PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 4031, 16 June 1931, Page 3

PASSING NOTES.

Though years be lean and times out <of joint, limited liability companies must yet maintain, with undiminished regu larity, their general meetings, where .quorums are established, minutes read, ; and the time-honoured words recited as to the adoption of annual reports and .balance sheets. At a meeting of a longestablished company in the city, the .chairman of directors has—with some trepidation, no doubt—ventured on a quotation which possessed relevance to present-day financial conditions. Presumably, when high finance is seasoned with the Shakespearian canon, things, in this particular circle at least, are going reasonably well indeed. One is left to conjecture whether the address-in-chief was prepared by the chairman himself, or the way paved by liis executive officers. Not content with the appositeness of the line, one shareholder, in that vein of thin facetiousness characteristic of such occasions, sug gested the bathos that next year’s address might be trimmed with a limerick, a palindrome, or other such verbal confec-

tion. At a meeting some years ago where a substantial gift out of reservewas parcelled out to fortunate bene ficiaries, a member of thrice approvefinancial stability, speaking to some motion, remarked; He was pleased to see the directors had thought fit to make this slight contribution to their purses: it would help some of us poor people pay our debts. This elegant drollery was well received ; it had an altogether peculiar suitability and flavour. It depre cated the munificence of the advance and revealed an innate modesty in the donee coupled with an appreciation ol the bird in hand. It evoked the laugh indulged in by gentlemen well content with the state of their bank balances, which has a distant relative in th»laughter of the law courts —a thing apart. Clear types among schoolboys are most rare, and, therefore, public schools do not supply material for the novelist. The public school novel aims at an impossibility, and is impossible from start to finish. Thus Dr Alington, Head of Eton College, who, of all men, should know. One is not at all clear, however, that we have not here some mere half-truth. If “ Stalk) and C 0.,” with which Kipling astounded us some three decades ago, 1 ’ a travesty of school life and manners, what is to be said of “ Tom Brown’s School Days,” Dean Farrar’s pleasing novels, or, in more recent times, the charms of “ David Blaize”? These have'made acceptable reading, and Benson has gone a step further and proved the truism that his men are sons of his boys. Furthermore, what novel could do aught but the scantiest justice to that coterie of very queer small boys in blue coats who thronged the purlieus of Christ’s Hospital in the days of Lamb and Coleridge? The latter was distinctly an esoteric type, well versed in divinity and the schoolmen, to say nothing of the general run of the classics. The boys themselves arc but part of the school microcosm. A good novel could be essayed of a certain school within our’ town, of a generation or so back, where, it has been reported a certain Reverend Doctor would entertain his sixth form, of a Saturday night, to a supper of oysters and small beer.

When I attend the agricultural show I invariably.- find myself alongside the sheep pens. There may be psychological reasons for this, but’ I leave them in abeyance in favour of the historical. We read in the book of Genesis that Abel was a keeper of sheep. The story oi Cain and Abel is well known, the latter falling upon evil times. It is to be gathered that the keepers of sheep in our day are threatened with a like ’fate They are doomed to labour under finan cial depression. Our pastoral friends are worthy a better destiny, and as a patriarchal class they merit our best esteem. And, judging by the contented expression writ large on the faces of those I saw, it may be they are not so badly off as is represented. As the specific character of Shropshire or Corriedale would, no doubt, find me guessing, so I give way to authority: King George the Third was one day admiring his splendid Wiltshire flock, when his equerry drew his attention to a very fine breed of sheep dwelling in Spain. They were called “ merinos,” from a Spanish term meaning “ moving from pasture to , pasture.” His Majesty became interested and instructed a well-known scientist, .Sir Joseph Banks, to negotiate with the King of Spain, with a view to importing a strain to England. Banks was with Cook, off Otago Harbour in 1770. He -was

mainly instrumental in the colonisation of New South Wales, and saw to it that three rams and four ewes were despatched to Botany Bay in 1797. From this importation has come the flocks in the Commonwealth and New Zealand. And thus we have, related in time and space, King George. Spain, England. New Holland, New Zealand and the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Show in the year of grace 1931.

