FISH FAMILIES IN OCEAN DEEPS.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 884, 9 July 1913, Page 7

FISH FAMILIES IN OCEAN DEEPS.

When a disaster occurs? a%sea, and people read that" some leviathan vessel has gqne down to-the utmost depth of-' the ocean, imagination is stirred in wondering what conditions surround:her, According to Sir John Murray, one of the; greatest authorities' on oceanography, the bottom is a (desert of pitch-black darkness, penetrating cold, and eternal silence;. Worms, sea puddings, and coral polyps sluggishly crawl or sway in the almost currentless depths, and only two species of fish, both of them small, with much head and little body, have been found deeper than a mile and a quarter down. -

The range of fishes in the sea is . as though it were divided into layers, one above the other, and no fish can live above or below this layer. • Thus many of the deeper fish—three-quarters of S a mile below the surf ace—have been found floating at the top. They had swallowed a fish as large or ..'"; larger than themselves, , and its y buoyancy had lifted them out of the strata to which they were accustomed. N ' The physiology of a bottom fish is almost impossible to know, because they are built to resist a tremendous pressure of water, and when this pressure is released—as when they are brought to the surface in a net—sometimes . the fish has burst; the organs are crushed beyond reconstruction. Similarly, if a fish of a higher stratum attacks a bottom fish in the neutral zone, where bojth can live, and—-as sometimes happens —-his teeth become entangled so that he cannot let go, and he is dragged into deeper water 1 he strangles instantly, for his breathing arrangements are of no, use to .:,:.' him under the pressure of waterin the lower strata of the sea. As , a rule, however, the fish of the various depths rarely, feed on those above or below him. There have been brought to light an astonishing number of forms of fish, and especially of prawns, of a brilliantly red colour, living in the ocean at a depth of 3000 ft. But, astonishing as it may seem, '",..;: these brilliantly-coloured fish and :'■*. prawns, instead of being conspi- . cuous in the water at that depth, are nearly invisible, when almost any other colour could be easily . seen. • /'

A NEWSPAPER IN BHORTHAND

One of the queerest newspapers in the world is the , "Kaniloops Wawa'' ";a" journal printed in shorthand by a tribe of Indians who live in the interior of British Columbia.

It was established through the efforts of a French missionary, Le Jeune by name, who came to the fraser River district of British Columbia a few years ago. He found the natives superstitious, ignorant, and unable to write their language.. He soon learned the Indian vocabulary, and then b&gan to write it by means of shorthand signs which represented all the sounds the Indians use in pronouncing the words. , Le Jeune first explained his system to an intelligent Indiah lad who lived in the central village. The boy took to it intuitively.' In a few months he had thoroughly learned the art of writing his langauge in shorthand, and began/to teach his friends. The new "talk language" created widespread interest, and the Indians, young and old, were soon engaged in practising this strange method of communication.

After about 500 hadonastered the system various parts of .the Bible were translated by the missionary, and finally, the "Kamloops Wawa" was started. • .- The paper was printed on a mimeograph for the first year, but after that Le Jeune succeeded in having type made, and it is'; now printed on a press in-the nearest city. It has sixteen pages, and contains all the news of the tribe, and of the church that the, missionary has built up in the main village. Over two thousand Indians have learned to read. It is a very interesting sight to look into one. of. the- Chinook wigwams, where the women still use stone implements to prepare their clothing of deerskin, and see the family grouped about eagerly reading the latest number of x the "Kamloops Wawa." . V

Mrs. Noopop— "Charlie,; what,, do you think? Dad'sfjust sent us a £2O cheque for our new baby! Wasn't that good Noopop—"I should say sd.i- I'll. write at once, and thank him for. his contribution to the fresh heir, fund.'.' ■' '- . '':':- ' ■■■•■ •''■■'■ ;__/, ■■■ AT AN AGRICULTURAL DINNER. .At an agricultural dinner a; we)lr: khowii Dean,',was ■ give* the task.'of , oaTviiig a quarter or lamb, ' ■'. '..- After, the usual custom,he cut off the, shoulder and placed it j 6n.-»ipl^'£e t - him. -. - J ~ . i ■! • A labourer; who was sitting; next to. '•'■ him,-stared .for iwq. minutes.,:,.. Then he shook his head. At' last "lie said to the Dean : "Well, measter, it's a'big-. ;gish.?.b.it,"■•b^\t■,'l!lV:^yre'rt^e:^^W-it■l ,, •. , ...-■/■