UNKNOWN

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 89, 8 January 1908, Page 11

UNKNOWN

r li,'-' 1 . ' aiperatition cxerciscs sway npwhero moro Bifectivoly than* at soa. • It is regarded as essential by thoso • immediately ' concerned that Polar expeditions should 'sally forth . pmmilessi .In/consequence,; just before sail- ' .. ing, -Lieutenant' Sbackloton demanded that each of his companions should disgorge his monetarypossessions. ~ Theso . were immediately handed over to Mr. A. Rcid, manager of the'expedition;; who will retain custody, of i'tho • t'roasurp. until".its'' several' owners; return to And so tho. hardy explorers' sot^ont',^poor l .in .pocket,,-.but, rich , : beyond tolling in. hopefulness and-. the .ay mpthy:oi'":tHe^y|g^^^{: The . only knowrii.coin on hoard .'is :ja - battered . threepenny 'piece nailed fixedly :to the mast. In the /anti-iio-Hconso dnys the lot of tho policem»n//was a happier' Oho in . somo respects than Ht % is now.': ;.When the Oamaru H/M. Jug "required whitewashing, the garden'patch weeding and • doing up; an industrious ppliceman could easily account for two orthree minv.whoywfere equal -to, any. of, tha : aforesaid-jobS-in;, return- for tho liberal pro'-,; . .vender dispensed'-by,' tho gaoler. • These --. ■ halcyon days'liaVe 'gone, and ;the policemen, . havo to. undertake.tho ,work themselves. The' . other day of tho force might have been seen hafigmg on to a hedge in tho effort to make a good .job,' of. the, work of trimming it,-and the why the? went about their work; Buggosts the. possibility of tho Department turning ani-hpnest,penny:b.V-on what is now a perennial off Hoj) ale is apparently wanting in • the grip that bofore-tinje .accounted for .the Jimmy . Kellys picked up at. the ' asking. A correspondent of tho "Povorty Bay. Herald,"/.'.who: has' recently'travelled over a large part of tho King' Country, states that be was much surprised at the scarcity of the tui,- kiwi, .weka,; and -pukeko. _ Thiiso birqsv were very .! numerous in the' .North Island' thirty or forty.years ago',,ihe pukeko being found ift large flocks in the swamps. The correspondent/'states-.that, lie; once rsaw; a. Maori shooting puk'eko . .for-,, the purposo of . obtaining'bait .'for -Ocl-fishing. When rcmorist'ated withp'the''Maori : stated that all the Maoris usedithem for this purpose'. "If this is so," -He adds, :.*'no' wonder'this beautiful plumaged bird; is,-rapidly becoming extinct." ,The "Otago Daily.-Times" states that some of the smaller, pondsV in "the Oamaru Gardens are completely covfered with a dark brown ,water-wee,a which has the appoaranco . of brown earth. . One of the excursionists by the Taratvera from - Dunedin to Oamaru .on New Year's Day, took ,a running jump at one of. these patches;' and 'was : miich ,surprised to find -that ho did- not strike ground until ho . had passed ( through; four or .five feet of 'water.; - His\c6hipapion jumped in' to save, him,' and ~the'-'two,.;.wadca.'. to . shore,; a., dis- - - tainco of five feet:'' In 'the ' excitement, tho hat: of .No. 2 was- knocked off, V.but this .was soon rescued by No.' I. Theii two. sadder, ' wiser, and "wetter young moil returned-to the boat, .wh'ero, by: the kindness of the stewards, they wero allowed to lie in bed till their - clothes dried. * 1 ' In an article m the "Mainichi'Dempo," of which a summary js published by the "Japan Mail," it is'claimed that remarkable progress has been made since the' war' in the armament of ships,' in. tho manner -of niountiiig their guns, and with regard, to ammjipitioij. It is difficultr to state, theso results in a xon-, Crete form;'.but article alleges _that whereas the greatest range attainable guns .mounted on Japanese ships during the war wasM'7,ooo- inetres/ : it is ' . now ■ from 18,000 to' 19,000; and. the facilities for using thesg, powerful weapons have increased, in an oven-' greiter ratio. The training •of gun--ners has':made still moro marked progress. In the battle of the' Japan Sea it was calculated Ahat for every two hits jscoted by the Russians eight were scored by tho Japanese, and this result aroused'tho'-applause of naval men .the.'; world over. But even this has been iniprpvedr/upon,, so that.