THE OTAKI MAIL. MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otaki Mail, 7 January 1924, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Readers of the "Mail" are notified that subscriptions in advance for the current quarter are due. By paying in advance a saving of Is may be made, and all who wish to secure this concession should do se at once.

A pathetic incident that_ had its humorous side was witnessed on. Mr. F. Brian:'s station at Tsiora dcring the recent bush fire, says an exchange. After the irst burst of smoke had passed, about -=.O four-year-old steers ware discovered lined up in a row with their heads over a fence as far to windward as they could get. Although station bred cattle, they took no notice when Mr. Briant -"went near them, the reason ox this -unusual behaviour being that every beast was weening copiously and that channels of tear s were running down ih£ir faces. The Britiih Museum reading room has been closed for its annual clsaning. and disconsolate readers are to be se=n wandering in the Bloomsbnry neighbouli22d passing the dreary hours until their beloved retreat rs restored to them, writes a Lotion correspondent. There are about 5,900,000 in the library and as a considerable crepcrtion oi them are never laiei in tie conrss or tie Tear. It "was Cofestrv PatdOXe wao said ar the jiid of his long term *- . ssrviee js miles or iiclvrj. in tie mnseum forty ftisi -s-auH contain, all i&a resl literarure ci '<&• -warid. - Ii£?» *?6 wa2?

Lost clrildrea in Japan do not long remain astray. It is the custom for parents to label their children with their addresses, so that in Case they go astray any wayfarer may send them homo.

Dog stories, like fish stories, are sometimes true. This oaoie in. and can be vouched for by several \Vangttmri bowling onrtfhusias'ls, who We taking part in a game on a local yfeen. A (bowl was sent down, and it finished wide and short. At this stage a small dog appeared on the scene, and in a ibusiness-like method it nosed the bowl gently until it rested against "the "kitty." Being a friendly game wily, the shot counted. Thelts afe fairly common at Christmas time, but the most impudent perpetrated on Ohristmas Eve happened in a Vincent street boardingnouse (states the Auckland Star). s ln this instance three lodgers shared one room, but one of ttliem was fortunate not to he home that night,, otherwise he would have (been treated in similar fashion to his room-mates. During the early hours of the morning a theft entered the room, and not only took a watch and Chain, but also removed from the finger of one of the sleeping lodgers a diamond ring. The audacitv of the act would suggest that ittie victim of the robbery Had been drugged. In the early hours of Thursday morning a motorist istarted his car outside the Masterton post .office and was not a little surprised wUien it went in the opposite direction to that intended, mounted the footpath and crashed into the brick wall of the post office isuys the Age). The motorist, not being used to the particular make of car lie was driving, had put the gear lever into reverse instead of first gear. A rear wheel was smashed to splinters and the car was damaged otheiwise, but the driver was unhurt. The post office showed eigns of the impact, a down pipe being broken and some .bricks damaged. Something in the nature of a sensation was caused at the last meeting of the Marlborough Progressive League, when the chairman ('Mr R. F. Goulter) came down with a bold and striking scheme for the prosecution of the South Island Main Trunk railway (Picton to Bluff), the essence of it being that the ratepayers of the various districts 'as far south as Cheviot should agree to ulJow themselves to. be rated to make up half of any deficiency of interest on the cost ol construction of the line for the first five years. It was stated that the Government had made only one objec tion to the completion of the. South Island Main Trunk line, that "the line would not pay." Further consideration of the schome was deferred till next meeting. The -South African natives are progressing iu present-day civilisation. They are. actually forming trades unions with a view to their regulating the rate of wages. Such was the surprising intelligence that awaited some farmers in the Northern Transvaal who approached Isang, a Bechuamiland Paramount Chief., with a view lof obtaining some native labourers lor their fanns. Isnng's reply must havfc been somewhat of a shock to lur> white deputation. He mid them very politelv that his people were organising a" native labour union with a view to regulating native wages, and that when the union was completely formed tin farmers should then make application to the native union for the labour which they required. Some real clergymen have had exciting experiences during race weeks, though perhaps not as bad as that which Dean Pigeon used to tell of an Kssex rector, who chanced to be in Doneaster on Leger day, Realising that he was likely to lose his tram home unless he hurripd, the rector bewail to run. Unfortunately about the same time someone missed a purse, and police and crowd gave chase and caught the rector. In vain he protested his innocence and mentioned his identity. "You Pickpockets are all vicars "and rectors this '.seek." was the policeman's answer, and the cap; tive was marched off to the police station, where it took a long time to persuade the inspector to accept the •evidence of his card case and send for someone to identify him.

When IJ.1 J . G. Wilmot, of St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, u carrier, stepped into the witness-box in the County Court recently in response to a judg merit summons, he was recognised by Judge Williams as a creditor. "I do not desire to hear this case, said Judge Williams. "1 owe this man some money for a couple of loads of wood and a load of malice root. I have asked him time and again to send in his account, but he has not done so.'' Wilmot: "Oh. I knew it would be al! right. 7 ' Judge Williams: "1 thought that you must haw been a very wealthy man to disregard an outstanding account for 1> months. I am sorry to sec you her..-." Wilmot: "And I am sorry to be here. 1 have had a particularly bad time lately. Judge Williams; " If you sent in your account, you would be aide to pay at least part of your debt. 1 will adjourn the case for a fortnight." Wilmot said he would do his best to adjust matters.

