WEEKLY WHISPERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 218, 23 September 1901, Page 2

WEEKLY WHISPERS.

If there's a hole in a* your coats, I rede ye, tent t' it. A chiefs amang ye takin' notes, And, faith, he'll prent it. — Bttkns, It is a satsfactioa, especially to bicycle riders, that at last a really powerful and representative public protest has been made against the rule-of- thumb method of street watering in Nelson. It is said that signatures to all sorts of petitions can be obtained only too readily. But the case and rapidity with which all classes of the community signed the request of the City Council to water the streets by night instead of flooding them by day showed clearly that the wish for a change is very general. Mark, of the scores who signed the majority probably believed that to water the streets overnight might be next to useless in vieiv of the coming Waimea day winds of spring and summer. The more general view is that the watering should be done between 7 and 8 o'clock in the morning. But, rather than render the collection of sigaatures difficult or tardy because of a difference of opinion, minor points were dropped. » * * # Of a truth, the watering -or rather, the flooding - by those worn-out old carts j has been a long-standing grievance under which the public have at last refused to suffer -any further. Endeavours have | been made from time to time to come to some arrangement as to dry tracks for bicycles or traps ; but no rule has been adhered t* for any length, and every now and then complaint has arisen. As a matter of fact, the only- remedy is the purchase of new carts, or the fitting of modern " roses " or distributors to the old ones. Nelson water carte and

I hand mud-scrapers should be put in a I Museum, among other implements of tor--1 ture of a bygone age. I * * # J At the recent meeting of the Nelson I Sailing Clab, a motion was more or less I solemnly carried to the effect that the I City Council be invited to head tbe proI cession of boats at the opening of the seaI son in the Sadden Jerk. I*# # • J Those who are eager to get to South I Africa to be in time for the " boom " I that may come under British rule in the I Transvaal and Orange colony should be sure that they take a lot of money with I them, or they may actually starve on mealies and Cape Smoke. The prices of I things must make the New Zealand producers' mouths water. A Mr James I Maxwell, of the South African railway service, writing fco a Dunedin friend, says that at his present location, the Springs, about 31 miles from JohannesI burg, eggs are selling at 1 2s a dozen, oatmeal 7s 6d a stone, American floor 25s a bag, potatoes .£4 10s a bag, whisky Is 6d a " hauf," and beer is Is a glass. Of I course there are war rates, but they are not likely to alter for some months to come. Hence, persons going to the Cape j without work and with none too much money will hardly have a rosy time. * # * *olonel Pitt is not the only social reformer who desires to eradicate by Act of Parliament the practice of smokI ing in j uveniles. Bis Bill deals only with j cigarettes ; but Mr. Field has in the I Lower House a measure of much wider scope. It proposes to make it an offence for any person under 16 years of age^to smoke tobacco in any Bhape or form in public, the penalty for the first offence being ss, and 10s for any subsequent offence. A penalty of J>s is provided for furnishing tobacco to such ] young persons, but no conviction is to i be entered if a medical officer certifies that the using of tobacco is beneficial to the health of the young person. • * • A young friend has developed a gorgeous notion, but it is apt to lay him open to uncharitable misconstruction. He say 3 that from observation he feels sure that use inflates one's pneumatic bicycle tires quite as much as " elbow grease " with the pump. He declares that on a recent trip ne started from town -with his tires quite soft, but that by the time he had gone eight miles or so"they were quite tight. He avers that he called at no hotels on the way, and that he did not carry any liquid refreshments, so he must be believed, I suppose. But people are apt to misjudge one so ! * * * Some not very observant old AngloIndians, after retirement, lose their sense of proportion like other people, and occasionally make blunders which are ludicrous to the initiated. Col. Morris, in describing the Indian water-carrier and his services in the Boer and other wars, solemnly says in the " Otago Daily Times'' that the "bheestie" carries on his shoulders a " mussuck," which is " the skin of a bullock taken off whole and carried on the shoulders." (!!) Now the average " bheestie'' is far from being an Atlas, and a whole bullock-skin filled with water would be rather heavier than when the live bullock was inside of it ! Another " Anglo-Indian " naturally comes to the rescue of veracity and probability, and corrects the Colonel's mental slip by stating that the largfst " mussuck " is made of nothing larger fchan the whole skin of a goat. Thus Kipling on Gunga Din, the hegimental " bheestie " : - The uniform he wore Was nothing before, And rather less than 'arf of that behind— For a piece of twisted rag And a goatskin water bag Was all the field equipment he could find. # • • A Bright water correspondent writes : — "I know you must be bored with socalled " fishing yarns " by the score during the fishing season of Nelson. What will you think of one before it opens ? This time [am glad to say it was a case of " The Biter Bitten." Being a fisherman myself and knowing what a lot ol poaching is done in Nelson district alone I am only too pleased to see one caught, if not actually in the act, just afterwards Whilst a resident of Biightwater was taking his constitutional on Sundaj morning on arriving on the railway bridge over the Wairoa he saw in the river an eel of enormous size. He instantly ran away towards Brightwatei (not for safety, but for assistance),-find-ing at length the village blacksmith and another fishing resident. Armed with a spear, they returned to the river and being three to one very soon had the monster on shore. It was brought up to Mr Robertson's timber yard, weighed and measured. Its weight was a level 231 b3 ] height 4ft 6in, and girth lft 4in. Now there are many yarns of large eels in our district having been caught ; but the creatures have never been brought out for public inspection. 1 his one has, however, and lam glad to say that I took a most successful photo of the Brightwater poacher and its captors. On opening the eel the backbone of a trout was found inside. This measured Bin ; there were also a few loose vertebrae in the stomach which would mave about 9 inches. Allowing two inches for head, that trout must have been at least 1 1 inches long, equalling at least lib. I will send you a copy of its photo in a day or two and I am also sending it to the leading, illustrated papers. I would also like to state that this eel, known as the Brightwater Poacher, is claimed to be the record fish, and all wishing to compete against him must expose their catch to public view in Brightwater." MOFUSSILITE.