NEWS AND NOTES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 May 1938, Page 9

NEWS AND NOTES

VARIOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST. Disposal of Impounded Stock. Pound-keepers are sometimes placed in a difficult position in disposing of stock of low value which is unclaimed At a pound in one of the country districts near Ashburton an animal found straying was impounded. As it was not claimed within the required time, the pound-keeper, in accordance with the Impounding Act, was required to hold a sale which had to be advertised. Advertising and the cost of maintaining the animal cost 18s, but it realised only 3s at the sale. The deficit, which is recoverable from the owner, if he is found, had to be borne by the poundkeeper. Hybird Duck. An exhibit of interest to game sportsmen, produced by a deputation recently to the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, was a dead duck —obviously a cross between a wild grey duck and a white Pekin or Aylesbury duck. It was pointed out that there were many:sportsmen, of years of experience among game birds, who held fast to the opinion that the wild grey duck would not mate for breeding with the ordinary domestic duck, and the exhibit was submitted as an example to the contrary. The duck, a » well-conditioned bird, was one of a number of like breeding shot on the wing by a sportsman at Waipukurau, Hawke’s Bay. It had yellow legs, a ring of white feathers round the neck and the feathers on the whole of the back were grey, the long ones of both wings being white, the smaller ones a bluey-green, and the feathers of the tail-end of the bird white. Burden on Housewife. The necessity for maintaining a balance between fair treatment of the employees in the laundry industry and undue restrictions on a public utility was stressed in conciliation council by Mr A. W. Nisbet, agent for the employers in the Wellington laundry workers’ dispute. “A laundry is a public utility, just as is the removal of refuse or the supply of clean water,” said Mr Nisbet. “If the cost of laundry work is to be forced up out of all reason it means that the work will be thrown back on the housewife.” One of the objects of the present Government was to create greater leisure, he continued, and surely that leisure should be enjoyed by both the worker and his wife. If high costs in the laundrying industry forced her to do the work herself it would mean that she would not be able to enjoy the leisure to which she was entitled. A Winter's Swim. A swimming contest between . man and beast is rare, especially in winter, but recently a well-known Inglewood resident and his horse were the contestants, a group of natives the spectators, and a deep,, muddy stream on the Main Highway near Inglewood the scene. Thinking his horse might be thirstry, the rider took him to a river near the roadside, but an ancient and noisy make of car which passed at the critical moment turned a quiet drink into an unexpected swim. With a sudden plunge the frightened horse jumped into the water and at the same time dislodged its rider, who was left with no option than to follow. Heavily clad and realising swimming was out of the question, the rider, either by good luck or perfect judgment, caught hold of the horse’s tail and by this method both reached the other side of the stream—the horse winning by a length. Maoris working on a hillside nearby enjoyed the impromptu entertainment, but the drenched and mud-bespattered rider viewed the incident in an entirely different light. Laughter in Court. “What is your excuse for not having a light attached to your bicycle.” Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M., asked a young man who appeared in the Christchurch Magistrate's Court on a charge of riding a bicycle at night without a light. “I was going to a football practice, but my young brother got the light first,” the young man replied amid laughter. “Costs only.” said the Magistrate in giving his decision. .