The gift of M Chequers ” to the nation by Lord Lee of Fareham is seemingly playiqg the part in the game of politics, to which it was -intended. Dr Curtins and Dr Bniening have, at the invitation of Mr Ramsay MacDonald, foregathered there for the week-end, a political parti in the country, according to the best established precedents. Tradition still counts for something. Saturday ni«*h» dinner, ami the board is set for the ancient game of chequers, rooks, pawns, knights, and bishops, with Mr Bernard Shaw in the role of episcopus. Can I h Scotsman develop any sequence of moves to discountenance the phlegm of thTeuton ?

Chess, says the wise Burton, is a game too troublesome for some men’s brains, too full of anxiety, all out as bad as study; besides, it is a testv, choleric game, and very offensive to him that loseth the mate. William the Conqueror in his younger years, playing at chess with the Prince of France (Dauphine was not annexed to that crown in those days), losing a mate, knocked the chessboard about his pate, which was a cause afterward of much enmity between them. One hopes that the gambit played in England recently will lead to an antic able stalemate. The representatives from the Wilhelmstrasse have a good lead to follow in the late Dr Sthamer, a whole hearted worker for the European concert The Rev. G. D. Rosenthal has the courage of his convictions, or at least of his foibles. al'vays looked upon a bet on the Derby as a national duty. One hundred and fifty years ago Lord Derby instituted a series of racing events on the Epsom Downs, the most famous or which has ever since been known the wide world over as “the Derby.” The historic occasion sees London empty, all the beau monde and lesser lights at Epsom, some 14 miles to the south Writers, painters, and caricaturists have vied with one another in depicting the crowds, but it has. been left to a clergy man to open up a new field of speculation on the subject. Does the reverend gentleman mean that he tries to “ spot ' the winner, and, in succeeding, what does he do with the money? If he loses, does he adopt the language of the ring? Do dividends become oblations in aid of church funds? And then, if a bet on the Derby be a national duty, a necessary corollary would be to have a loose-box and horse, as a sacerdotal side line. Finally, the duty would rest on a'.i to indulge in the sport of kings. There would seem to be something wrong with this correlation of ideas. Mr Rosenthal might preferably urge that a mild flirtation with this particular “wanity” is all very well in its place, but to go the pace?—that is a different story.

A correspondent, “ Constant Reader,” writes asking me to reprehend the tone of a special class of cable that appears in, the daily press, all too frequent for his taste. The news that the King, driving from Buckingham Palace, met hia uncle, the Duke of Connaught, whose

car slowed down, and the consequent exchange of courtesies; the Prime Minister’s return to London by train instead of by air, owing to unfavourable weather conditions—all this is as gall and wormwood to my friend. But must we not have our gossip? News are generally welcome to all ears, avide audimus antes enim hominuni novitate laetantur (as Pliny observes). * We long after rumour to hear and listen to it, densum htnneris bibit aurc vulgus. We are most part too inquisitive and apt to hearken after news, which Caesar, in his Commentaries, observes of the old Gauls, they would be enquiring of every carrier and passenger what they had heard or seen abroad

quid toto fiat in orbe Quid Seres, quid Thraces, again secreta novercae, Et pueri, quis amet, etc. As at an ordinary with us, bakehouse and barber’s shop.

Mr Alfred Bernhard Nobel, in a spirit maybe of expiatory and vicarious benevolence, set aside an immense fortune under his will to endow, certain prizes. One fund purports to aid and reward the excelling literary craftsman, another the idealist and peace promoter, and so on. And Mr Theodore Dreiser, foiled in his expectations as to the one, has rather prejudiced his chance for the other. His temper seems as inflammatory as Mr Nobel’s ballistite or nitroglycerin. The business or art of pugilism is definitely in his line. Mr Dreiser’s cavalier assault on Mr Sinclair Lewis shows literary franchise with a vengeance, and is not the only case in the books. Meredith has i elated that at one time he acted temporarily as editor of a journal to which Swinburne had forwarded some verse. When for tins a cheque -of some £lO was appropriated, he was called upon to face an irate poet. Swinburne, with frenzied eye rolling in a manner subversive of that inspiration immortalised by a greater bard than either, demanded if Meredith considered £lO an adequate fee. The substitute editor rejoined in the affirmative, with the added irritant that such emolument was all he himself obtained for a like service.W'hereupon the outraged author of Tristram of Lyonesse ” resorted to the cruder and more direct argument of fisticuff. Meredith added as a rider that he would certainly have kicked the fellow downstairs had he not foreseen what a clatter his horrid little posterior would have made as it bounced, under the irresistible momentum, from step to step. Civis.

