NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21578, 25 February 1932, Page 16

NEWS IN BRIEF

The increase in the coal output from the district mines last week has brought good business to the Railways Department (states the Grey Star). Practically every available coal-hopper is in use, those on the Greymouth wharf front being utilised by some hundreds. Overland traffic in coal has shown a definite increase, and loadings for this week are also heavy.

The effects of the long drought in South Canterbury are being reflected in prices for sheep. A farmer said that at a recent sale a line of ewes had failed to bring a penny per head. The sheep were in poor condition, and were eventually disposed of in one lot of about 140 at lls the line.

Your sight is the most precious of the senses; therefore you cannot afford to neglect it. Consult our Mr R. A. Bridgman. D.1.0.N.Z., about your eyes. Oculists’ prescriptions a specialty. A large stock of artificial eyes always kept. Peter Dick, jewellers, watchmakers- and opticians, 490 Moray place, Dunedin*. For several years a number of Ellesmere County sheepbreeders have sold considerable numbers of purebred sheep to Australian buyers (states the Christchurch Times). A short time ago a consignment of 60 Ryelands was sent to Melbourne from the flocks of Messrs T. A. Stephens (Irwell), Joseph Brooks (Brookside), and W. O. Rennie (Doyleston). Last Thursday Mr- Rennie sent a consignment of 35 Ryeland ewes to Sydney. • s .

It is reported that the white butterfly, a destructive pest, prevalent in the Hawke’s Bay district, has made its appearance in Wellington. A gardener there states that he has seen it several times in the last few days, and prescribes as an insecticide arsenate of lead in the proportion of to 50 gallons of soapy water. A Hastings farmer stated the other day that the white butterfly, has attacked not only rape on his farm, but swedes also, and that in live days it had destroyed about two-thirds of a crop of 85 acres. , - , • To make a product so good that the simple truth about it will always be adequate recommendation is the aim of the India Tyre Company, of Scotland. India Super lyres. Master of Mileage. Agents. The Otago Farmers... It is seldom that a single potato root yields as much as 171 b of first-class tubers, but this -remarkable result has been obtained by a local resident, Mr Joseph Anisy, of Tainui street (says the Grey River Argus), Out of 32 seed potatoes selected at random from amongst the ordinary household variety, Mr Anisy has succeeded in harvesting a total of over two hundredweight. In addition to the root yielding 171 b, several others gave from 141 b to 91b, the total crop averaging 71b per root. < \ T}ie sons and daughters of soldiers of the 4th Waikato Regiment, who were Hamilton’s original settlers, have decided to raise the paddle-steamer Rangiriri, which for the last 40 years has lain embedded in the mud on the eastern bank of the Waikato River at Hamilton. The steamer brought members of the regiment to Hamilton in 1864. A committee has been formed to consider ways and means of raising the money to finance the project. The finest ladies’ sanitary goods in existence are Southall’s towels, in packets of 12 for Is lid and 2 S lid. Compressed towels, 4d each, 3s lid doz. Menex, 2s 3d and 2s 9d; easily disposable. Southall’s knickers. 3s lid; sanitary belts, Is 3d and Is 6d. Sent post free to any address from T. Ross, 130 Princes street...

From time to time reports of strange foster-parents have been recorded in the columns of the press. One of these cases has been observed at Mataura where a Pekinese bantam hen has taken charge of a litter of kittens during the absence of the mother cat in search of food (states the Ensign). Watching its opportunity, the hen gathers the tiny kittens under its wing whenever the cat leaves its progeny, and, ably assisted by a bantam rooster, defies the mother to regain possession. The antics of the two have provided a good deal of amusement to the citizen concerned, and to others who have been privileged. to view the hen nestling with her strange charges and resting quite content under her new responsibility. Our Cooked Ham now selling Is 8d per lb.—Barton’s, Manse street...

