FROM OTHER PAPERS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 91, 10 January 1908, Page 4

FROM OTHER PAPERS.

'• .v- •"'■.'.-•OV-'VvVc-'•• 'V ' ; V -,».", Two English tourists have hit upon the : novel idea of "doing", tho island on the .way v. " mV'," to Wellington in a caravan, which thoy have had.specially constructed in Auckland forttha . ;i; purpose (says tho- '"New Zealand Herpld!!),., ; ... ), i Such a /method: of. travelling will. secure.- for"•■>>v ■ ■ tliem absolute independence, l if nothing elso.i 1 ... ■'lho yelncle, which,left- Auckland on- Mon-: 'ij v:o : v, day morning, is verj strongly built, .and fitted with all • conveniences for.:'travol.- , ''Two , .'': , .-. , |j:i.-'i.-iJ ■tents are being.; carried,- and • Captain <<Hope .•'ajy/cw*: Johnstone and Mr Ehrl, the two gentlemen i 111 Question,;intend visiting tho<fishing and' ■ v ; shooting: grounds i n -to, tbe;.beautj£ ; spots, of tho ■.island.^Tho •, holiday - undor.;tvti:■'; H : these- conditions ,shbuld; ; be;an..ideaii:one. : Many good stories !i (says;.:tho-''TiffiAru.' ; «•' il'psk'^-'ttrdvteW'.TOnc^iiig^hiß/ingeiiiii^rfx^Hi'V'- 1 :': school boys in raising.monoy l -,through' ',itho;'v: K 'salo of. small birds', eggs, but .'it would ap- ; V • , :po'ar..that,oil. occasion the ; -inaligncd.. : little''sparrbW : ' are . turned' to ; ;pro-^::"";;'- 1 :-: jfitablo a^ount-tbyLthe-lauiil^^^ Albury a;.well-known Timaru -.business 5 matt;.' u..\ and ;an/equally' woll-knqTfn"; dealer fahd'v.'f Vfr u .farmer:found themselvos in^vaht''of:a.matbh' ; ,iV'-n'f- v . : and; imirasya 'penny' to■ buy;; '■£■* box;f BSph"' : 7" vi?;; appealed/to the other,m vain,-and how:, to get; onQ-Hv.as, the.' 'pAblefe/\vitn .--wliicliv^-tlios! found; themselves':confronted;; '.'lt.';was s^^o^iv'f;-;^^-v?.'l! .. vsooii, solved;-,. The' pair 1 "went' J]:;': '{I'hey , soon-' obtained ■-. half-a-ddsen-sparrows'-Z ; :J ' i'% . eggs, and going bcldl) into a shop, askod for - and ...obtained"' a. box' of matches,' tender-^-*'v ;;■ :K ing the eggs in payment,'tho 1 storekeeper; ,'ing" an agent,- who bought'- onrbehalf<;of-"'theViV .'■ .: tjbuncil- -'"l—l b".; looked. - 'closely; 'at^"'flib'.. - payment"; tendered,'valid- saidVtWvneV-iroiiMVS'n'w'-': 1 ." ■accept-it thisftime,': 1 hut Jremarked .that' nbKt? : f--';t;. : \ , time., he would prefefceoin of ; ;,fhe, realm'< *:!'? ' farm produM of this 'description." Vv'

... V-' " ' A party ;of : tramway:'\enlpioyees ! : to;'vtha! number ; of about; 20found.themselyos. 'uih. a aomewliat predicaniont,-'/lately. near Otago Heads (says the' "Otago Daily; . ■Times"). ,They had engaged;,a■ mator-launon;'.i. 'for- the purposo .of enjoying ta- day's 'fishing, and whilt\, so employed,., allowed tho-boat tor , drift unnoticed oil .to tho rocks near Birring-(j toii' Point...; In • their .'efforts to' get .the" ■ off they . capsized^.it, • and . .tHe ' whole*' party. 'were precipitated; into-"the.;water. No on«, J • wais ; (frowned.but, :thoy \were. f allvery,' ..wet"," and in. that; condition j'..■ tho; .boat, being,' now: * unavailable,' mado. their", way;to,iortpbeilp oii:;.. foot, .and there obtained, a passage;to.>Diiii>it edin by' the .Moorangi. ..' ;'

