TOWN AND COUNTRY

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 55, 29 November 1923, Page 3

TOWN AND COUNTRY

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE PROVINCES

“What are thev going to do with the monov thev get from licenses?” asked a motorist at Woodlands. “Are they going to keep up the roads?” “No.” said another, “thev are going to keen uu the inspectors.”—“Southland Tinies.”

On a recent visit to (relates the “Southland Times”), a Woodlands resident nulled un on the side of the street for a few minutes. When ho returned to his car he found the following note: “Please face the other wav in future or vou will be facing the Magistrate.”

“Thev will soon be issuing us with brass collars, like the dog collars,” said a member of a Woodlands meeting protesting against the motor bylaws. “so as thev can tell who has paid the fees.” (Laughter).—“Southland Times.”

“It is estimated that 150 gallons of water are necessary per head of population.” said a Masterton Borough councillor on Monday night. “Britain uses 20 to 50 gallons per head, but I have heard, that they do not go in for baths there.” he added amid laughter. America, he continued, used. 200 gallons net head. — “Wairarapa Age.”

A sporting country parson, who “mints” a little occasionally, was called. awav unexpectedly, and the curate took his place. Among the mail was a letter containing a cheque only, which puzzled him. but he thought that the congregation should know of the generous donor, andf accordingly announced that Mr McShortodd's had kindly forwarded to the vicar a cheoue for £2o, but had omitted to state to which appeal the donation was to be credited. After that (savs the Mataura “Ensign”). the building fund had to get it!

“The whole trouble with my family.” said the defendant in a maintenance case at. the Dunedin Police Cour on Tuesday morning, “is that they nave too much ‘mas.’ " Later on in questioning a witness who alleged that he had a habit of throwing the furniture and crockerv about the house, he asked • “What about the two girls bring dishes at. one another? Between them thev fling more dishes about than 1 have over done. This familv of mine are verv tame here.” he added, but wait until vou see them at home, they are like a charge of pocket knives the wav thev go for vou.”—“Evening Star.”

“This is. no doubt, the cause of so manv accidents at Chaneys.” said Mr. Wvvem Wilson. S.M.. at the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court recently, when bo convicted’ and fined a middleaged man for trespassing on a railwav. The defendant had been found nsleeo and under the influence of liquor on the Cheviot line about dusk by an engine-driver of a train travelling on that route. The driver’s attention had been drawn to the defendant by his having moved, and the train had been stonned in time to avoid a fatality. The defendant explained that he had walked a long distance, and that his swag was heavy. He said (reports the “Press”), his health was at fault, and that he lav down and had slept on the sleepers—probably from fatigue.

“I finished up by giving an address on St. Patrick and’ proving to the satisfaction of tho Scotch members oi m\ r concrecation that* 116 w<is a 1 resbvteriaji.” said the Rev. W. McDonald (Auckland) at the Christchurch Presbvterian General Assembly on Tuesday night, when he was describing a series of lectures he had K* ven to his church members. He added 1 , when the laughter had died down, that the Irishmen in the congregation, had Questioned his premises.—“ Press.” Cats are popularly supposed to have nine lives. There is one m Oamaru that certainly has two (remarks the “North Otago Times”). A resident placed the animal in a sugar bag, together with a heavv weight, securely tied the neck of the bag and deposited tho feline in the ocean. Two days later it was sitting on the doorstep, apparently none the worse for its immersion.

Sir John Ross who is principal pronrietor of the Roslyn AVoollen Mills, has turned his ninetieth year, and can still naint tho cates on his larße farm in the Balchitha district (says tlie Oamaru “Mail”). All the gates on Sir John’s nronertv are pearlv white, and can bo seen ,for miles, so that there is no trouble in finding ingress or egress to anv of the naddoclts. To naint the gates is a hobbv of the nonogenanan uroorietor. who “can Be see putting on the naint” as if he were paid a high salary for the work he does., It is., i however, but a hobbv that has grown | up with Sir John. But how many . persons who have reached the age of 90 vears maintain their bobbies, especiallv when thev entail a certain amount of physical effort., and this is what, struck an Oamaru visitor to tlusouth.

“It mav surprise you to know,, stated Mr. Colin Robertson a Maikaia veteran, at a social held at M aikaia, "that next week it will be 55 years since I left Invercargill to come to Waikaia. There was then double the present population here, and there were five or six public houses. But I am not going to dig up ancient history to-night.”—“Mataura Ensign.”

A problem for geologists is represented by a large stone which to-day lies at the southern end of the Mareretu tunnel on the North Auckland railway (savs tho “Herald”). Round and smooth like a monster cannon ball, and weighing about a ton, this stone was met” with almost half-way through the tunnel. How it came to be buried some 50ft. or 100 ft. deep is hard to explain, unless by the theory held by some that it was precipitated from the sky as a meteorite. Included in the money which was stolen at Aramoho. after the recent murder of a woman there were sixsovereigns. By a peculiar coincidence (relates the ‘‘Hawke’s Bay Tribune”) six sovereigns were recently paid into a country bank in Hawke’s Bay. The rarity of tho appearance of sovereigns caused the police to make inquiries concerning the source from which tho gold had come. It was established satisfactorily that the money was in no way connected with the murder. Mr. W. A. Tate, of Greytown, who (says the “Wairarapa Age”) has returned from a trip abroad, states that New Zealanders have a great reputation to live up to. In South America he hit upon one man whose praise for the New Zealanders made him blush. This nerson considered the people of New Zealand, or at least those, he had met, were peculiarly endowed with characteristics that were the envy of other people. Travelling in tho States an American tennis player almost made love to him when informed he was from the country that produced Wilding. Everywhere 112 went Mr. Tate heard nothing but praise for New Zealand, and it was surprising what commercial men knew of the country’s legislation. Mr. Trite is of opinion that if our scenic resorts were more advertised in America there would be a great fiflw ■ ? ’oprists to Jthla country.

