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The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Wednesday 1 September 1926, page 3

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29457029

NEW ZEALAND TOPICS

A HAUNTED HOUSE.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

AÜCKTJAXD, August 20.

Too wonted serenity of Grey mouth (ontie west coast of the South Island) hasbeen rudely disturbed within the past

week or two. For some Ihne past A houseon Preston-road, some little distance fromthc centre oí thc town, baa had the repu-tation of being haunted, but as, thc."manifestations" were only occasional,

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they failed to attract much attention, be'

ing attributed to raia or cate. Just late-ly, however, tho tenants ot this househave been neared pretty badly by tho

uncanny noises occurring after dark with*monotonous regularity," as one man putsit, and as all attempts to solve the mys

tary failed, the police were at length iu

iormcd, and for nine or ten nights two

constables hare been keeping watch andward over the premises, but so far thespooks are still at work. Kappings on thowalls of the rooms ara usually accom-

panied by the weird creaking of yin-.:

dows, and mysterious footstep.?. One'iitie constables on.duty by nigut at thchouse states that ho head "dull thuds"?within; which were repeated three timesat intervals. The electric spot-light was

directed to Use strpposed location of the«oise, but there was no sign of thc per-petrator.

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On another occasion a paneof glass in tho front jioor was smashedby invisible

agency. Next night a police-

man while moving stealthily across thcfarden; after dark was suddenly felled totho ground, and then discovered that his

assailant was a panic-stricken investiga-tor who mistook the constable for thefhost! Tho pcopla of Grcyrr.outh arc

much excited, and the picture theatreeitowracn of the town complain that theattendance of patrons has fallen oil' con-

siderably since tito

haunted housocarno

into the limelight. People arc frightenedto be out and about after dark' on thoseoountry roads. What a pity that CohanDoyle ia so far away?

WRAPPING UP BREAD.

Dr. Telford, medical officer of health for

Canterbury, thinks thc time has arrivedThen bakers should be required to put up

tread offered for salo in Tirotectivo wrap-pers. It is only in this way, he says,that the customer can be certain that»

several pairs of dirty bands have notliandled his loaf. Unwrapped bread, on

a windy day, declares the doctor, nu'stencounter dust, no matter how carefultie baker or his mau may bc. TheDakers are not impressed. They say thepublic does not want bread in wrappers,and that if wrappers were to1)0

used the cost involved wouldhave to bc passed on to theconsumers. 1 maj- mention that an Auck-land baker tried tho experiment a yearor two ago, of wrappihg all his loaves inivaied paper. I believe ho is now outof business, or else has departed for freshEelds.

Anyhow, bis innovation did notcatch on.

SUNDAY CHOCOLATES.An enterprising confectioner at Christ

church, debarred from selling hi3 wares

over the counter on Sundays, because thattied of trading is illegal, installed an elab-

orate »lot machine outside h¡3 premises,

orate »lot machine outside h¡3 premises,and dispensed pennorths of chocolates andpeanuts, etc., to the juveniles of theneighbourhood in that way. The schemewas working a» smoothly as could bc detired

wkeu the police intervened. Theynauuoncd tho confectioner for Sundaytrading, contending that it did not signify

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a rap whether he handed out his goodspersonally or got a machine to hand them

oat. The magistrate reserved judgment,but

eventually dismissed tho summons,pointing

out that human labour is not

employed in the working oí a slot machinewinch produces chocolaty, etc., on theinsertion ot a coin, and that consequentlythe defendant could not bc convicted ofSunday trading

HOME LESSONS ABOLISHED.

Mr. Dougki.1, headmaster of thc Loyd'Central School at Ncleon, decided about a

toupie of montos ago, to try tho erperibent of abolishing home work among hispapila,

predicting that thc new departure»ould prove a suecesn. And so it has-antnqualified success. Teachers and scholars.rc far happier, it is reported, than theyJere, and are working in sympathy andharmony together as they have never

worked before.

Questioneda3 to

bow theParents regard the change, Mr. Douglas«sid he would leave that question to thomto

answer He could only say that he hadown thanked by telephone, by letter, andpersonally, and he could now understand»ow (rreat a burden homo work liad

íroved to the fathers and mothers.Çjnoo then a mother has written to ahelson

poners to expreso'her appreciation»f

what Mr. lX">ugla3 lias dorie.^ Thebenefits

she describes as "incalculaKe."

WANTED-£600 A YEAR.

'When the leader of the Xational partylad finished tcllinc the House of Rcprenptatives about the troubles and trial?«: members a few nightfl ago, thc Primoifinisicr

eniibngly reminded him that he"«d omitted mention

of thcmost

imnc-rt»at matter of all-the c'ost of living in re-lation

to marJbers of Parliament. There-upon members began to dilate on the in-adequacy of members' honoraria, in view« Iatve

constituencies, and the depreciat-ed value o: the sovereign. SubsequentlyOTw fifty member» met, and decided to??Po>nt a deputation to interview MrCoate, and auk him to nrake thehonorarium £600. It was proposed al«rat to ask the Government to reinstatetho CX docked from the £503 salary o!tectnbers when tho public aervice,retrcnch'tarat was made. But ultimately the meet

rewWed <to go for the £600. Wtwtbei* *iS. be ecDKeded ie doubÄü. It is fell

VJ

that thc annix-atian fer a "rice'' ¡3 inop-portune. Times are bad.

A ''WET" BELLAMY'S.;

However much members may differ re

Sardine the liquor question, «a it affecta

the public at large, there seems to be a

good deal o: unanimity on their partwiitin the question, "Wet or dry?" in con-

nection with. Bellamy's has to be Saced.lt ia

customary to take a roto in each¡

House on a straight-out issue as towhether or not thc cale of liquor shall con-

tinue in Bellamy's. On the last occaoionj

a week or wo ago-members Totedsolidly in favour ot "continuance," which

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solidly in favour ot "continuance," whichwas carried by an overwhelming raj

I jority.

THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.Tile Hon. L. JL Isitt's Religious Exer-

cises' in Schools Bill has just been thrownout by the Upper House. It was lost byonly two votes, the "ayes" being 12 andthe "noes" 14. Unusual public interestwas manifested in connection with thisbill, and the debate on the second readingwas a

very animatedone.

Mr.Isitt

saidthe only churches which opposed his mea-

sure were the Hornau Catholic, Hormon,and Unitarian. He justified his pro-posa] on the ground that it

was impos-sible for the clergy to get into touch withall the ihildreo attending the primarysohoc-is. The non. A, S. Malcolm thoughtreligious exercises shonld be carried out

by religious people, and that the Stateshould take no part in religious matters.He was strongly opposed to the bill, be-cause it tended towards religions perse-cution and intolerance. The Hon. J. A.Hanan saki the proposal would

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imperilOUT system of national education. ltwas obviously not desired by the people.He challenged Mr. Isitt to point to a

single country in thc world in which therewas a higher standard of morality than

obtained m Xew Zealand. He was thank-ful there were not the religious differencesin New Zealand that existed in Canada,where the Bible had been introduced intothe schools. It would be criminal to

destroy the finest system pf educationthat had ever bceu evolved in any coun-

try in the world. Other members con-

demned tho bill,, and its rejection «-ill, Ithink, bo endorsed by most people. How-

ever, it has been lost by so narrow a ma-

jority that its author will doubtless be

encouraged to try again next session. HeU not éiitily turned from his purpose.