RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 76, 28 March 1908, Page 14

RANDOM SHOTS

BY ZAMIALE

_. As there are always, in any given ; community, a large- number of people j who take an interest in.tbe instincts of ■ .birds and beasts. and fishes, and the ] amount of common sense they display, I ] . -hereby submit to a discriminating pub- , lie the following authentic evidence of \ marvellously developed intelligence in , the case of certain Australian hens. , "Six of Mr. Pidman's White Leghorns," runs a recent Adelaide cable, "entered ( for the Queensland Government's egg- , laying competition, and laid 1,564 eggs with 16 days to go. The previous world's record for the year was 1,494." . Now, I ask, can you find in the wondrous works of Mr. Seton Thomson or in all the best efforts of oil the worst " ''nature-fakers" in the wild jind woolly West anything to beat this? Those six White Leg'.iorns deliberately entered for a State egg-laying competition. The - cable omits to say whether entries were received in writing, or whether entrance . fees were charged; hut 1 incline to in- ■' terpret the term "entered" as signifying that, guided by their own unerring instinct, they walked straight into the 1 Public Hall, in which, I presume, the competition was held, and "started in" .; to perform their chief duty in life without further delay. ' I It is of course marvellous enough that * they should have ever thought of enter- * ing for the competition, and perhaps even ' more remarkable that they should have < found their way to the right place at 1 the right time. But mingled with the ' wonder that this simple record of animal s intelligence evokes is a keen sense of the 1 pathos, probably even of the tragedy, ' that lies latent behind these common- i place mcts and circumstances. Who, I ] -wonder, is the "Mr. Pidman," who owns -these marvellous Leghorns? Imagination * pictures Pidman as a keen .poultry far- i mer, wedded to incubation, and therefore sceptical of the natural intelligence of I White Leghorns—which, as everybody I know-, won't "sit.". So these Leghorns, ; I take it, seized upon this unique oppor- i tunity for showing Pidman that they < are quite capable of thinking for them- s selves. Or it may be that Pidman is a i struggling settler, an old man bowed 1 beneath the weight of years, and depend- ( ing for his daily bread or his success c in selling the eggs, laid by his White ( Leghorns. Conceive that tbe" day has -; "come when the White Leghorns gather ] from unmistakable evidence that to use , a Wall-street metaphor, "Pidman stock is low." In my minds eye I can see the j conclave of industrious- hens eagerly dis- j cussingthis crisis in the family fortunes, 3 earnestly debating its cause and cdnse- , quence. and then gallantly deciding- to - go forth into the "full glare of "publicity j and compel the unsympathetic world to , realise that Pidman's White Leghorn breed is the .best strain of poultry in the Commonwealth. And having taken this , noble resolution,, observe how splendidly j they acted upon it.'"" With 16 days to j go they beat the previous world's record by 7ft. eggs,, and I have.-.no- doubt that . they are still "laying" industriously to ■ the greater glory and the material enrichment of the said Pidman. •' It was about three o'clock last Wed- ? nesday afternoon, and the Kingsland j tram, sluicing water from every pore, . was bolting down Symonds-street in its L usual exhilarating fashion. As the B car neared the Karangahape-road cor- a her, an old gentleman leaned eagerly forward to scrutinise a rather gorgeouslooking green canvas marquee erected a "on the edge of the path "By the old ceme- 8 iery. '""Excuse mc, madam," he said * turning to a stout lady .who. .was. taking J up.about three-quarters, of his seat, * '"could yon tell.vie what _that tent is ' for?" "Yes," said, the old lady, with | an animated smile, and without the * least.trace of hesitation, "that's Wirths' .circus." "Dear mc," reflected the old * gentleman, "isn't it- rather low-? —rather - near the edge of the. gully?" But the •* old lady went on with increased audacityi ''Yes, Wirths' circus; and they say J that they've got the biggest lions ever been here, and the best jugglers; and the clown! and they do such things!" I And here she launched into a description } of the coming show, obviously based upon the magnificent posters with which ■ an enterprising advance agent has re- j • centiy besprinkled the town. The old ] gentleman ruminated a little, and said apologetically, "Well, I haven't got my ! glasses, but"—and here he was inter- ! Tupted by a tram official, whose sense ' of duty was evidently stronger than his 1 politeness- Clutching the' old gentleman I by the shoulder, and staring straight at ; the animated lady, he waved his spare • hand toward the gully, and remarked, } in very incisive and staccato tones: 1 '"Grafton-road bridge: foundation stone; ' the Governor; the Mayor; 'this after- . noon." Providentially, the car came to a standstill, and I hurriedly rose and fled, but. as I looked back, I could see the '-'.various lady with one defiant, eye bent upon the conductor, still pouring authentic information into the old gen- « tleman's ear. I wonder if this is the ] first time that a City Council function has been mistaken for a circus? ' ■l-i-i-'l"l-i"lvi"i"Ir ' 1 The other day, we heard from England ; that in the last match the "All Blacks" i played there was a good deal of "free s kicking" and free fighting, in which our c men were not always the victims of un- i provoked attacks. This "sort of thing . sounds very bad to mc. But whatever s we may think of the tendency of col- 1 onial sport toward brutality, we don't s seem to have fallen so far from grace as 1 the Americans. A. few weeks ago, Guy 1 Haskins, the Christchurch runner now at Pennsylvania University, was matched i against a famous American thousand- ! yard champion. Haskins was winning, .- and as he passed the other man in the ', straight, the American, who presumably , objected to being beaten by a New Zealander, picked him him and threw him over his head on to the track. Haskins ,lls not muth hurt, but there was naturady a free fight, and the race was awarded to lum. The American explained that his curious conduct.was due to the 'natural irritation of a beaten and disappointed man," and the American authorities are apparently ■ inclined to let it go at that. But whatever causes these things, I hold that brutality ought to be stamped out of sport with "an iron heel, and that nothing but disquaiificatico for life is an adequate punishment Eort o£ ruffianism I have been