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Oamaru Mail, Volume XIX, Issue 5906, 30 March 1894, Page 4

Items.

A child in Auckland went out into the backyard when a rooster flew up and pecked him in the eye, injuring the eye ro such an extent that the sight has been destroyed. An old identity is at present an inmate of the Costley Home. His name is Valentine Dolatarf, and he claims to be the oldest and only survivor of the first colonists of New Zealand. He was born in Spain on February 15th, 1817, and came to this colon}- from South America in 1839 with a load of horses in the barque Justice. He landed at Russell, arid at that time there were very few pakehas at the Bay of Islands, as Governor Hobson was not then appointed. It is almost needless to add that this was before Auckland existed. He served in Heke's war. and was at the battles of Okaihou, W r aikari, Ohaiawa, and Ruapekapeka. At the latter ensagement he was shot in the leg. He has a grievance, contending that his military services should have secured him a position. Mountaineering.—Mr T. C. Fyfe returned to Timaru yesterday from a ten weeks' sojnrn in the Monnt Cook region (s »yi the Timaru Herald) where he has done much work in climbing, guidinc visitors, and photographing. With Mr Graham, of Waimate, Mr Fyfe succeeded in mastering Mount de la Beche, which had turned back so many, and with Dr Kronecker, of Berlin, and Mr J. Clarke, he ascended Mount Darwin, a fine rock peak in the Malte Brun range. Mr Fyfe also guided Dr Kronecker and Mr and Mrs Maxwell, of Hobart, to the top of Hochstfttcr Dome. Mrs Maxwell is the second lady to stand on the summit of the Dome, Mrs Lendenfeldt having accompanied her husband to the top some ye.ars ago Mr Fyfe considers his most important work is the discover}- of a practicable p-v«s to the West Coast. He found one, leading from the Mueller to the Landsborough, which by one day's fair walking can connect horse tracks on each side. MrM'Carthy, health officer at Footscray, has sent a sensational report to the Melbourne Board of Health on the character of the Yan Yean water consumed in certain quarters of that borough. An outbreak of typhoid fever led him to make enquiries, which showed that the Yan Yean in the vicinity of Hie affected area was simply horrible, the amount of solid tilth being fullybne-third to the bottle. He had no hesitation in saying that the tilth wa3 sewage, and finding no other cause for the outbreak of the disease, attributes it to the water. He recommends that the Education Department should provide filtered taps at the local State schools, and advises the local council to call the attention of the Metropolitan Board of W 7 orks to the necessity of more frequently Bashing the smaller water-mains.

Mr John M'Dougal and his friends, ! who established the Isle of Dogs Allotj ment Settlement, the first of its kind in i London, which is situated in one of the I dreariest districts of dockland, have decided (says the Daily News) to hand the land over to the County Council. The allotments have Wen in existence for three years, and have proved an undoubted success, and been of great benefit to the fortunate tenants. They are selfsupporting, and the management is in the hands of the tenants. Last year's balancesheet states that there are 182 allotments, and at the end of the year, after paying all expenses, there was a balance of about L2O in the hands of the Treasurer. The land, which is enriched with street refuse, which the tenants are paid for removing, is exceedingly rich, and produces firstclass vegetables. The trials of the new Austrian Salvator mitrailleuse, or quick-firing machine gun (says a London contemporary) have been reported upon as highly satisfactory, and the weapon has been adopted by the service, 100 pieces being now ready for distribution. The gun is not intended for use in the field, as in the casf »jf the English Maxim and Jfordcnfclt machine guns, but w>ll be mounted on the outworks encirclinc important fortresses. It is half the weight of the Maxim, and its average rate of discbargo is 300 rounds per minnte, with a maximum of 320. The principal point of "interest, in respect of which the new gun differs entirely from the mechanism of similar weapons now in use in other countries, is the oscillating pendulum regulating the speed of fire. There are two firing commands with the Maxims, " single fire " and " continuous fire." With the Salvator mitrailleuse the advantage is gained of sustaining a moderately heavy discbarge of 30, 50, to 100 rounds per minute, and increasing it, by means of a faster oscillation of the pendulum, to 300, when a dangerous phase of the attack has been developed. The mechanism is said to be very simple, and throughout the trial no jars were recorded."