"The cost oi living is high wherever you go." said Mr. S.~W. Shaw, of New Plymouth, who has just returned from a trip'to England and America, "but it is perhaps less in England than elsewhere. " for good quality men's suit; English prices were less "than in Ne?* Zealand, but not a great deal less, you having to pay from eight to ten guineas for one. At fashionable tailors, however, the tost would be much more. Ladies' apparel wa, c-or.tddera.bly cheaper in London than in New Zealand. For boots you would have to pay from two to three guineas for a good pair. Taken on the whole, the New Zealander would not save a great deal by getting fitted out at Borne. Tie prices in New Zealand, taking everything into consideration, were quite reasonable by comparison with those at Home and in America.

What ha.= now turner out to be an unkind kindness was inflicted upon a southern builder not very many years ago( says the Duncdin St'art. It seems that he was engaged upon the comtruetion of a big factory, which must remain nameless —ar»d that speed and I bustle were the very e-'iE-e ui his '.•jn- ! tract. Like a Tr-ijj-c he worked, and ! the structure *fc completed in' such I good time that the directors of the ' company feit in duty bound to reward ' him* with a substantial bonus. After I dismissing from their minds such a ' paltry thing as a gift o£ silverware, they at last hit upon what seemed to | them —and. iater, to the recipient also — I a baotsy presentation in the shape of , a parcel of shares in the concern. For i some vears dividends flowed in freely on the shares, and their possessor continued to bie?s his benefactors. But, lately, the concern had the misfortune ' r c become tie victim of a monetary illness, which made it practically moriisunc. And, now, a call for £75 has

Sices mace to your ? r>1 er. We our buslrAss for 1923.-' Tie ana finish- Made in sne-ies or any le&Ti«? to'your o*r-Swire, wit; KppeartS6* aim* as from "tosh line;, at; 13CWBkL'£j fioe stew, Otafe —A*Tt- i

Realising that the* nurses of tile Dunedin Hospital have been overworked in the past, the Otagjo HOspitaa Board has decided to. appoint 25! extra probationer nurses. ! A formidable task was recently tin-1 dertaken by the Mayor of Auckland, j Mr J. H. Gunson, when he (appended his signature to the debentures required in connection with a loan of ,£550,000 recently raised in London. The forms, f 2500 in number, were duly executed, and will toe forwarded to London by the first outgoing mail. It seems that a new invention—the optophone—makes it possible for blind persons to read books printed in ordinary tvpe. Nevertheless, Braille will still be preferred by the blind when selecting their bedside books. In a courageous speech delivered three years ago. when threatened with total 'blindness, Viscount Grey said that he found one advantage attached to his affliction —Braille is much superior to printed books for reading in bed. "I can now lie in a perfectly natural position and read," he said, "if I happen to drop off and have no di'.jams to disturb my slumber, I wake up with my finger on the word, where I left off:'"'

The secret of the light used by the ancient Egyptians, wtas one shared apparently by the archaic civilisations of portions of the Americas. In 192>Z the .expedition sent out by tile Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, uncovered ruins in Columbia, whoso 1 windowless buildings suggested, by the complete absence of smoke marks the possible knowledge of electricity or some mysterious illuminating agency. In the still intact, halls, amid the vast ibijried remains elsewhere in South America, of which few even suspect the existence, there is also no trace of smoke, while the very narrow entrances and absence of windows inevitably suggest a. light which neither smoked nor vitiated the atmosphere. Mounted on two powerful touring machines .with side-cars and equipped with spares to meet almost oyery emergency and a small tent for camping out, four Dunedin motor-cyclists visited New Plymouth on Saturday on their way to Auckland. The long tour commenced at Dunedin on Saturday December 22, and the cyclists had a good run to Christchurch where, after having one of the sidecar chassis strengthened, they just managed to catch the boat to Wellington. A broken side-car axle and an old tube are mementoes displayed by the riders. The tube blew out at Palmerston SJouth land since fljen has been trailed at the rear on one of the eide-caxa.

According to "QST," 4he magazine of the American Radio Belay League, and the formost amateur radio publications in the world, New Zealand possesses the best amatour receiving station in the world. In the October number of that publication is a photograph of Mr F. D. Bell's station and under it this comment:—"The best amateur receiving station in the whole world! The station of Mr. F. Dillon Bell, Shag Valley Station, Waihemo, Otago, New Zealand, undoubtedly holds the world's record for the reception of amateur signals. Previous to Julv 2 he heard over 87 difleretit U.S. and Canadian amateurs, all over 6000 miles distant! On the evening of July l. in two hours listening, he heard signals from every district i.i U.S.I A set using two stages of radio detector, and two stages of audio amplification is used : all appartus evidently ol Bntisii make."

Rangiuru Housw has had a bur-y tune during the holiday season and accommodation has been fully taxed. The popularity of the beach is increasing for at Rangiuru one has not the sand drift to contend with.

Fred Barrett, after winning all tuo way, now heads the list for boot a fid shoe repairs. He has now challenged for up-to-date boots, and a visit to hi 3 shop will show what high-grade goods he keeps. See his «*nd-shoe3. — Advfc.