Sitting on one of the Auckland wharves the other evening, a seaman, who had travelled widely, said to hig companion: “ When I was sitting here the other day a youth asked me for a loan of my pocket knife, with which he could cut his bait. Well, I obliged him. A few minutes later he shouted to me that he had dropped it in the tide. He,pointed to the widening ripples on the smooth water as evidence of the truth of his statement. That knife I had had for 17 years. When 1 was in Central Africa I once travelled 100 miles from one native village to another because of the sentimental value I attached to it. Now it ig irrecoverable, within a few yards of me.” Mr Justice Rowlatt recently revived a London Law Courts practice which had been dropped 30 years before. He took tea on the Bench. This judge is one of the busiest at the courts, and gets through an enormous volume of work. On this occasion there was still so much business on hand that he sent out an order for tea. Tea and biscuits were brought by a waitress from the Law Courts refreshment room and placed on the Bench beside the judge. Counsel applied for future dates in the list of cases while the judge took tea and biscuits for the first time in the past 30 years during the sitting of a High Court. He was following the precedent of Mr Justice Bruce, who, at the end of the last century, regularly sat late and took tea on the Bench. “ I am * the great standby,’ ” said Mr Justice Rowlatt. holding his teacup toward the smiling Bar, " I am off to the north to-night.” The austere atmosphere of a Royal Court of Justice was dispelled by a kindly cup of tea.

Bad as. the prices for p.-imary produce were, he still noticed that everybody who could milked a cow, said Mr J. K. Corrigan, a member of the New Zealand Dairy Board, speaking at a meeting at Fordell. “It is getting quite respectable to milk cows now,” remarked a member of the audience amidst laughter. “ Yes,” said .Mr Corrigan, “ the cow has kept us going, and no doubt about it.” , : It seems that even the “ rushes ” of pioneers to locations where wealth is possible are adapting themselves to the more scientific propensities of the age. Once upon a time gold and diamonds were the lodestones, but now radium bids fair to take their place. Valuable sources of this prized mineral have been discovered in the pitch deposits near the Great. Bear Lake in Northern Canada, and mineral technologists who have been exploring there have returned with encouraging reports of their discoveries of radiumbearing ore. Prospectors are already travelling to the north to stake their claims.

Why pay over £5 for your, suits? See our special all-wool worsteds for 59s 6d. Thornproofs, all shades and sizes, at 79s 6d; extra heavy all-wool navy blue suits, now 97s 6d, usually £6 6s. No suit over £5. Patterns sent so you can compare our quality and prices.—“ Ascot.” Princes street. Dunedin..

