NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2262, 8 July 1897, Page 38

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming issue to be received not later than Monday night. J. C E. writes :—": — " Fabian Bell " is hardly correct in her derivation of Edinburgh, as given in the Witness Record Reign supplement. Ettnburgh means and is an abbreviation for Edwin'sborough (Edwin being an old Northumbrian king). Dunedin is the Gaelic name of Edinburgh. "Dun," in Gaelic, means a fort, and Dunediu means the fort of Edwin— the very same as the Sixon word Edinburgh, only the last syllable in the Saxon Edinburgh becomes first syllable in the Gaelic — a prefix — "I)uu" — Fort of Edwin— abbreviaton, Dunedin. The brothers Chalmers— either Dr Robert or Dr Williamgot the name changed from " New Edinburgh," which the town was to be called, to the more romantic name Dunedin. We have submitted our correspondent's lemarks to "Fabian Bell," who replies :— " The derivation your correspondent gives is a very old one. For the one I give lam indebted to Mr Alexander BUhgate and the Amenities Society, and to the authors of 'Picturesque Dunediu.' published about 10 years ago ; "but the subject of derivation is always a difficult one— people are so positive, and there is often a good deal to be said on both sides. Those who understand Gaelic should, however, know best. Perhaps I should have ! given both. i X.Y.Z.— (I) Tack the skins onto a board, and rub into the flesh side a mixture composed of a tea- j cupful of alum and a teaspoonful of saltpetre. : Then fold the skin closely together, fleah side i in, and lay in a cool place away from fire or sun. ' Turn over daily for four or five days, after ; which open out and pull a few minutes each day j until dry. When fully dry sandpaper the flesh i side, and you will give it a fine finish. (2) The ; recipe given above is so simple that it would i not be worth your while to experiment with : birch bark as a tanning medium. Hard skins ! only need pulliug through a ring or round a post to soften them. W. J. M., Lawrence. — Use very fine sticks of soft solder that melt freely at a very low grade of heat. Use for flux spirits of salts saturated with sal-ammoniac. Scrape clean outside the part to be soldered and wet with the spirits, touch with the solder, apply a match to the : opposite side until the solder melts. j Old Sixty-four.— (l) No, but information is being collected with a view to inaugurating one. Scad in particulars of your claim to the nearest stipendiary magistrate. (2) 60. R. MM. — The article was not written specially for us, but was quoted from the paper to which it was sent. We therefore do not care about openiDg our columns to a discussion on the matter, : which is at best a trifling one, and not worth spilling ink about. B. and. S., Temuka. — (1) Yes, confession is practised in many high churches in England, but we are cot aware of the example being followed in the colonies. (2) We have never seen any statistics on the subject. In 187,9, 483 Anglican clergymen presented a petition to convocation . for the education, selection, and licensing of duly qualified confessors, but no action was taken in the matter. Since then, however, the movement has made great strides. Rabbiter. — (1) Boot lasts are all imported, being made by machinery in Kngland, Switzerland, and America. Machine-made lasts are much truer to pattern thau hand-made, and hence the latter have been completely displaced. (2) Both lasts and uppers are obtainable at Michaelis, Hallenstein, and Farquhar's, Do -.i Hug street. If you write to them they will quote you the price, &c. P. S., Middlemarch.— The events are of such recent occurrence that it would be really superfluous for us to deal with them in a special article. If you come to our office the first time you are in town we shall place the files at your disposal, so that you can read the whole history of the affair from the beginning. In brief, the primary excuse for the war was the disallowance of the Powers of Greece's claim for the transference of the suzerainty of Crete from Turkey to Greece. In order to prevent the landing of reinforcements of Greek troops ia Crete— which practically meant a declaration of war with Turkey — pending the settlement of the question, the Powers coerced Greece by threatening the blockade of her ports. The war feeling in Greece was so strong, however, that Greek irregulars began harassing the Turks on the borders, and ultimately the regulars joined in with the idea of expelling the Turks from Macedonia. The result of course you know. W. N., Waikaia.— The union flag is a combination of the separate national flags of the three kingdoms. The red cross on a white field was the distinguishing flag of England, and the white saltire on a blue field (the St. Andrew's cross) similarly the flag of .Scotland Oae of the explanations given regarding the origin of the latter is that it represented the. initial letter in Greek of ouv Saviour's name (X), as borne by the Emperor Constantine. The first union flag blended tiie two national fla^s by placing the cross of St. George over the stltire of St. Acdrcrr, retaining the blue field of the latter, and giving the former a narrow white border or '•tfmbriation" to represent its white or silver field, and avoid the heraldic solecism of colour on colour. Iv consequence of the Union of 1801 the flag just described had to give place to one in whicn Ireland would be represented, and in which the red saltire on a white ground.which had since 1783 contracted an association with St. Pairick «.h,pul4 be introduced. In the new flag