Contrary to the opinions often expressed, Soviet Russia is on the fair wav to success, said Mr Marc T. Greene, the foreign correspondent of many newspapers, who arrived in Auckland by the Tofua. Mr Greene has been in Russia recently. “So far is the Five Year Plan from being a failure,” said Mr Greene, “ that the country is actually evolving a Fifteen Years’ Plan to follow. The time has come when Russia and her system can no longer be sneered at and ignored by the rest of the world. Russia is a force to be reckoned with. It has been a great experiment of a great people. It is successful and will be more so in the future. Socialism as it is known there, has involved great sacrifices by the peasants. They have had, and still have, to live at a bare subsistence margin. But Russia is the only country where there is no unemployment. Moreover, it is no contradiction to say that though the peasants have had to make sacrifices they are being cared for in a way they have never known. In some of the industrial areas, as for example, the Baku oilfields, model and modern tenements are built for them, up-to-dite hospitals equipped, and living conditions greatly improved.”

At the last meeting of the Land Board it was decided to grant a lease of an island in the Waitaki River to the Islands Committee at a rental of £2O per annum. The Islands Committee has not, however, signified whether it will accept the lease, and at the meeting of the board on Thursday a letter was received from Mrs M. E. Pavletich applying for the island. The board decided to give the Islands Committee seven days in which to accept the lease and to pay the rent of £2O asked.

“ My sympathies are with the children,’’ said Mr Burns, chairman of the Auckland Education Board, when discussing the position of the pupils at Athenree, near Waihi, who recently went on strike. Because the train was too early the board’s secretary said the children had to leave home before 7 to be at the station in case the train was on time, which seldom happened. The parents had refused to force their children to go. The board decided to leave the matter to the department.

After spending six months touring the Continent, an Aucklander writes from London emphasising how the world trade depression has hit the tourist trade. “ I found that the best hotels suffered most, being, in fact, half empty,” he states. “ I was in Nice at carnival time, and it was just the same. It is generally recognised that the American tourist traffic has declined to a mere nothing. At Monte Carlo, where I spent a week, they were making desperate efforts to counteract reports by enthusiastic publicity, but I found half the tables empty and alcoves with lights turned low and curtains shrewdly drawn. It was no different at the other casinos, and worse at Nice, where on some afternoons they could not get the tables going at all. Casino business is a fair barometer of tourist trade and spending, so you can guess how things are.”

The secretary of the Otago A. and P. ■Society informs us that owing to a misunderstanding in regard to instructions the three sheep that were used for the guessing competition on the last two days of the Winter Show were not weighed. The sheep were sent to the abattoirs with instructions that they were to be killed, weighed, and delivered to Messrs Bartons, Ltd., .but unfortunately the sheep were sent in with others, and were cut up before the society had been advised that they had been weighed, and consequently was not notified of the correct dressed weight. In the meantime the money received fpr this competition is being held, and if not claimed will be added to next year’s sheep guessing competition. The South Island District Maori Land Board, presided over by Judge Gilfedder, with Mr J. H. Grace as registrar, sat Thursday. The following cases were dealt with;—(l) The lease of a property at Waikouaiti to Florence Helen Douglas was confirmed. (2) The mortgage, of a property at Oamaru to Thomas Gallery was recommended for the Native Minister’s consent. (3) The lease of a property at Waikouaiti to Rangiora Ellison was struck out. The court and board will adjourn to Invercargill this morning. A statement that the New Zealand film censor had admitted passing films to which he would not take his wife and daughter, made by the Rev. Dr J. Gibb at a meeting of the Presbyterian General Assembly, was challenged by the Government censor, Mr W. A. Tanner. Dr Gibb also stated that in attempting to bring about reforms in films and posters those who moved were up against a conspiracy of silence. “There is not a film I have passed to which I would not have taken any member of my family,” said Mr Tanner. He added: “The paragraph surprises me, because I thought I was the only censor of films in New Zealand. I have never spoken to Dr Gibb in my life, and so I do not know where he gets his ‘ candid statement' from. Ido not know what he means by a ‘ conspiracy of silence.’ When posters are passed here by me they are free for all New Zealand. Since the advent of the ‘ talkies ’ there has been a very much higher percentage of rejections.”

