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Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10959, 27 December 1911, Page 4

.We have to acknowledge the receipt I of. a handy calendar! from Messrs Darling and M'Dowell, agents for the Phoenix Assurance Co, Ltd. Our correspondent writes:—A very violent hail storm passed over Livingstone on Sunday afternoon about 3.30, completely destroying all vegetable and flower gardens in its course, and turnips and potatoes are cut down to the ground. With fruit- trees the damage is almost- complete, as what the hail did not cut- -off is so - bruised that- it is doubtful if any will come to maturity. Some of the hail was of considerable size, being fully an inch in diameter, though the bulk of it would average pbaut three-quarters of an inch*

Tlierc was a good deal of- speculation recently regarding a consignment of rifles detained by the Customs authorities. at Leith. Some months ago the rifles were brought from the Continent, consigned: to: a lirni in Belfast; 'lt; was supposed in sotno quarters that an attempt- had been nlade to smuggle them, into Ireland for soine questionable purpose,' but it seems that the rifles are really old barrels fitted to new stocks, i\ancl it is stated that-they would probably be of little use except at short range. Among the general cargo ,of a steamer which arrived from a Continental port towards the end of August there' was a shipment comprising ten eases, described 011 the bill of lading and other documents 011 the ship as containing, zinc plates. After having been landed,_tho cargo was in the usual course examined in the dock sheds by the Customs officials, and, according to practice, a percentage of the packages was opened. It- so happened that one of the ten cases described as containing zinc was examined, and - the searchers found that instead of ziric plates it contained rifles. Of course, the other cases similarly marked were at once opened, and all were discovered to be filled with rifles. Accordingly, on tile ground that the eases were wrongly described-iii the official papers, and also, it-is said, because the firearms did not bear- the ordnance stamp required by the regulations, .the consignment was detained at Leit-li, so that investigation might bo made into the -matter. Inquiries have been made in various directions with a view to the clearing up of the mystery, but apparently these have so far had little or 110 result, for the consignment still remains in the warehouse.

Certain officials at the Auckland railway station, says the Star ; are looking for clivers frolicsome spirits, and are promising dire trouble if a meeting takes place. Christmas is always a busy period for the railway servants, and is just the time when the pranks of the. practical joker are least likely to be appreciated. All day long on Thursday tired officials were turning away angry callers. One after another trooped in. "A parcel for me? So-and-So is my name. You rang up to sav there was a parcel of poultry for me from the country. Trying weather like tins, I can quite understand that you are glad to get such perishable freight off your hands. Very good of you to ring up." In such manner innumerable people introduced themselves to the officials in-charge of the railway goods sheds 011 the Breakwater Road, onlv to be informed that some wag had been at work. Finally the railway people got, so tired of it that where they- suspected the errand of a caller'- the-v rapped out, "No, there's no Christmas poultry for you 3 ,J before the hoaxed, citizen had time to embark upon inquiry. A railway official informed a Star representative that they had . had over 800 such inquiries in two davs, and they were tired of it. "•

Just- as a tram from the Spit had reached Balgowlali Heights, Manly, the other afternoon, says the, Sydney Morning Herald, the- passengers on the front seat saw a huge brown snake (tearing CiOivn the track towards them. Its-quarry was a large lizard, and" so pieoecupied was it with the thoughts of tlie prospective .meal that it. evidently le.t the oncoming tram out of its calculations The lizard passed the tram and the snake, but a couple of iO«*t »)omna, followed. The tram driver, anxious to be in at the kill, pulled up snort, and with some passengers rushed hac-k along the track. But the kill was over. ihe lizard escaped, so far as the tram was concerned, but the snake—five teet long a t least—had been cut in tnree pieces by the wheels. Millionaires are under discussion a g°?, a cl f al - 111 England just now. A writer m the November Strand- points out that the wealth of Messrs Rockefeller, Astor, Morgan, Rothschild, Carnegie, and Strathcona far. exceeds the total value of the product of British industry for a whole vear. Nearlv / ,000.000 workers, toiling six davs a. week prooduced a net output of British industry lor 1910-11 of £712,000,000 Ihese six men would be able to pav for all the result of a year's toil accumulated by a whole nation of toilers. Thev C ?,"lr y all the wealth of a year—al. the machinery, all the manufactured goods, all the steel, all the iron, all the tobacco, all the sugar. That is what SU m? as theirs means. There s nothing much to a headache w /T A re fnn ij ,iar mth Stearns' -Headache Cure. Convenient to carry, aken in a jiffy, headache gone in another. The totalisator, according to Mr J Gavan Duffy, K.C., of Melbourne, who ga\ e his views on the subject at the V IGW , win S of St - Vincent's Hospital last week, is the fairest wav or gambling, and in addition offers a means of . raising funds for charitable, institutions. '.'Gambling," he sa.vs "is otir national.vice, and if we must gami ; "mi i , do lfc cleanly and honest--1 lie totalisator could not square jockeys; it could not poison the horse, * h e fair «st iray of gambling: and ,f introduced would in addition provide enough money for all clm-ities." . On the arrival recently of the Furness liner i)urango at Halifax, Nova Scotia, iioin Captain Chambers reported a remarkable occurrence which took place when the liner was in midoeean Jhe steamship was proceeding at a high rate of speed, when suddenly vP«pi" W f"° S r n T d t0 work and the -s.,el ..topped An examination bv the engineers disclosed the fact that the circulation pumps had failed to act, and . -eps wfere taken to ascertain the cause. iui'a 1 ''if 't? e ,t Jm,,,d tf, at the I i-'i n V, circulation feed nine 1 whU'&i /'' a number of J fr' n ' ul » ee » drawn into the liassnjm by the suet,on of the pumps. 1 S ° wISt C «r not Vng " e generalities-are winL + l, Verage T New Zealand farmer wants to know. In reading about farm machinery, and Milking Machines i^ RSSSr-A in" ' | nc <f «'»' "< li.mj't,; ( Je feed me on facts," wrote t).o ' season. Every machine is working ne warranted to do-and more Tt d™ry farms and M r ol \? of i Cllk "I.g 1 .g Machines, writes: "To my mind W i are slm P ! y perfection; It a a mflki a n^" aS Th e ;« t9 Ti° rk a ? 4 watch them +;™ isT ]S e opinion of a pracW da fy farm er. In order fro get the Wa°tt , nTp R - ldd ' c ?, u P' e it up with a Watt s Oil Engine. Full particulars w'r f-L sl, P plied b X J- G. Ward ana Co.. Ltd.. Invercargill.