Local and General

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 25 October 1934, Page 4

Local and General

What to the eye is just an ordinary walking stick, but very skilfully conceals a shotgun, has recently been added to the firearms collection at the Dominion Museum, Wellington. There are already two walking-stick guns in the museum, but there is no mistaking they are guns, whereas (says the “Dominion”) the disguise in the latest addition is complete. Even the weight of the gun would hardly be considered more than the normal weight of a heavy -walking stick. The walking-stick gun was probably designed primariy for the use of poachers, and may possiby also have been intended as a means of self-defence. The necessarily small calibre of the weapon, however, makes it of little use at any distance, and its chief interest now is as a curiosity. The latest gan was presented to the museum by Mr F. Westbury, of Taita, Lower Hutt, and is a breechloader, whereas the two at present in the museum are muzzle-loaders. It is probably of Belgian manufacture.

It is perhaps not commonly known that Palmerston North can lay claim to possessing a secret society. Such, however, is a reality, and in addition to the popular use of signs and coun-ter-signs, cryptic passwords, and al! the mysterious movements attributed to “Black Hand” and the like, this local organisation is comprised of members as earnest and as desperate as any red-blooded fiction could portray. The birth of this society had a small beginning. It all started with the alleged “dragging along the street” of a small boy by a mysterious man with “a hooked nose!” With childish thoughts of “revenge,’’, this youth told his pals about the business, and from this incident about a dozen boys have joined forces and are busy plotting and planning to wipe out the assault. Already badges (buttons painted white) have been issued, with the formidable letters “S.S.” inscribed in red ink. It is understood a meeting was held recently, hut the results of this are not yet known. It seems that at least, one man in the city had better beware! The first all-electric turret clock to be made in New Zealand has been installed in St. Peter’s Cathedral, Hamilton, and is now in operation. A tenor bell, weighing scwt, is struck every hour, and the sound can bo heard a mile away. The cathedral stands on a hill at the south of Victoria Street, and the oft dials of the clock can be seen from most parts of the town. The cost of installing the clock, about £450, has been defrayed by public subscriptions, one of which was £SO, given by the Hamilton Borough Council. The time was first sounded by the clock at five o’clock on Wednesday evening, and in 20 hours only half a second’s variation was noted. The hope is entertained by the cathedral atuhorities that later they wijl be in a position to instal additional bells in the tower, and to convert the timepiece into a chiming clock.