There fi'as an amazing scene in St. George’s Cathedral, Perth, Western Australia, on Sunday, May 31, when the mother of a girl about to be married to a young man in the presence of about 60 persons walked up to Dean Moore, and, in answer to the usual question whether anyone knew of a just cause why the couple should not be joined together, exclaimed: “I object.” Asked for grounds, she replied that her daughter was not 21. Dean Moore said that the bride had signed a declaration that she was of age, but the mother replied that she could prove to the contrary. A number of the bridal party asserted that the mother knew all about the wedding on the Friday night, but said nothing about preventing it. After further discussion, Dean Moore said to the mother: “You are only doing this to make a scene.” Dean Moore stated afterwards that it was his most tragic experience. It was very mean, he said, for the mother to let her daughter go to church when she knew beforehand that she proposed to stop the marriage. Later, Miss Beattie, who is 18> years of age, and Garrigan were quietly married elsewhere by another clergyman, after which the girl went to her parents’ home. On the following day the bridegroom instituted proceedings under a writ of habeas corpus directed to the parents of the bride to produce the girl before a' judge to abide by such decision as the judge might make. New Zealand mails which were despatched from Auckland by the Niagara on May 5 for the United Kingdom, via Vancouver, reached London on June 6.

“ The greatest weakness of the age is the craving to ‘ get rich quickly,’ ” said his Excellenecy the Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe), speaking to the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides at the Auckland Town Hall on Sunday. “ One result is foolish and extravagant gambling, followed often by poverty, disillusionment and discontent, and a disinclination to climb the ladder of life rung by rung, energetically and with self-respect, to the summit of our capacity, if not of our ambition. The lack of home discipline when w’e are young often accentuates this restless longing to secure the prizes of life without having earned them. But this craving is not confined to the acquisition of money or even of social position.” A girl’s appeal to her sweetheart to supply her with £3 for a new dress was contained in a letter produced on behalf of- a boy burglar, Edward Walter Rix, who appeared at the Supreme Court at Auckland a few days ago. Rix had been charged at Whakatane with breaking into an office with intent to commit a crime. He admitted the offence. Mr Noble described it as a classical example of a simple-minded youth who was led astray by his love of a girl. She was 21 and had written to him asking for money to buy a dress. His Honor, after reading the letter in which the girl made her appeal, said he could not accept as an excuse for a crime of this nature the fact that a young woman wrote asking a youth to supply her with £3 to buy a new dress. He must earn the money which he desired to give for that or any other purpose. His Honor ordered Rix to be detained in a Borstal Institute for two years.

The Norwegian whaling companies have decided to lay up their fleets in the 19311932 season (says the Economist). This misfortune involves the throwing out of work of 11,000 men and £10,000,000 of capital. After very high profits had been made in the 1929-30 season, when the price of whale oil was as high as £3O per ton, the whaling companies sent out larger and larger fleets, and equipped the whalers with increased gun capacity. Forty-two floating factories, with 230 hunting boats, were seen in the Antarctic fishing grounds this winter, and record catches were obtained. Yet before the fleets had set sail last autumn the market in whale oil had become nominal. Most of the Norwegian companies had sold their catch forward to the Unilever group in the early part of 1930 at £25 per ton. The British-controlled Hector Whaling Company, on the other hand, missed the market, but, nevertheless, sent out a fleet in September having a run capacity 25 per cent, greater than in the previous year. The catch of the Hector Whaling • Company is reported to -be 280,000 barrels, compared with 200,000 barrels m the previous season, and this huge quantity will have to be stored until the Unilever group re-enter the market. Unfortunately for the Hector Whaling Company, the Unilever group find themselves overburdened by the record catch of the Norwegian companies, which they had purchased in advance, and have intimated that they will be unable to receive any oil from the 1931-32 catch. Whether the Unilever group will take it upon themselves to acquire next year the unsold 1930-31 catch of the Hector Whaling Company, which, after all, will depress the prices of edible oils as long as it overhangs the market, remains to be seen, but they have intimated their willingness to give preference in their future purchases to those companies which decide to lay up their ships for .the present.