At Eketahuna last week (reports an exchange) an assistant in one ol the tearooms fell through a skylight and was seriously cut and injured. It appears the injured girl ascended to the roof to place a sack over the skylight to keep out the sun, and must have lent too heavily on the glass with the above result. The first intimation the proprietor had of her whereabouts was when she suddenly descended on to one of the tables.

During the recent snowstorm in Otago (says an exchange) the reports of the loss of sheep were ridiculously exaggerated. Statements were made to the effect that there was 60 per cent, loss, and that losses of from 40 t0,,50 per cent, wnuld be quite common. The losses are not as serious as previously reported. The death rate does not exceed 20 per cent., whilst the lambing percentages are bettor than most runholders hoped for.

The drought still continues in the Naseby district (reports the correspondent of the “Otago Daily Times”), no rain having fallen for weeks. The position is becoming serious for miners and others whose water supplies are rapidly decreasing. The grass paddocks bear evidence of the absence of rain.

Farmers in the early days in New Zealand lost a lot of cattle owing to the beasts having eaten tutu, which is a dangerous poison. The Southland “Times” states that in many districts down there the tutu is plentiful, and as the most dangerous time of the vear is approaching, a practical farmer wrote about what he states to be a reliable remedy. His letter is as follows:—“If you find a beast stretched nut- with tutu poisoning, next door to death, give it immediately a whisky bottle full of kerosene. I have never known this remedy to fail. I have seen cattle down and apparently out, but after administering this dose they have commenced grazing within a quarter of an hour. When I say give them a full bottle. I allow for a good deal being spilt in the operation.” As most fanners have kerosene handy, this information should be of value.

“In my opinion,” said a member of the Motor Association at Invercargill. “On country raids the man who keeps to the middle of the road when travelling at 10 to 15 miles an hour and gives you his dust is worse than the one who travels at 60 miles an hour.—“ Southland Times.”

Few of the residents in the Mount Eden district, Auckland, icalise that probably some of their gardens are on the sites of old hot-pits or geysers (remarks the “New Zealand Herald.”) Mr. W. H. Atack, manager of the New Zealand Press Association, who is now in Auckland, recalls the fact that in 1877 and again a decade or so later, he suw from the summit of Mount Eden the circular marks of sinter showing up clearly against the grass and indicating that geysers or blow-holes had once been in operation. No such sinter rings are now to I® discerned. Mr. Atack says that in the ’seventiesi Mdunt Eden was entirely free of houses on the Onehunga side.

It is probably not generally known that there is a cherry orchard of 15 acres in the Wairarapa, from which the Auckland and Wellington markets _ are served. This (says the “Wairarapa Age”) is controlled by Mr. W. A. Tate, at Greytown, and just now is employing about 50 hands at picking, grading, etc. The crop this season is not as prolific as hitherto, due to the continued wet weather at the blossoming period. Cherry growing is fraught with trials that only a man of strong nerve and patience will suffer. The bird nuisance is a particularly trying one, and Mr. Tate has four men employed from daylight to dark shooting the pests or using other devices to scare them away. A cracker that gives off a louder report than a rifle is used, but the birds become accustomed to it, and exhibit little fear. Mr. Tate states that it costs him about £2OO per annum to Pope with the bird pest. According to him, cherry growing ih Now Zealand cannot compare with California, where they have thousands of acres absolutely free from pests of any description.

At least one man in Dunedin who intended to visit the Hickson Mission will probably be absent. Many years ago (relates the “Otago Daily Times”) when quite a lad, he lost the sight of one eye as a result of the stonethrowing propensities of a companion, and a few years since a cataract developed on the other eye. His sight was impaired to such an extent that he had to be accompanied to and from work’: About three weeks ago he bumped his nose against a door as a result of his poor sight, which then became so bad tlfat lie could rot see his hand in front of him. On Saturday morning his eye flicked, and all of a sudden he could see things clearly. A visit to a doctor disclosed the. fact that the cataract had fallen from his eye, and lie is nowable to tell the time on the clock at a distance of some yards and to the paper with the aid of spectacles.

A strange incident which resulted in a young Napier lady receiving a shock greater than that produced by the earthquake occurred while a party of ladies were standing on the verandah of a house on Saturday’ afternoon. As the first tremor shook the building (relates the “Hawke’s Bay Tribune”), the young ladies ran on to the verandah and while standing there a large blackbird swooped down from a telegraph pole, and nestling on the shoulder of the young lady in question, put its beak in her hair. Screams followed this unexpected move on the part of the bird, and one of the party gently lifted the unresisting and thoroughly frightened bird from its strange resting place and threw it into the air. An interesting and valuable illustration of a cheap and quick method for draining the surface of swampy land on the West Coast is at present h (forded upon the new plantation of the Forestry Department on tho Ross Road, a short distance below Rimu <says the “Grey River Argus”). This takes the form of what are known as “scrub” drains. First an open drain is roughly cut, but instead of being allowed to remain open it is first filled with manuka scrub, and then the material that has been dug up is replaced over the scrub, which will then maintain an efficient channel for drainage under a solid surface for many years. Tho Forestry Service has introduced this method from Southland. It is so far used only for a few drains, as there is no need to cover the numerous open drains cut by the service to reclaim the swampy land that formerly comprised a large part of the 150 acre area at present laid down in young trees for experimental purposes. The success of the whole drainage scheme is manifested by the presence of drying and dying moss on the area whare formerly all was swampy and sour. This initial area already bids fair to make history in the afforestation annals of New ZealaP'L