MISCELLANEOUS.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXIII, 22 December 1920, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

Says the Carterton paper: “A Carterton dairy farmer recently .sent twelve calfskins to Wellington for public auction. His return showed that ten were sold at an average of 2.s each. Later he received three twopenny stamps, which he was informed, represented the gross proceeds of two cut skins unsold at auction. Killing calves is not the paying proposition ir was last year. And yet the price of leather goods keeps up!”

A determined effort is to be made by an American scientific expedition to discover the remains of the “miss-

ing link” between monkey and man. ICarly next year the expedition, headed by Mr Andrews, associate curator of mammals in the American Museum of Natural History, and backed by a fund of £50,000, contributed, by several scientific organisations, will leave for the remote plateaus of Central Asia, where human life is believed by some to have originated. The leader of the expedition wisely does not promise to bring back the remains of the “missing" link,” but points out- that even if the expedition is unsuccessful ui that respect the regions visited should yield rich discoveries, and should also blaze the way for commerce. From this point of view the expedition may conceivably be more successful than its scientific aim.

Desiring to secure a . uitablo lodging tor himself and wife while on a holiday visit to Auckland during the Davis : Cup tourney this month, a gentleman o£ modest mc-ans resorted to the espendient of advertising in one of the Auckland papers. He is still laughing at the result. Only encaniwer was received, offering the use of a small flat containing one double bedroom, a lounge, a kitchen, and “a beautiful view of the harbour,” for the modest sum of £ls 15? per week, one mouth’s rent to" be paid in advance. The idea of having to part up with £t>3 for the use of a small flat, for a month and on top of that to have to supply hi? own meals, struck him as ludicrous. Only his sense of humour prevents him sending the letter on to rhe Prices Investigation tribunal. It was stated that after the tennis tourney the rent of the flat will be “only” £o S? per week.

There is a lull in the house property business in Christehurch. Vendors for the most part (states an exchange) are holding out for the high prices of the full-boom period, and prospective buyers axe hanging back. Three causes are given for the slackness that has overtaken the trade: (1) Restriction au o redrafts; (2) withdrawal of speculators; and (3) approach of holiday season. House agents argue that the calm is only temporary, and {hat .there will be a revival by February. Experts who dim to be impartial say that prices aregoiug to fall, nor "because building will become cheaper, but because many owners will need the cash.