester, £(ib at Penrith, £G7 at Salisbury, and £U3 10s at Lancaster and Carlisle. ij * * Japanese crockery, brushtvure, small goods of till descriptions, even bicycles and gramaphones are common enough in Xew Zealand shops, but Japanese condensed milk is a new one. .V tin of this milk was taken to the last meeting of the Wellington iudustial Association and brought forth expressions of surprise ranging from ‘‘That's something unexpected, even for the Japs,” to considerably more forcible remarks, but members who feared for the immediate swamping of the market by the foreign made article felt; relieved when the price was quoted at Is ltd wholesale. The [trice of Hie Xew Zealand tinned mill; is generally about .Is retail. * * Two notable sales of Auckland city property are reported. Brunswick Buildings, with a frontage of 1- feet in Queen street, and a frontage 1u High street, have changed hands for £S<i,ooo. I'almerston Buildings with .100 feet frontage to both Queen and Little ! Queen streets, and which arc erected j on a Harbour Board lease, with thirty i years to run, lurve also been sold, the -' nriee paid being £32,000. ■j ' * * t In Paris during April lust there was j a great rush to get married. In one I town hull there were do weddings on i one Saturday, and 1177 had been celof hrated there since January, HIIS. The figures for the whole of Paris show an increase of 7-3 per cent over those of preceding years. i Mr Frederick Modrn, London, in a ,j codicil to his will, said: ‘‘Owing to the fj unwarrantable• and overbearing eoni duct of Germany in embarking in the ’! war. and the misery thereof, caused to ! the whole civilised world, and in view of the possible confiscation of German property, I revoke all bequests and benefits in favour of my German rcla--1 i vcs. ’ ’ * «. * A Hamilton Borough. Councillor was awakened at an early hour the other morning by an irate resident (the ‘‘Waikato Times” reports). Upon going to tHe door he was met by the query, ‘‘ Do you know my house is under water.’” The councillor sympalliisingly replied in the negative. ‘‘You are a borough councillor, ain’t vuuJ” The councillor admitted that lie occupied that exalted position, but pointed out that he was not thereby endowed with control over the elements. and that under the circumstances he could do nothing to relieve the position, especially at the hour of I a.lii. The resident left, evidently thinking that he had a grievance against tlic councillor, and the councillor returned to lied convinced that a seat at the council table is fraught with some drawbacks not the least of which is having to bear with the menaces ol inconsiderate and irate electors. What one civic representative described as ‘‘astounding, astonishing, and staggering returns” were placed before tiie Wanganui Borough Council Hie other night as the aftermath of the Prince’s visit. Labour and material £313. supper £6Ol. and cur hire £7l 10s, were amongst the items making up a net deficit of £1433 of what one of the speakers referred to as the ‘ ‘ shivoo dr jamboree.” It was pointed out that the Council had practically delegated itself to outsiders who had ‘‘gone nap.” The Mayor said they hoped to get a subsidy of £?W from the Government f the taxpayers of Palmerston and elsewhere). A councillor: ‘‘lf we publish the details the Government might not pay the subsidy. I don’t think tve should publish details.” Another councillor: ‘‘The Government will want a copy in any case! ” fit was eventuallydecided -by"eight to three votes not to publish details). It was suggested that the press should not publish the debate. (‘‘The "Chronicle” devoted the best part of tv o columns to the iangi.) It was mentioned that the caterer’s bill was »wcdlen because of thefts and breakages; that £3O had been charged for hire of a local theatre for the eoncert; that some imported songsters had charged as much as SIS; that £2404 had been spent in decorations in connection with a “tent stunt”; that £36 had been charged for the “hire of pot plants”; that twelve lamp-posts had been erected in Cook’s Gardens without the Council’s authority as “extras” which would have to be paid for apart from the £143*5! Cr. Spriggens: “I see there were accounts for £216 from drapers. "Was there anything left.’” The,Town Clerk: "A few flags!” Cr. Spriggens: “What about the - ribbons in His Majesty's!” A j councillor: “All stolen!” Cr. -Spriggen*: “-Good gracious! And I didn’t