-recent, .experiments indicate a conspicuous increase bf fir T/ ing efficiency, and it is .now belioved that, so far- as'-armament is concerned, "two. of' tho rings of to-day .would be a match for .three of those which' fought, in/ the : last naval, battle . of'tho war.,, • . u ~ . ./ To sign one's name, in tho presence of th§ police, a gravo. find sphinx-like representative of .^Justice-in , the .shape, of magistrate or,"corprier, ,and. a. jury '/of watchful jnen and true/ is.' an r ordeal,; that frequently, un-nerves'V-witness, and and'sets the hand'thatholds 'the.-.perii quivering like a leaf-lin...the wind 'Daily, Times").; A- married,''lady who gave evidence at an in-r quest'lattorly;was peculiarly suscoptibloto,tho subtlevinfl-ueiice. - /Plainly arid iiftcl'iigontly she toltf her story, but when asked-to "sign your namo please," her composure rWavered, • then fled in terror. '.With . .a r 'scared and hunted;;look ,in her eye, .'and,;.a.,hand that she- scrawled '/something across the' sheet, .then '.turned! to,.escaped j3ut: as she dropped- the' pen -heif eyo jjught.: the . name, and she- started- back' in pathetic< dis- ; may.; "Oh dear, I've; beiln rantf gond. and written .ray; 'maideri*;'nani | 31'Vishe exclaimed in accents of horror. ".; ,f i^-< v -V'. • The Motueka correspondent of tho "NelBon . Colonist" 'states' ( that'the -fruifcrop of the district is ' not a" heavy one, rfith the exception of apples, which seem to have sot : ~ heavily all 6v,qr ,-the district.,.. Peaches. • are light!.. : excßpty% , . : favd&red' tituatio'ns, whilst apricots. are/; patchy, 1 .egfme- heavy crops "being 'repdftea.' v Pears, have suffered severely from the,black spot, inv.Bpito.-'of the iact. t-liat' fungicjdp hare been used Plums vpromised ' J weil,' and their . freoneSs' from'th'er/iriaiority.iof ftmguo diseases niake3 t.heirT A_Drofitable -fruit, in spite of small p'riccs. / 'Jhe acreage under hop 3 has been materially 'reduced sjncoj year; and tho prospects for next season "do not give the grower much heart to -undertake the expensive : cultivation that this. £rop. requires. One. of. the local : growcrs ,l h'ab jUst sold thirty bales of-last season's erop at'3d. per lb., and.ho,estimates' that hc r w.ns out of'pc'cket to : the' tjinei of £120. /"Tho opinion, is.gaining: ground that" the 'district" would" have been more' prosperous if the planting of hopS had never taken.place., t ,. , . For the - last few (lays (says the "Southlasid Times") sharks h'avo Vceh seen in tho vicinity of the wharfa'at Bluff. On Saturday ono was' seen, to take in several seagulls, and baits -were "promptly set for him. Ho took one inZ the evening. On the ■ boat,.going . put j,to secure him ho managed/to gct;!iwTiy.J, Further baits<wcro' set on Sunday,/'arid about i 7 p.m: a commotion at' ono !of, tficsci»showed that be bad I again been caught. i"'A niotdr launch went out, and .Messrs. PjHfarrell arid -G5. 'Brad-1 sbaw gave,him Ins quietus with tho lance. Ho was, then scoured and brought to tho wharf, whore he proved ' to" be a big fcllpw of some 14ft. in .Irjigtl), with -;a' very formidablo/.set of 4'eefli. The capture caused a considerable anjount-of excitement, and was viewed- by sjmid;'hundreds of residents and visitors to £ho port: Tho. display .'at Lyttelton on New Year's night ,>vas hi' Ought td an abrupt and somowhnt'seiwatjon)»rfinish, say3-tho Christchurch V The fireworks .accidentally took Cro'jn aoh'ass, and tho four mombers of the firo'.uriga'doswho wero on the lighter had to jump' overtJojiird. The lighter itself caught firo, but thijjblaz'e was extinguished before any soriouvmmago was done. Tivo of tho fireinou were-burnt by the exploding fireworks. .+ , The frozen .turtle, from Queensland experiment ansWored well (says the "Pastoralists' Review's.'-';' London' meat trado correspondent). : Tho turtles wore sold for £5 to £7, nil over',; according to weight,'.and restaurant keojiors bought them. Weight for weight, this is much cheaper than the, West Indian turtles brought alivo; many of the iatter die en route, and in the trade are eallod "angels." 'Sun-dried turtle flesh from' Ascension Island sells at tho stores hero from Gs. to Bs. per lb., and this is what peoplo buy when they make soup. Tho frozen turtles wero shipped by mail vessels, tho freight was about five-eighths of a penny, and they wero packed in ordinary hi"*!.