NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14225, 23 November 1909, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF .

The Auckland Mueum will be closed • all this week for cleaning. Beneficial rain has fallen in Christchurch >• ' since Saturday, and a heayy harvest is anticipated. .'■..- Some very fine strawberries grown at • Heathcote were for sale in Christchurch the ;M other day. They were selling at 3s a box, containing a pound and _ a-quarter. - The canvass undertaken by the committee of the Otago A. and P. Society for new ■.-■: 'members has so far resulted in about 200 additional names being placed on the list. The wettest place in the Dominion seems to be New Plymouth, and the driest Nel- --, •, son, according to the meteorological figures published. "Rain fell in New Plymouth on 205 days in the year, and in Nelson on 112 • days. A half-sovereign that was thought to bo spurious by the officials of the Bank of Z; Australasia at Ashburton was tested in > ■ 1.. Christchurch, and was found to have been "sweated," its value being considerably re- .:: duced. //•-■''-' The Manuka's consignment of fruit from Sydney to Wellington last week amounted . ; to 1625 cases, comprising apples, oranges, ~ mandarins, and passion fruit. There was ;. : also a consignment of 3000 cases of Medi- '.' -~ terranean dried fruits. ' In order to show the extreme sluggish- . t ness of the streams that flow over the Taieri .■ Plain, the Taieri Drainage Board's V engineer, in a recent report, mentioned that .<m he had ascertained, by observation and com- : parison, that the water of one creek took three days to travel four miles. Recently a number of small seabirds were found ; dead below and around the lighthouse at Pukuneke (says the Bluff Press). Attracted by the glare of the lamps they 1 flew towards it, and dashing against the glass, fell to the ground and were killed by wild cats, which are plentiful in the surrounding bush. The buds were princi- '' ' pally kuaka and tititara. *

;fH ■ i An occupation which is not often heard of by the public was mentioned at the Magistrate's Court;' d Christchurch, on Thursday. ." What are "you?" inquired the magistrate of a judgment debtor who was in,,the witnesses' box. "I'm a 4 scrateher',' " came the response-. "A what?" asked the magistrate. "A 'scratches' reiterated the man. "I 'scratch' the tram lines, that is, clean them out lor the Tramway. Board."- '-'