. On -Friday morning the Moeraki-included : (says tlib "Lyttblton. 'amongst her s .passengers 'from Sydney; i middle-aged 'rman whoso air'and general appoaranco suggested' • that ho had seen more prosperous days/ Hia entire belongings;consisted 'of :a-,bicycle' of an;'';-" antique .model, two "billies," arid a quantity, ■/■' -of .clothing' jstuffed- into •;'A ; well-worn'''sack.' ' i ■Little time was wasted'over hini by' the. Cus^ : - .torn; House .'officialsj''and; ! tne immigrant waa'-. ' soon trudging; up Lyttcltori'shilly .'streets,--! i ■pushing his bicycle.;; On' reaching' Norwich .^uay.iio found. that' both ■ tyres'/ iofhis " machine were out "of, • breath, and Iho at '. once,' with remarkable fortitude, - set •• to work v to' repair 'them. ' The " capacious.-. sack wa l ;' ;emptied'-: of .its '..contents}-'/and in a' corner,- ;V securely wrapped in- .an' '-'bid•'■ sock/'he un i covered a; tin of rubber' solution..; » :The'other •necessaries 1 for; the - repair 'Work were-C,'un-' • .earthed also from- the sack, 'aiid' bcforo 1 the - gaze of-a diminutive crowd the man repaired •«" tho' braco of punctures. .. .Thenj with: the aid of,'a .bicycle, pump, also l extracted .from tho mysterious sack, the traveller .inflated -tho ;tyres, and, - after/ laboriously .replacing ', tho.*- ;■-. household belongings' in tho depths - of; the' -- 1 sack and fastening tho whole on the handle* 1 ■: bars of the bicycle,/ ho cast one glance of. Contempt' upon- his interested''audienco, and - mounting his ..bicycle, - rode : slowly in . the direction of Governor's Bay, neither stop-/!:: ping 'nor casting '-&• • • -glance behind until a' ' bond in' the/road had hidden him from view, r During;liis''stav in -the Port there were many..who used their best endeavours 4b elicit-from* ■- him his: name'and occupation and the-reason';'."-of his presence''in, the Dominion; but tolall -r" questions, ho was silent,'. aud:.he did not-even; /• ;d.pign: a.v¥Bsponse-,.tq.- ,tne ;,.remiark;;.by,;a- , .by-.''; stander: "He's another , one. of. ;i;hose fellows' ;■/ .that's riding. round the - world imd : have to;.. -spend nothing.?'. '.'- ■;/ ni -.

One of the stations; recently inspected by Sir/ W. H.' M'Quarters, of the Labour De- . partment, •in connection. with, tlio accommodation for shearers,,' was that at Kekerangu,. in' the !Marlborough district. It was there !, (says the Wanganui "Herald'.')-that', on the' night of ;April 1 , '11; 1886j .- ho,' was cast', ashore after suffering shipwreck in the disas- '. ter Vhich'iocc'urred to the Union Company's' ill-fated Taiproa. . Mr. : .M'Quarters had a• | 'terrjblo';. experience;. sitting in a water-logged-boat for, 13 hours watching the other. 23 occupants die-'one after .another. He was,taken, i tQ tlio Kekerangu station in an unconscious-, condition .and eared for., M'Quarters was a 'sailor in those days, , and it seems a strange , circumstance.that.his next visit to the station should be'2l years after, in the capacity of a shearing inspector. 'While there, he' visited the graves of tho victims of the wreck, and was presented by a resident with orie\ofthe lifebuoys of the ill-fated steamer which was washed ashore after the wreck..

: An amusing example'of Unrequited kind- ..' ness is given by; tlio Rev. H. B; Freeman, vicar of Burton and rural dean, in tho cur-' Q

rent issue of a local magazine (says the London "Chronicle"). The vicar of a village in his deanery'willingly granted'a young man permission to ascend tho church tower "to view tho glorious scenery of the neighbourhood." A few days later the vicar ' received by post a . snapshot of himself in the act of entering the only publichouse in. the. vicinity. The unsuspecting pastor, who had gone into tho hostelry to obtain'change. for a sovereign to pay somo wages, had-been photograpned from his own church tower. . "I gladly give this explanation of the episode," writes the Rev. H. B. freeman, "especially as I know him to be an earnest, and eloquent advocate in tho temperance, cause." .

The Otira correspondent •-of the '-"Grey' .Argus" says:—"Very few .of us can-grasp fully'how.great an enterprise is the boring, of tlio Otira tunnel. The mere preparationsaro dismaying. Think of a.job.so big that ;it takes you nearly. a year to collect your , .tools and get your apron straight before 1 you can begin. Think of 25,000 ton's, 1 of cement, i and all other commodities on a'-like scalo, and you begin to get tho measure, of this tiling that wo aro going to do. So far, they aro merely -building, workmen's' houses, and thinking, thinking, thinking, though this 1 latter exorcise is wasteful and foolish, be- ■ causp tlio taproom of any hotel on the line would gladly provido a solution for all, their, problems any t-imo after 9 a.m."

Under date, November 20, tho London correspondent of tho "New Zealand Herald',' writes: —An official report is stated to have been received to-day from .Monsieur Cadet-, director of the Central Observatory in IndoChiiia. of a storm of hailstones that, dwarfs everything hitherto recorded, even in the Bock of Exodus. Were is not given on such authority it would be hard to attach credenco to tho following story:—"At tho village of Pliaima, about- two miles' from Langson, the hailstones pierced a roof in 20 places, making holes Bin.- in diameter,- and being as'largo as a child's head. At Langson itself, the soldiers picked up a hailstone as big as a man's head, and Dr. Portal found ono weighing three-quarters of a lb. Others weighing nearly Mb. seem to havo been common. Tho storm took place on April SO, and, beginning in the Mai-Pha mountains, travelled in a.long line, leaving destruction and desolation in its path. The damago was enormous, but, though many cattle were killed, no human lives seem to have hc-eii lost.'- During the height of tho storm tho lightning was almost perpetual, seeming to pla.v over the whole zenith and running along the ground while the temperature roso to over Oldeg. Fait, .in tho shade. Tho first hailstones wero as larpe as eggs, and increased in size until they became veritable projectiles, mostly shaped liko icicles formed round an ice kernel as big as a .hazel nut." M. Cadet concludes by saving that such hailstones wero never seen before, and that probably it will be lonjr before similar phenomena aro aijain observed.