A new indication of 'Russia’s persistent efforts to find additional markets for the flood of produced under the Five Years’ Plan.is apparent in Auckland. Several tobacconists (says our special correspondent) are selling a line of cigarettes made in Russia. Though Russian tobacco has been used for many years in cigarettes made by London firms, this is the first time that cigarettes actually produced in Russia during the regime of the Soviet have been sold in New Zealand. Recently, there was a controversy in Auckland over the quantities of Russian matches available, which were being sold at an exceedingly cheap price. One purchaser of cigarettes did not notice the country or origin until he had reached the street. He then became aware that he had in his possession Russian cigarettes, Finnish matches, a French pipe, and American tobacco.

A sample of salt from an oil bore in Persia, which was obtained at a depth of 7500 feet, has been presented to the Canterbury Museum by Mr C. A. Jenkins, of Barrington street, Spreydon. Professor R. Speight, curator of the museum, remarked that many of the richest parts of the principal oilfields were associated with what were called salt-domes. The location of these salt-domes, either visible or invisible, was one of the most important phases of petroleum exploration at the present time. Such domes were widely spread in the petroleum regions of Persia, Texas, Rumania, and other places where the most abundant supplies of oil are obtained. The association of petroleum and salt was almost universal, and the oil bores at Moturoa, New Plymouth, were highly charged with salts.

Inquiries are being received in large numbers for passages to the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June of next year. Cook’s Tourist Agency Jpas chartered a one-class steamer for the New Zealand delegation, to leave the Dominion on April 22. The vessel 'will call at Australian ports, and make the trip Home via the Suez Canal. At Naples the delegation will leave the steamer for a 14 days’ escorted tour, visiting t ßome, where the members will be received by Pope Pius XI, and passing through Florence, Venice, Milan, and Paris. The congress begins at Dublin on June 22, and ends on June 27. It is expected that the majority of the New Zealand delegates will be away for about six months. They will return to the Dominion by various routes.

Negotiations are still in hand (says the Timaru Herald) for the sale of the Rakaia bridge, so that it can be used entirely for road purposes. The matter has been under discussion for nearly two years now between the Main Highways Board and the Railways Department, which owns the bridge over the Rakaia. If the sale is completed, a new railway bridge will be built over the river. In the meantime, the Main Highways Board is to be charged an increased amount for -the maintenance of the road surface on the bridge. The present charge wa« fixed a good many years ago, and since then, the cost of maintenance and also the cost of keeping bridgemen at either end to guard road traffic has increased considerably. The bridge is the longest in the Dominion. The original portion was built in 1871, when 4500 feet was constructed, but additions in 1882 made the length 1940 feet more.

" One of the suburban vicars has been occasioned some embarrassment more than once by the unauthorised decoration of the parish church for weddings—that is, without his consent being obtained, and it is suggested that a word in Church News may have a useful effect in checking the abuse in other cases. We fear not,” says the Church News. “ The type of people who will assume that because they have ‘ booked ’ the church for a wedding, they can do what they like with it, is not the type that reads Church News. The daily papers could give more help in reaching such people. It should be clearly understood that the vicar is responsible for the church and its associated buildings, and for what goes on in them. Common sense and ordinary courtesy therefore suggest, and Church law requires, that his consent and approval must be obtained before any action is taken in the church buildings and especially in such things as decorations. It is ridiculous that people who never darken the church doors except when they want to take advantage of the religious pageantry and superficial respectability of the Church service should use the sacred building as if it were hired by them for the occasion. The only reason why some of them do it is obviously because it would be absurd for a bride, arrayed in the traditional wedding garments and accompanied by a couple of under-dressed bridesmaids, to go trapesing into the Quakerish bareness of the registrar’s office, wait in the long drear corridor while he cleared his desk, and then crowd into his small room. And, of course, friends can’t be there to see. So -the church must be used as a hall, with surpliced clergy and organist all proper. The deed is done, the book is signed, and the happy couple march out of the church’s doors, never to enter them again while life shall last —unless it be for another wedding.”

