NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 34, 2 October 1931, Page 2

NEAR AND FAR

Returned Soldier without a Shirt. Brigadier Macaulay, of the Salvation Army, when addressing the. Rotary Club in Wellington on the social problems of the day, related the story of a returned soldier who had appealed to the Army for help. He was in such a destitute condition that on opening his coat he revealed the fact that he had no shirt. His boots were also worn out. The Brigadier rang up the Army Relief Depot to see if they could supply a man's shirt, but so heavy had been the demand for garments that week that not one remained in stock. As he related this to the Rotarians, several of the gentlemen present cried out "IT1 send you a shirt!" Several shirts have since come into the Depot. Sydney Beggars. When writing to a friend in that city, an Invercargill girl, who is visiting Australia, gave a lucid description of the conditions existing in Sydney, states a Southland exchange. "The girls sleep on the seats just like men do," she wrote. "It makes one shudder even in the day time to pass down the parlc where the deadbeats sleep at night, wrapped up in newspapers. Beggars everywhere. People are selling matches or anything to make a little money, and some people are singing in the streets. Pavement artists and people sell novelties. I don't mind people trying to sell things, but it's horrible to see the beggars."

Valuable Relic. A magnificent specimen of' a hoeroa ("long paddle"), a fighting wea--pon of the Maori, has been received by Mr. W. H. Skinner, New Plymouth, from England. It was probaby taken Home by an Imperial Army officer in about 1866, either from the Waikato or Bay of Plenty district. Mr. Skinner has handed it over to the New Plymouth Museum. This particular hoeroa, which is made from the jawbone of a whale, js aoout six feet long, and very heavy. It is beautifully earved at the handle end, and Mr. Skinner says he does not know a finer specimen.

Pronounced Urban Drift. The tendency toward a pronounced urban drift, which all countries experience in greater or lesser degree at certain stages in their development, has been clearly marked in New Zealand for a quarter of a century, states the Census Office in a review. In 1916 the urban population was 55.25 per cent. of the total and the rural was 44.75 per cent. At the 1926 census it was revealed that the rural population had fallen to 42.01 per cent., while the ux-ban figure was 57.99 per cent. If forests, high mountain ranges, lakes, and other areas not available for occupation are deducted from the area of New Zealand, the density of population is about 17.89 persons to the square mile.

Ancient Art. A secret process for applying gold to vellum in such a way that it is ineradicable is being practised by Miss Genevieve Pilley, Curator of the Ruslcin Museum, Sheffield, England. The process was discovered nearly 1000 years ago by the monks, who produeed amazingly beautiful illuminated addresses, and is now shown to very few people. "It has been in the family for 80 years," said Miss Pilley recently. "I helped my father to prepare a scroll which was presented to John Ruskin on his 80th birthday. I wofk from gold leaf and gold in tablet form and get exactly the same results that the monks got centuries ago." Expression Not Profane. "Go to hell" is not profane, at least according to a decision handed down by Judge A. E. Steadman of the Honolulu Circuit Court in a case in which the woman defendant was charged with using vulgar and profane language to a policeman. The Judge cited the utterances of Billy Sunday and others as ex mples of what would be considered profanity if his decision were otherwise. The defence attorney argued that the expression in question is used to-day with the same freedom as "Oh, yeah?" "Take a jump in the lake," or "Aw, shut up."

"Mermaid" in the Dock. A "mermaid" appeared in court at Badulla, Ceylon. At a local festival the "mermaid," with long flowing hair was shown in a glass encased water tank, to the delight of crowds of onloolcers. As a result, Don de Silva and a beautiful woman named Podi Nona were charged with deceiving the public with the story that they were showing a mermaid. The police said that Podi Nona her-

self was the mermaid. Her legs were hidden behind a screen, and the lower part of a giant fish shown in their place. The magistrate acquitted the man and woman on the ground that those who paid to see the mermaid "consented to be deceived," They were not so ignorant as to believe that what they saw was really a mermaid.

Huge Shaft in English Quarry. A huge shaft has been sunk 200 feet into the side of a mountain at the Bonawe granite quarries in Argyllshire, in England. It contains more than ten tons of gunpowder, which will be exploded by the pressure of an electric button. This enormous charge is sufficient to dislodge at least 500,000 tons of granite, which will provide 300 men with three years work. The charging of the shaft was a dangerous and difficult task, each barrel of powder having to be carried by workers over very steep gradients, Eating Competition. An eating competition was organised in a mining- town in the North of England. One competitor, a collier 6 feet high and broad in proportion, disposed of a leg of mutton, a loaf of bread, and a plentiful supply of vegetables, topping off the repast with the whole of a substantial plum pudding. He was declared the winner, and was being escorted triumphantly home when he turned to his admirers and said: "Ah, lads, don't yo' say nowt about this to me wife orj she won't gie me no supper."