The practice of carrying dogs on the running boards of cars is illegal unless the animals are securely fastened, according to a ruling given in Christchurch by Mr H. P. Lawry, S.M.. in the Magistrate’s Court. The Heathcote County Council prosecuted David Busch on a charge of carrying a dog on the running board of a motor car. The defendant was convicted knd discharged. The charge was laid under section 10F of the motor regulations, which states that no person shall operate a motor vehicle or trailer, other than a motor cycle, if the load ,is not either safely contained in the body of the vehicle or else securely fastened to the vehicle. Though buried under a heap of garden and path Cleanings for 24 days, a Black Orpington hen has survived. The bird was missed by its owner, a Palmerston North resident, on December 27 last. His neighbour heard the cackling of a fowl on the night of January 19, and an investigation was made in the morning,' when the missing hen was discovered under the rubbish, where it had apparently nested. The bird was in a weak atid emaciated condition, but is now recoijering from ; its strange experience. ■‘Bourbon” for breakfast! Each tin ot “ Bourbon " now encloses a leaflet giving instructions for making coffee. Also obtainable from the .proprietors, A. Durie and Co., coffee specialists. 32 Octagon, Dunedin... Blackberry is regarded by members or the Whangamomona County Council as a much more deadly menace then either ragwort or rabbits. Some councillors were emphatically of opinion that, while ragwort could be kept in check by: grazing heavily with sheep at the right season of the year, blackberry, if it once secured a hold, would push the settlers off the land. Some members had had experience of the ravages of blackberry in comparatively open country, and recognised that once it secured a hold on rough, hilly bush country it would be impossible to eradicate it. There were already some isolated patches in the country. It was unanimously decided to communicate with the inspector of noxious weeds with a view to immediate action being taken. Various causes of the deterioration of trout fishing were mentioned' at a. mseting’ of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society last Friday night. The ranger (Mr P. W. Wilson) reported that he had stopped .28 torch parties at night since January, and only three had front in their possession. Mr A. Seed was less definite in his remarks, but left a decided impression. He told of a farm which held some miles of excellent fishing water, formerly always to be relied on for a bag. The farm had changed hands, the new owner having a large grown-up male family, and now it was hard to find a fish in that stretch of water. Changing conditions throughout the world make it impossible to replace some of the goods at_ prices now quoted at Gray and Son’s Big Sale... A pood inquiry apparently exists at present for dairy farms_situated on and around the Hawke’s Bay flats. A Hastings land agent states that he has had a number of inquiries for this c*sa of property, but there are practically none on the market at figures which .make it possible to do business (says the Tele* graph). The man on the land at the moment is facing hard times, but he is apparently determined to hang on until the good times come along , again. That there should be an inquiry for farming property in a season of low market values such as the present speaks well for the public faith in the future ,of the .Dominion’s farming industry. The inquiry is practically without exception for land suitable for dairying, and it is becoming more apparent each season that dairying is going to play an even more_ important part in the province’s farming activities. , - We are specialising in a pure ail pork Sausage at XOd per lb—Barton’s, Manse A volume of water, considered to be even stronger than that obtained from the original bore, was secured from tlio new artesian bore sunk on the pumping site at Palmerston North on Saturday. The main flow of water was encountered at a depth of 400 ft, and water is now flowing at a very good pressure. During the past few months the number of farms which have had to be taken back by the Crown Lands Department has been very sfoall (says .the Christchurch Times). The commissioner for Crown lands in Canterbury (Mr W. Stewart) said that at present the department was assisting its tenants to remain on their farms, and the few abandoned properties it had on its hands were being used to assist neighbouring settlers fay providing extra feed for their Men, it’s Suit Week at the Mosgiel Warehouse. Tweeds from 39s 6d, Worsteds from 84s, Lynx, Sincerity, Kaiapoi, and all other good makes. Call early and save 40s on a suit. Clothing Men since 1882—A. P. Cheyne and C0...’ A rhcord low yield of corn is. claimed by a farmer at Levels, South Canterbury. Recently he threshed • his crop, which returned one and a-half bushels to. the acre. Yields nearly as poor were obtained by two neighbours, whose crops threshed out at 10 and three bushels to the acre respectively. Harvesting is now in full swing at Ratana and threshing is being carried out from the stock in excellent weather (says the Wanganui Herald). The enterprising dwellers of the pa have been again rewarded with good-yielding crops. The wheat straw is- not so lengthy as last year, but this is no disadvantage. The Ratanaites have set an example to pakeha farmers in the district as to what can be accomplished by thrift and community effort, , Accrediting as a means-of entry into a university has almost entirely lost favour abroad, according to a statement in a report on his recent tour, presented, by Professor R. M. Algie at a meeting of the Auckland University College Council. “ The opinions expressed to me,” Professor Algie states, “were most strongly condemnatory of accrediting. One might say that in England and there are few supporters of accrediting in any form, and the agitation in its favour may well be said to have died down.” Grandism (1572). —They live in the country and shop at the Grand Hotel Home Supply Store. Hundreds do! Why not you?... - When welcoming the press delegates to Auckland, the Mayor (Mr G..W. Hutchison) said they might be inspired to publish on their return to the places from which they came their impressions of the Queen City. Then Mr Hutchison, with a smile, remarked: ‘‘l hope.our visitors from Dunedin will have decided that we have not expended in a profligate manner the money that we. are reported, to owe investors in that city.” The point was quickly realised, and it was greeted with laughter and applause. .. Suva and Honolulu were remarkable examples of how natural architecture could assist man. Dr N. G. Trotter said at the meeting of the Southland League the other, evening. These places were surrounded by rings of coral which made excellent harbours and Nature had left gaps through which vessels could enter. The coral to most people might just be a reef with a gap in it. but to him it was an example of remarkable natural architecture.

Jack Sprat could eat po fat. His wife could eat no lean; But when they are on Hitchon’s ham They scrape the platter clean...