NEWS AND NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 April 1923, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

The big bronzed man from the hush, down at the Sydney Show, .slow I v whetted his shining axe-blade on a strap ol leather, stretched by an obliging mate across an ujvended block of wood. Then, with his left hand, he drew up his trouser-leg, displaying a shin of surpassing hairyness. A down■ad slide ot the blade against the leg

ini (i little wisp of hair dropped 0 the ground, leaving a clean-shorn patch. "She’s sharp.” was the verdict. And she was.

Described ns the first ease of the kind mi record, a man horn with onlv one bmg wa-. the subject of an inquest at I w iekeiiliam. George Smith. (s(j, an employee of the local district council. " ;,s ~aid to have died ol pneumonia of the ri ir;!iL limy, and !)r Browning, who

made- a |mst mortem examination, .said flto ro was no evidence of a left lung ever having existed. The man, he •Hided. 11111-1 have been born without a second lung, a case, he believed, without precedent. A verdict of death from natural causes was returned.

lhrco tins, containing nearly C-lOHO in notes, have been found buried in the cellar of a house of Felling (Durham). Tbc discovery was made by Mr James Colgau. an ex-sergeant of the Dublii Fusiliers, and this is his story:—“l

"as engaged is stop smoke-holes in the cellar, which is full of sand, with only a trench cut through to the chim-ney-stack. Alter I had been shovelling for about half an hour J came across a tin box, crammed lull of .Cl. notes, and mi tiic top was a sijial! slip of paper marked Before long J unearthed another box packed with notes, and marked ‘CH7.V. and then I came across a large toffee tin far bigger than the others and crammed to bursting-point with notes.'' After that, he adds, he was told to stop digging. Ills reward was one shilling and sixpence.

It is well-known that snakes do not masticate their food and arc capable of swallowing animals the girth of which i- in licit gienlcr than their own. This is illustrated by a reimii katlc photo-

graph in a recent nnuiher of the ‘‘Km goon Times.” The picture shows a python, loft, in length, and a full-grown female barking deer which was removed !ri m its siuinaeh. The deer was covered with -lime am! had been swallowed i nly a lew hours, for the onlv evidence

f digestive action having begun was i tin' eyeballs, which were unnaturally bite. The python I egau it. meal w ith lie deer's bead, but the hind legs were rottglit, forward with the hooves (oether against the threat, wrilo the irelegs trailed backwards against the elly and between the hind legs. Not bene was hroheii. it would be interesting to know Imw lain electoral rills Were examined by to winner of the rnnipetitioii for disihernig wrongful enrolments in collection with the licensing poll, writes Mcreiitio” in the “Now Zealand I era it!. ‘' It would ap|"ar that the rize-w jutting total of i > I * 1 name- jutninthly all < becked is dciiion-trably use of person- net entitled to enroiii'tit - represents the whole measure imperfection in t lie electoral roils, and any of these blemishes were doubtless lie io mistakes. Since ti-0.000 Votes ere recorded m the licensing poll. 10 discovery of tild wrongful enrol-.-■lit less than cue in every I hull Hid- i .mm | i.e regardt d as reason u apprehension. Indeed the com- ■ til ion seems to have produced linking testimony to the efficiency ol it* electoral idlmers and the honesty the I eople of New Zealand. While irtiier proi i' ■ i the latter is afforded ibe fad that no one discovered a diieieiit number of cases of vvrong--11 voting to make an entry for the her prize offered. I la* appearance of a member o! the ir sex running along the Invercargill jin ay stati n under the burden of i armful ol hooks and accompanied ■ a railway oiiicial. caused anile a liter amongst the large crowd which IS assembled on the platform as the iernoon express drew' out (says the •S.mlltlan.l News - t. 1 1 u-,i» evitlt-io til,ls,, who Witnessed the spectacle, at here was a belated passenger vvlm a- going 1,0 es-ay an attempt lo itil the departing train. How would e do it with all her purawhonialiu ? i, iisvver was soon provided by tile; ■living, but perspiring ollwial swing- ; g open st van at the rear i I the j • tin and bundling tlie passenger ami iv,.l- into it in the most ceremonious tinner possible. This impromptu moth- j | of hoarding a train can-' d the i •eatbless suspense of the 'pectntm-s j be followed by 1 cals of laughter, j tile the persen responsible for ail j ,- excitement made tile best oi her mporarv iinpris.mmetil. ----- s That s,,m,- ratepayers in 1 Iw-bn j mnty have a seme of humour was j j, ml at the meeting of the Cmmiy | a ratepayer, who < states alt ex- . nog,- . had received a- tag on bis rate ! tice to the elle t that owing to re- , :'iet ions placed ,n local bodies' f.U- j . ~s it was d. sirahle that tile rates j paid promptly, returned said mg ■ , j, ip,, infoi'inat am written on the, ~i, ••(!,;,, owing to the limits place ! j |,!s overdraft at the hank lie bad j t been able to pay bis rates. v mat, who recently presented hint- j It at the Town Hall «u tilt* tvvehth j rondissemont of Paris and asked to j put on the voters' list, stated that | was dean Antrim, was horn at , mites on January I' l '- :,n< ; ,s. tlierelore. Mb years old. _ Ho |»mwed a birth eeiTitieate showing tln-se rtieulars. The clerk was all the more rprised, as the man did not look, >re than CM years of age. The man. ; m doserdn'd himself as a “adogist. -elares that he was an old man at tv. but that then, while m Ausira- , ' be put himself on a diet winch sowed Ills youth. It is staved that , I . 1,,- Paris editor last omrtes matte ov -i 1 . > ] ll „ Vt .,l ,Imt a dean Louis Autran indeed born at Cannes in Ml-. it that lie had hmg Ho«n dead and tried. A striking development of the ,taxing increase in crime was reported out Pittsburg retvntly. wh.ere the dice, through the arrest oi a youthd l-.otisobrc-aker. discovered evidence tbe existence of a "correspondence Tool for burgbirs.” In the prisoner's is session was a complete set of text ,oks f,icing instructions concerning le use”of burglar-' tools and esplain- • r -it least twenty-seven different ;7vs of opening -•burglar-proof” safes. "There was no room for me to sleep , the house. I was fairly crowded tt.” said a husband who pleaded guilty under great provocation to ■'serting his wife, when summoned at .'illesden. "Many times my wife told ie to clear out.”' he added. “Sailors nd other chaps used to come to the ou.ee.” His wife explained that one