The information that the regular BluffMelbourne passenger service would be resumed in the early spring, long before the tourist traffic commenced in earnest, was conveyed by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr P. A. de la Perrelle) to a deputation from the Bluff Borough Council which waited on him at Bluff recently, with reference to various matters they desired to bring under the Minister’s notice. Mr de la Perrelle said that as member of Parliament for Awarua he desired to explain the efforts he had made to procure a regular shipping service between Bluff and Melbourne. “ You will remember that when I stood for this electorate one of the planks I took up, with all sincerity, was that I should do my utmost to have this service,” said Mr de la Perrelle. “It was left to me by Cabinet to interview the Union Steam Ship Company with the object of having an eight-day run,” the speaker continued. “ The matter was arranged at considerable cost, but just as it was getting under way we were unfortunate in losing the Manuka. I then approached the officials of the company, asking them to replace that unfortunate ship, but they replied that they were unable to accede to my request. However, they assured me the- company would do its best to give an efficient service, and promised to use ther'Maheno as occasion demanded. I hoped the trade would justify the continuance of this arrangement, but towards the end of last year the company said that even with the Government’s subsidy the service could not be run without a loss. I have now been again in touch with the company, and the Government has provided me with the necessary means to ensure a regular service to commence in the early spring before the tourists arrive. While I could not arrange the passenger service for the winter months, I was successful in procuring cargo ships during that time, and those vessels are running at present.” Several proverbs hitherto unrecorded and corroborating the belief that the moa was contemporary with the Maori were quoted by Mr George Graham in a lecture before the Auckland Institute on Maori proverbs. One of these meant: “ The contest of you two is like unto a brace of moa,” the suggestion being that when two people were foolish enough to squabble or fight, they need not assume that others were concerned. A tall and short species of moa mingled, and “ Here comes Kuraroa and Kura-poto ” indicated what the European signifies by the term, “ the long and short of it.” There are signs of Native memorised knowledge of the bird and its habits, apart from archaeological evidence. It is said that to this day there remain certain narrow tracks over ridges in certain districts where moas wandered in single file. They are “Ara-moa,” os distinguished from “ Ara-Maori.” A proverb referring to a party going across country said, “ They go on the moa’s trail.”

By the death of Tohe Te Mate Haere the Arawas lose an old-time leader who had established a brave reputation. His death occurred at his home at Waitete on June 1, at the age of 90 years. His history was closely connected: with that of Rotorua; in fact, he is credited with saving the towm from destruction in 1870 by Te Kooti. As the story is told, Tohe was present with Captain Gilbert Mair’s loyal forces near the site of the Presbyterian Church in Rotorua, when the forces of Te Kooti assembled at Ohinemutu. There Te Kooti was endeavouring to persuade the Arawas of his peaceful intentions, and Captain Mair hurried to the scene. On arrival he found an Arawa chief with a white flag about to permit Te Kooti’s men to approach. Knowing the danger, he seized the flag and trampled upon it, and urged the Arawas to attack. They were reluctant to do so until young Tohe dashed forward with Captain Mair, and the others speedily followed. Thus was Te Kooti defeated and a massacre averted.

