NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 83, 28 November 1931, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

0 Novel Clock. A resident of Rimini, Italy, has eompleted after two year's labour, a bamboo clock in the form of a Fascist emblem. This clock shows the hour, the minute,fi the second, the phase of the minute, the Shcotid, ' the phase of date and the month. Whenever the clock strikes, figures of the King and Signor Mussolini- beam upon the onlooker, while the chimes ring out the Fascist hymn, whence it is presumably incumbent on the owner to rise every quarter of an hour. At one stage of the hymn a little cannon is discharged. ' The Way Things Are. A somewhat strange position has arisen in Napier in regard to a man whose only = possession was - an account of £40 in the Post Office. Saving;s Bank who,' because of this, was refused employment on relief works. Willing to work for his living and finding his money more of a handieap than anything else, the man sought about for" the best 1 Way ifi which to oVercome the difficulty. Eventually he proceeded to a shop and purehased a wireleisa set with his, savings. No further objections were raised and the man was granted the desired employment ori felief.1 ■ Difficult To Explain It is said that two local residents who are keen supporters* of the'Kod and Gun Club, made a great discov-= ery at Lake Waikaremoana last week in the nature of a' moa, : states the Wairoa StaivGreat preparations were i made to have the remains of the hird thansported to Wairoa, where, we believe, it was the discoverers' intention to place the remains oli vieW, A special visit was made on Sunday last,- ini order to' get. everything ready* for transport. However, it has now been discovered that the animal not only carried feathers fbreign to the moa species, hut also had a length of f encing wire round its neck, and it is mystifying to understand how this should eome to pass, for' unless the wire is explained away and the hair also, our two ehthusiasts are in for a lot of barrack from their many friends. Three Men in a Boat. A parallel between New Zealand's present position, and -that of "three men in a boat," was drawn by Mr. J. S. Butler, the Goalition candidate for Napier. "Heavy weather is' being experienced, with the result ;that the little craft has been shi'pping some water over the gunwale, and is also leaking a little in places," said the candidate. "George, who is pulling stroke, calls to his friend, Gordon, with the how oar, that all they know shall he put into it, in order to push ahead. Gordon accordingly responds. Harry, sitting in the stern, is disappointed at the progresS made, and his companions invite him to assist them by doirig a little bailing. After a while he gets tired of the bailing and suggests that there is a much easier way of letting the water empty itself, and he therefore proposes to pull out the plug. As in this, so is the issue with which we are faced today, and on Deeember 2, you are going to be asked whether you will allow George and Gordon to pull hard at the oars to bring the little boat Aotearoa safely into harbour or whether you are going to allow Harry to pull out the plug," Child Slaves in China. The Mue-Tsai, -or adoption system in vogue in China/ was made publicrecently by Sir John Simon. Under this custom Chinese children are hought and sold for domestic service. The facts are that thousands 'of Chinese children, supposed to be under the protection of the British' flag, are living in conditions tantamount jto sl avery. Cruelty and torturq are often practised. Cases' are known of child slaves who have been burned with red-hot irons and foreed to walk on nails. Girl slaves have been beaten unmercifully because they have refus- : ed to consent to a life of immorality. J All these facts are vouched fbr by.an I impartial investigator w^iose record J of public service entitles h'im to speak | with the highest authority. ! . ' i The Death Penalty. ! At his meeting at Wanganui, Mr. W. A. Veitch iva's asked whether he was in favonr of haVing the death penalty in murder cases remitted to imprisonment for life. His reply was very definite. He thought of the next poor chap who Was 'going to be mu'rdered and would support an amendment to the law that- would make it more strict. There were far too many , murders occurring in this country and | death was the onlv way to put feaf into the hearts of those who were inI clined to take life. He added, how;ever, that those who had been sentenced to death and then had: their; lives remitted to .them, had- been treated justly. There had been special circumstances.