SKIPPERS NOTES.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3234, 3 April 1917, Page 4

SKIPPERS NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.* Skippers, 29th March, 1917. A sea-captain o'the land of kippers, Migrated and named a place Skippers, But its proved our undoing And now we are ruing That all is not gold that glitters. Another nefarious attempt at a limerick, Mr Editor; its a weak one, Imt none the less full of fact. It is astounding, too, how full of interest stories arc of the "dear dead days" of this district, days before even the Zeppelin was*thought of, and fondness for tho ancient order of things is still a feature of the lives of those yet remaining hero. "l> and sluice" is the accepted order. tHlt at the bottom of the gold minor's largo heart the thoughts of the changos--duuiges more momentous even than this business of the /.eppelin -still remains. The talk iin the hut or by the camp-lire concerns the doings of yesterday; the lies thai link thorn in a "common brotherhood" were for the most part forged in the old days, *> fast yielding place to

new. Pathos and humour continue to rub shoulders much as they always have, and there still remains more to laugh about than sigh over when the day's work is done. Last Saturday I paid my first visit to the upper reaches beyond the Sandhills. If news had got about that Mr was '1 oh the road what a slaughter and up-rooting of Canadian thistlea, briar and other noxious growth there would have been, no doubt: and finally imagine the surprise on the eventual discovery that it wa9 the other Mr . Indeed, as it so happened, everyone was surprised to feoe me, more so than if a battleship was suddenly discovered patrolling the Shotover River. I first visited Mr and Mrs Peat who greeted me with—"We don't know you, but we know your horse,"—! was riding (tell it not in Gath) a bit of local bloodstock who answers to the name of Charlie," and being no longer a colt he lacks "mouth" and temper—so I was on what one might describe as a soft thing: in fact I was on the whole, to borrow a shooting expression, a fine sight. After an enjoyable hour with these extremely hospitable folk I ventured on my way to Mr A. Smith's. Here again I was welcomed right royally, and after tea I had the pleasure for the first time, of hearing Mrs Smith sing. Mr J. Smith joined us and contributed a shooting monologue entitled "How I put it across the Queenstown cracks." Then to bed. Jn the morning this same gentleman gave a practical demonstration, on the kitchen floor, on how not to - shoot the markers in the butts, etc, and in a short while 1 had avaricious visions of bulls, and bulls, and bulls in my future scores. Yet another of our small community is leaving us to-day. Mrs Stephenson has resided here close on half a century, and takes with her our best wishes for a happy sojourn in other climes. I hear our friend Tom O'Neil has just been re - christened Tom O'Branches—those who know this very popular musterer would fully appreciate the so'niquat Eastertide will soon be upon us again, and mostly everyone will be on holiday bent—eheu fugaces labuhtur annil