In contrast with the repeated statements by banks and other credit institutions that any reduction in interest on loans is impossible at the present time, the annual report of the district trustees of the United Otago District, Ancient Order of Foresters makes interesting reading. During the year loans advanced by the Order amounted to £12,168 Us 4d, while all moneys advanced represent a figure of £133,378. At a meeting of the trustees it was unanimously decided to reduce the current rate of interest by I per cent., making the rate 51 per cent. “We consider,” says the report, “that by this means we shall be assisting in the restoration of things to normal.” A representative meeting of importers at Auckland on Wednesday unanimously resolved to form a new association named the Association of New Zealand Representation of Selling Agents of Canadian Products to foster amicable trade relations between Canada and New Zealand, and to encourage a spirit of trade within the Empire. The feeling of the meeting was that retaliatory tariff action prejudiced the interests of both countries, and that the present deadlock should be broken at once.

“The real heroes and heroines of the world are those men and women living cheerfully under the most difficult conditions with few of the amenities of life,” said Dean G. R. Barnett, in an address to the Hamilton Civic Luncheon Club. The dean said his experiences in thicklypopulated. towns in England and in the backblocks of New Zealand showed him that most of the present-day difficulties of the world would not be solved by political measures, but by the distribution of a larger measure of the milk of human kindness, by greater generosity and sympathy, and by a greater willingness to serve others than had been the case in the past.

An enthusiastic meeting of the business people of Cromwell was held last week to receive a report from the Mayor (Mr Roberts) regarding the success of his mission in Dunedin in connection with the New Zealand Industries Week to be held in Cromwell during the week ending June 27. Men who have long been known as phlegmatic and staid were quite demonstrative in their expressions of enthusiasm. The wholehearted support of the Dunedin manufacturers to the movement has given a fillip to the project, which is being energetically and enthusiastically taken up by the business community, and the week promises to be an event unique in the history of the town.

The Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association was advised at its monthly meeting last week that the Wellington City Council had issued definite instructions to its officers that a clause must be inserted in all specifications when tenders were being called that New Zealand-made goods and materials were to be used whenever they were up to standard. It was decided to write to the Dunedin City Council, the Otago Hospital Board, and the Otago Harbour Board asking them to take similar action.

Mr Justice Kennedy has granted probate in the following estates:—Charles Squire, of Shag Point, farmer (Mr M. H. Godby, Christchurch); John Robert Manson, of Dunedin, retired farmer (Mr J. P. Ward); Ernest Marsh Sanders, of Lowburn, labourer (Mr J. C. Parcell); Frank Robert Boyd, of Ettrick, retired farmer (Mr J. B. Nichol); John Freeland, of Pigroot, farmer (Mr F. G. Duncan); Margaret Loudon, of Dunedin (Mr W. Allan). Letters of administration have been granted in the estate of David Ireland, of Pleasant Valley, farmer (Mr J. Lang). A bequest of £5OO has been made to the Veterans’ Home, Mount Roskill, under the will of Mr James Gillies Craig, of Mataura, Southland. Mr Craig was a brother of Mr G. Craig, comptroller of Customs, of Wellington, and he had been a farmer in the Mataura district for many years. He died on December 25 last. In referring to the bequest at a meeting of the executive committee of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic and War Relief Association on Friday afternoon, the president, Sir James Gunson, said it was most gratifying to receive a legacy from so far away. The Veterans’ Home at Mount Roskill is the only institution of its kind in New Zealand.

The report of the Temperance Committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church states that there is abundant evideuce of an increase in the use of wine at weddings. One minister had written that in the majority of marriages of even church people wine was furnished, though invariably with the option of soft drinks. The report of the committee said: “The question of whether ministers should preside at wedding breakfasts where wine is furnished has been raised, but your committee would urge that stronger efforts be made to educate our people against such a custom before so drastic a step is taken, and would urge further that where church halls are let for wedding receptions it be on the understanding that no alcoholic beverages be furnished. From the replies received from presbyteries it appears that many presbyteries are not cognisant of this evil. That it is a very real one is apparent from references thereto in the press from time to time. Christchurch Presbytery reports that the City Council had closed down four cabarets because of the drinking attached thereto, and had issued licenses for two subject to the restriction that no intoxicating liquors be consumed on the premises. Your committee would urge presbyteries to press for similar action in their districts, and if legal difficulties requiring special legislation emerge . that strong action be taken to secure it."