of the “chaps” was his own soil-in-law, and there was only one sailor, vvho was engaged to title ol the daughters, “lie is jealous of his own grown-up children,” she added. Defendant was ordered to pay Cl a week.

The Kev Tl. FI. Pavton, who has just returned from an extensive tour in the Far East, expressed to a X.Z. " Times” reporter much dissatisfaction with the news about Xevv Zealand to he found in the newspapers of Australia and other countries he visited. Tit Sydney lie found reference to the earthquakes at Tanpo under the ludicrous scare headline "Rickety Islands,” and that was practically all that was found of news from the Dominion. ■Searching in Perth lor items from Xevv Zealand, all lie could discover was that it produced the biggest hog in tho world. Keen in India cricketing people could follow the scores of the M.C.C. team all through their tour, but of polities or commerce or other happenings there was nothing. This Wits great Iv to he regretted, because in bis travels Mr barton found many people who were keenly interested in X'ew Zealand, some of whom were making inquiries about prospects with a view to -etfling here, but as Mr Burton remarked: “if till you get is cricketers ami an occasional hog it does not carry you verv far.’”

Marriage seems to take precedence over everything. In a licensing ease at the .Magistrate’s Court, Christchurch, counsel applied for an adjournment on the grounds that the daughter of a licensee (who was charged with having allowed billiard-playing on his premises “after hours”) was being married. “And you don’t want any marring of the ceremony'” said the magistrate. Counsel: Yes, sir, and the police don't mind. 'The magistrate: Well, let it be a day of ,iov—of unalloyed joy!

A letter was received by tbe Gon-ville-f astleehJf Tramway Board from the Bank of Xevv Zealand, at its last meeting, asking that, the •‘domicile” ol grid,i'lll() calm- of di'lientnres held by the hank should he transferred to Melbourne (relates the Wanganui "Chronicle”). ''What is the object:-” u-krd one of tin; members, and the reply was that there was less income tax lo pay in Australia. "I thought llie Government had a share in that bank.” remarked another of the member, facetiously. As the hank is entitl'd to nominate the “domicile.” the board in future w ill remit. I tin interest to Melbourne, and incidentally pay ex-

An instance of the strange effects of lightning occurred in a thunder storm at Fremantle recently. A boy was riding a horse between Carney's Hill and Yetna, when the animal was struck by lightning on the bead and killed instantly. ’The hoc was thrown on to soft sand, escaping unhurt. It was on the horse that the strange ei--1 ,-ei- of the electrical discharge were 1,, he observed. Both its cars were bm tied off. its nose tip was severed its if be a -hart) I;nile. and down ihe forelegs were furrows about an inch deep, as if they laid been deeply seated with lirending icons. When the i-areaso was being lifted into a carl to be removed lor burial, all the teeth tell mi! of the mouth. I Since Paris has become known as j "t he Reno of Fmope” legal talent ha - : turnerl it attention to obtaining di- j coree I»u me--. The climax was reach- j el recent I v when a prominent news- , paper carried the following advertisement : "Divorce on credit. Judgment guaranteed within three months. Pay vi hen secured." During: I lie sen-at iona] trial at Nancy some weeks ago ol nil j iiillneiitial man charged with the al- . templed murder of his wile, who was i a niece of Maurice IWrcs, a niembre | of the Academy, it was brought out ill j court that agencies undertook not only I io secure evidence against men and wo- j men d.-siroits of breaking their marital j lies. Inti also contracted to ‘-iiianiifaeture” evidence. I Before twelve hours had elapsed after j the death of an old women at Atherton 100 persons had called at the house to see it it was to let. Three persons j were there immediately alter tbe death j became known. |