NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 154, 22 February 1932, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

Tricks of Style. Expert evidence on handwriting was given by a witness in^ihe Supreme Court at Wellington in a criminal trial. He said that a forger had the utmost difficulty in keeping away from peculiarities of style, known as tricks. "They persist,'£ adde'4 Yh(e witness, "and you look for these." Spontaneous Combustion. . A haystack near the main road at Piako was destroyed last week by fire caused by spontaneous combustion, The stack burned fiercely on Wednesday and Thursday ,and efforts were concentrated on, saving a nearby stack. No Difference Intellectually. "Is there any great difference intellectually and morally between the high and low castes in India?" was a question put to the Rev. E. Evitt, who is visiting Christchurch on furlough from missionary work there, during a welcome to him. Mr. Evitt explained that the top caste, the Brahmins, were always educated, and some of the other high castes" sent their children to schools, although many had no better than the Government education. There was a fair amount of difference morally between the castes, the language of the higher ones was better and more cultured, but there was not the same difference intellectually. Accrediting Lost Favour. Accrediting as a means of entry into a university has almost entirely lost favour abroad, according to a statement in a report on his recent tour presented by Professor R. M. Algie at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland University College Council. "The opinions expessed to me," Professor Algie states, "were most strongly condemnatory of accrediting. One might say that in England and Scotland there are few supporters of accrediting in any form, and the agitation in its favour may well be said to have died down."

A Secret Service Man. "il'm a secret service man," declared Stanley Wilfred Adams in the Taihape Police Court, when charged with travelling without a ticket on the Marton-Taihape train. Adams had a farthing in his possession, which he termed the "King's farthing," and a curious sign embellished on a poc-ket-book, saying that they were part of the identification methods of the secret service. According to the police, however, Adams had worked on the wharves at Wellington and aecused told theJBench that he had been in New Zealand for 30 years. After Adams had stated that he had travelled all over the world on his pocketboolc "pass" and never had it questioned, th,e Bench fined him £1, in default fourteen days' imprisonment. It was also suggested that he he examined as to his mental condition. Ha! Ha! The Christchurch Poet who HaHa'd the.Press, got this retort from another correspondent: "Sir, — Mr. D'Arcy Cresswell has not as yet been adequately classified. He may be starred in He! He! and boomed in Ha! Ha!, but his proper place Is at the head of He-Haw! — Yours, etc." Is a Fish an Animal? Is a fish an animal? . Does a fish suffer pain from a tag on its tail, and do fish come under the eontrol of the Canterbury Society for the Prevention of Crueltty to Animals ? These questions were under debate at a meeting of the committee of the society, The question cqme under discussion when a trout's tail, with the Acclimatisation Society's tag on it, was exhibited and passed round for inspection. The tag had evidently been placed on the fish when much younger. As the trout grew the tag had torn the membrane, leaving a wound. It was hard to say whether this would hurt the fish or not. The chairman (Mr. J. O. Jameson) pointed out that trout hardly came under the eontrol of the society, but rather under that of the Acclimatisation Society. Rev. A. H. Northcote said that from a naturaliist's point of view a fish was an, animal, and it could feel pain. The tag, he felt, was unnecessarily large, and would pain the fish as it dragged at its tail. It was 'finally decided to show the tagged tail to the president of the Acclimatisation Society and obtain his opinion.

Paid Directly to Wives. "I under stand there are 400 unemployed in Invercargill," said Mr. D. McDougall, M.P. for Mataura, to a Southland News reporter, "and I am told that a large number of them send their wives round to the reiief depot for food while they themselves make trips elsewhere. When I go up to Wellington, I intend to urge that the money paid to these .men in wages should he paid to the wives direct. If this were done perhaps the unemployment figures would go down considerably." Bull Yersus Car. A fieree challenge by a bull as to the freedom -of a country road in the darlc was the sensational experienee of a Dunedin resident who was driving a motor car homeward. The clash occurred between Evansdale and Waitati. The motorist, who had three friends with him in the car, suddenly saw a strange object ahead. It had, he thought, the figure of a monster dog, its eyes glaring. Deeming it wise to reconnoitre, he brought the car to a standstill, and it was immediately rushed hy a bull, the Impact leaving deep marks on the radiator and bonnet. For a moment the driver thought it would he a simple matter to give the beast the slip, but every time he started it made another rush, and the position resolved itself into manoeuvring, with repeated forward and backward movements of the car and check actions hy the bull, until, catching a chance, the motorist used the accelerator to escape from a predicament which would have been ridietilous but that it involved danger.