Correspondence.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1285, 6 January 1860, Page 3

Correspondence.

%• Our cpmapondence columni being impartlidlj? open, w« ; »m ript to be identified with «ny opinion •xpreued tnwein- , (|>

;To v tjjjf^ &«(«• o/ tht Southtrn Crou. r , Sib,— Efoi^dow it »n*« that among th« jflgpmt improvement* in Auckland, the introduction of ajJublic clock '■Kould^iipi'li^ve ftiund. Jaf /-place t ' By » public dock, IfwMifolpriit thit KtiqUl4;»irike.th« houftr/and it the quuien|||wt included, ib; milch the, bettej;.'' Surtly the adyantonpft.' accruing frotn a' clock -that ,»houldaoquiint t^ of • iown like with the tim^a fisajy and night far outw«sgh\the eipinif' that j^M thereby. At all hour* of the d*y,^pppfflct^6e * great advanUge toj hare »ucha : cloot,';to ; ':|«Wi' the houn and (juartert/wunded by. its tflli' Whett*olt" of light of the public 'time-keepisr ; but how ' great 'tjp'' use of a ifcriking%ldc£ at night ! In varioiu partaof England, travellm ire laid to- borrow a lightj from <the, glo^worm^-found; by the M[ay »id« which enable* them to Mcertaudme time by their watchei..' In New' Zealand thow^uful inMcti are lomfr what' icarce, and' if it were otherwiie, a large number of the population would in all probability be unproYidtd with watchei.to place. them on. But, thank*,toProTidekce,? nearly "all the inhabitanteof Auok^andjufft provided with* the ienie "of hearing, arid the .Town or Church Clock pwaing^forth ifcdbixnm fro)n timt to time, would be td^wn » grfat I»on. r ' - -^ Jt^

> Would not the .pjiiinoe of - * »trikihg-olook in, AAiok-.Und-^Wkkeii ,in the mi^f pl««ing , *Wsooi»tJoni of 4 jci^tbm lio pWT»lont throughout the mother, country t lia l»Untty-t»wn and^ WJige .clock hM, furnished a I' th«m« for.our'poeU, vrh» huve feelingly deicribed it* ! cheerful aouna breaking upon the itUlneii of a turn* no«r'i erwiing. Why ihould not * clock-bell from the belfry of » Onurch in ,■ AuokUnd Acquaint our inhabitant! with the hour in the lame pleating manner, wafting it* Bound actom the waten of the Waitemata } I remain, iir, Your obedient lerrant, HonoLoaiA. Auckland, Brd Jan., 1860.

To tht Editor oftht Southern Crots. > Sir, — I have just observed a paragraph of a moit mischievous tendency in your paper of the 13th inst., and it will be no fault of the writer if it does not occasion low of life to any unfortunate new-comer, who may be induced to act upon it. The paragraph I refer to u one headed "Otago Wine," and the writer ii described as "the correspondent of the ' Otago Witness.'" After speaking of the good qualities of the tutu berry for the purposes of making Wine, he goes on to say :—: — " But some, one will say — is it not poisonous 1 To them I will answsr that I look upon it entirely as a matter at faith. I don't believe Tutu to be poisonous, and eat the berries with impunity whenever it suits me to do so. I believe it to be an idle tale nurtured in ignorance. I have known sheep and cattle live on it for days together, and never saw any ill effects from it either to man or beast ; but it resolves itself into a matter of " btlief" like everything else." The Juice of the berry is doubtless, not only not poisonous, but I believe wholesome. The berry, however, when swallowed entire is decidedly poisonous as any on* can testify, who has seen the experiment fairly tried. I nave seen it tried, and that by a person who unfortunately had been persuaded by somebody like "the Correspondent of the Otago Witness," that the poison resided apt in the berry at all, but in the small Stalk which attaches the berry to the spike. Believing this to be the time ho swallowed a number of the berries one afternoon/ and the next morning at five o'clock he was seized with something like an epileptic fit, being affected in a similar way to that in which cattle are affected after eating freely of the leaves with an empty stomach. For though "the Correspondent of the Otago Witness" has " known cattle live upon it for days together," it is an undoubted fact in this island at least, that cattle are very liable to be killed by it if they eat freely of it when they are very hungry, The poison I believe resides in the seed, and though the seeds may often be swallowed in small quantities, without any injurious effect, I am not aware that any one has ascertained the precise quantity which may be so swallowed. The intensity of the effect is probably modified by circumstances ; but until we know the limits within which the poison may be swallowed with impunity, it is exceedingly dangerous to mislead people with the idea that the berry is only poiudhous if you believe it to be so. I remain, sir, Your obedient servant, ONI WHO HAS BEEN THE EFFECTS OF TOTO POISON.