LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 December 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

“I sse the parties in this suit are 65 and 58 years of age,” remarked Mr. Justice 'Salmond at the Divorce Court recently. “They have left it rather late in life to come to the Court for divorce.” “Yes,” replied Mr. P. W. Jackson, counsel engaged in the case. “I suppose the old saying applies: ‘Better late than never.’ ”

A good story of Bishop Gore is told at Bradford. Addressing a mass meeting of men, he exclaimed: “I am certain that Labour will be omnipotent in this country.” The men cheered wildly. “Wait a minute, wait a minute,” said Dr. Gore, “I hadn’t finished the sentence. Isay Labour will be omnipotent—when it labours.”

A Miki Miki farmer informed a Wai■arapa Daily Times representative that, recently he had witnessed the stoat in a new capacity —that of a. destroyer M eels. On going round his. sheep recently he had seen a- stoat near a i <eek, dragging an eel along. From ■th- appearance of the stoat the latter had apparently been in the water after the eel.

A young returned soldier was crossing in the Devonport ferry boat in Auckland when he saw the big liner Sueolk tied up at the Queen’s Wharf. He confided in a few of his fellowpassengers that a photograph of the big ship which hung in his father s outback kitchen, in which was depicted New Zealand troops leaving for South Africa, had so fired his imagination all his boyhood years that when the call of the'Great War came, although hardly of age, he at once enlisted, and in turn he wa« carried to the war across the seas by the liner whose outlines he was perfectly familiar with. ‘‘She was a lucky boat, and escaped all the hidden dangers of the seas, and I think she is one of the finest old ships that was ever built,” was what he said, as he Stood at attention and saluted the old transport. The Suffolk is due at New Plymouth next week.

How many gifts are given to-day and forgotten to -morrow—hundreds but that will not be the case if you give furniture. See Sullivan’s advt. in tins issue. Their shop is in Currie Street, New Plymouth.

"Never marry n girl with bobbed hair,’ said the evangelist, the Rev. J. Nicholson, addressing Bristol boys. “The glory of woman is in her hair,” he added, “arid the devil likes her to cut it off.” The speaker noticed the boys’ eyes rivetted on his closecropped head, and added: “Yes, I’ve just had my hair cut. From longhaired men and short-haired 'women good Lord deliver us!” Mr. Nicholson also regards manicuring with disfavor, and said: “The only way women ought to manicure their nails is on the washboard!”

Mr. J. B. Austin, who for the past three years has managed the Friendly Societies Dispensary in New Plymouth, lias now opened an up-to-date pharmacy at 289 Devon Street, in part of the shop occupied • Jackson and Paul, ironmongers. Doctors’ perecriptions will be a special feature of Mr. Austin’s new service, and the public may confidently rely on accurate and prompt dispensing of 'the purest and freshest drugs obtainable, dispensed in the exact form ordered by the doctor. Full stocks of all rhemists’ sundries and toilet preparations will always be on hand, and the moderate Trices, courteous service and attractive displays will make Austin’s Pharmacy second to none in the distric.. Note address—J- B. Austin, 289 Devon Street.

The Fascist! are organising a gigantic subscription list throughout Italy to raise £50,000,000 to cover the deficit in the Budget. Gold, jewellery and valuables of all kinds will be received. The leaders of the movement, maintain that while Ttalv is poor nationally, individuals are richer than before the war. They declare that one million Italians are 'ready to give largely through love of their country and as an expression of faith in the Government.

The sinking of the Lusitania is still a live question in America, mainly anil almost solely due to the claims filed for lives lost when it was torpedoed by Germany during the Great War. It seems that when the reparations arc mentioned the Claimants’ Committee gets busy. That it will demand, and secure adequate satisfaction in money is positively asserted. At a meeting last week the committee decided that steps to have claims resulting from ships sinking paid out of alien property funds would be taken unless Germany failed to make substantial restitution within a reasonable time. The French newspaper “Oeuvre” recently reported that a priest in the Pyrenees has just invented an apparatus based upon the principle, or radioactivity. It is Maimed that the new instrument is capable of detecting with a great amount of precision the existence of oil-bearing areas. The inventor declares that such oil-bearing areas are to be found in the French and Spanish Pyrenees. Such an instrument would prove invaluable in Taranaki, where rich oil measures undoubtedly exist, as proved by the fact that, by the crude methods adopted, over two million gallons of the richest petroleum in tha world have been won.

A hopeful note regarding a reduction of postal and telegraphic charges was sounded by the Postmaster-General, Hon. .J. G. Coates, at Kaukapakapa, on Thursday night. He eaid it wa« necessary for the Post Office to clear £400,000 to pay interest and sinking fund. The people were entitled to have the use of the various facilities at the lowest possible rates, and he hoped that the figures lor the current financial ye&r, ending March 31 next, would enable the Government to bring down the cost of postage, telephones, toll rates, and so on. It is not generally iknown that for one glorious hour.at any rate Mr. Massey was once Premier of England. And, curiously enough. Mr. Lloyd George subsequently acknowledged with delight that the responsibilities of the office were most admirably discharged. It happened in the bright dawn of a May morning in England (states the New Zealand Herald). Mr. Massey had been hastily summoned from the Congress of Paris in 1919 to London, and was thus obliged to cross the Channel in a perky destroyer from Calais to Hoyer. His coNeagne in the unexpected distinction to 'follow was Sir Ernest Pollock, then Solicitor-General, a great Dickensian with a ready legal mind for humour. On arrival at Dover there was an unusual stir at the pier. The admiral of the port was there with a naval guard ot honour. As Mr. Massey stepped ashore there was reason for general bewilderment. The British Navy had b undered. A wireless message from headquarters bad stated: “Prime Minister arrives ©over daylight to-morrow.” The admiral was a man of quick resource. He mentioned that an excellent breakfast had been prepared, and that it would be a pity to let it spoil. “Ah, eaid Mr. MaSsev “I think that in that I shall represent the Prime Minister of England with full justice to Mr. Lloyd George.