the St. George's cross with irq flmbriation re raained as it was, and the saltires of Scotland and Ireland were placed side by side, with the white and red alternately uppermost, and a fimbria of white separating the red fiom the blue field. W. J. — A man's wife can follow her husband wherever he goes within the British dominions and compel him to support her. Subscriber —There is no need for a new mortgage. The parties may agree to let the existing one run on as long as they please. L. C—A legatee under a will must take the burden if he takes the benefit of legacies. That is to say, he cannot accept those which are profitable and reject those which are burdensome ; but if all are beneficial he may take some and refuse other 3. Mines. — The holder of a prospecting license can hold the area allowed for prospecting for the time specified in the license. When that time expires he must give it all up but one prospecting claim for himself. The time fixed for the duration of an extended prospecting license cannot exceed two years. The holder of such a license is i required to expend a minimum sum tier acre in prospecting, and unless he doe.-' so he becomes liable to have the license revoked by a suit in the Warden's Court. J. S. — We do not think you have any right to refuse delivery ; but why not sue, get judgment, issue execution, and seize and sell sufficient to satisfy the judgment? T. M., Eiendale, writes :— I enclose verses asked for by "Inquirer" last week. I thiuk it is neater 10 than six years since they appeared in the Witness. Unfortunately I omitted attaching the date (which i.s my nsual custom when clipping), but it must be at least nine years :— MORTALITY. [We were under the impression that the following beautiful verses were from the pen of the late Father Ryan, but if we are to believe a Scottish contemporary this is not the case, the author being said to have been William Knox, a Scotch gentleman, who died in youth about bO years ago, after publiahine a small volume of Jyrict under the title of "Songs of Israel," chiefly founded on passages in the Hebrew Scriptures. l O why should the spirit of mortal be proud? Like a fast-flitting meteor, r fast-flying cloud, A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave — He passes from life to his rest in the grave. The leaves of the oak and the willows shall fade, Be scattered around, and together be laid : And the young and the old, and the low and the high Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie. The child that a mother attended and loved, The mother that infant's affection that proved, The husband that mother and infant that blest, Each— all are away to their dwelling of rest. The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye Shone beauty and pleasure— her triumphs are by ; And the memory of those that loved her and praised Are alike from the minds of the living erased. The hand of the King that the sceptre hath borne, The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn, Th« eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap, The herdsmen who climbed with their goats to the steep, The beggar that wandered in search of his bread Have faded away Rke the grass that we tvead. The saint that enjoyed the communion of heaven, The sinner that dared to remain unforgiveD, The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just Have quietly mingled their boue3 in the dust. So the multitude goes like the flower and the weed That wither away to let others succeed ; So the multitude comes— even those we behold — To repeat the same tale that hath often been told. For we are the same things that our fathers have been, We see the same sights that our fathers have seen, We drink the same stream, and we feel the same sun, And we run the same course that our fathers have run. The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think, From the death we are shrinking they, too, would shrink ; To the life we are clinging to they, too, would cling — But it speeds from the earth like a bird on the wing. They loved — but their story we cannot unfold ; They scorned— but the heart of the haughty is cold ; They grieved— but no wail from their slumbers may come ; They joyed — but the voice of their gladness ia dumb. They died — ay, they died ! and we things that are now, Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow, Who make in the dwellings a transient abode, Meet the changes they met on their pilgrimage road. Yea, hope and despondence, and pleasure and pain Are mingled together like sunshine and rain ; And the smile and the tear, and the song and the dirge Still follow each other like surge upon surge. Tis the twink of an eye, 'tis the draught of breath From the blossom of health to the paleness of death ; From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud — O ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? Farmer, 'Purakanui.— (l) The expenditure by the Otago Benevolent Institution on outdoor relief for 1595 was £7698 18s. and for 18P6 £8174 3s 6d. There is no record kept of religions of applicants for relief. (2) We have no statistic 1 ? for 45 years ago, but at the foundation of the Kingdom of Italy the general ignorance is described as having been "incredibly profound," although learned societies existed in every large town In 1861 of those over 19 years of age 66 per cent, of the males and 81 per cent, of the females were unable to read or write. In 1866 of the men married 60 per cent, and of the women 79 per cent, had to make their mark. In ISSB the percentage had fallen to 42 and 62 respectively. The average of illiterates in Italy in 18S7 was 52"55. Interested.— (l) Number 1 specimen is a sandy fahale with imperfect impressions of ferns. (2) A rather arenaceous clay. (3) Appears to be a fine-grained sandstone. It is too small a sample for proper examination. Still, whatever its character, it would not be a sign of a payable coal seam being in the vicinity, and tbia remark refers also to specimens 1 and 2. No. 1, with its fern impressions, certainly indicates coal measures, but the existence of payable coal peams in such measures has finally to be tested by boring, as the cheapest method. Sir James Hector, the director of the geographical survey, would be the best authority to apply to for an opinion on the chances of the existence of coal seams in the district. (5) Yes. (C) There is no special formation for the roof of s-uch coal. It may be shale, clay, black panned ironstone, or sandstone. Right beneath i.s nearly always clay— the so-called under-clay, which often proves to be fire-clay. Arbour, Dipton. — The injury to your currant bushes is caused by the iarvce of the currant clear-wing moth. The moth, which has transparent wings measuring three-fourths of an inch across, with orange and blackibh borders aud central spots, deposits its eggs in the crevices of the bark in early summer. These hatch into larvcc, which at once bore their way into the centre of the shoot and feed on its pith until the following spring, when they turn into the cryEalis stage. The only remedy is to cut off the wilted branches and burn them, co as to destroy the larva. You should complain to the nurseryman from whom you bought the bushes, as he had no right selling them to you ; he i must have known that his bushes were 1 affected.

N.G. — (1) To get to New Guinea you will have to tranship at Sydney. Howard Smith and Co., of Sydney, will quote you the fare. The steerage fare from Dunedin to Sydney via Wellington (single) is £3 ss ; saloon, £5 10s. (2) Yes. (3) No ; the very worst place in the world for a NewZealanderto goto. E. en inured Australians die off rapidly, and for a New Zealander it means sure death. (4) The golil appears to be a delusion, as the little there is is in inaccessible regions, which can only be reached by passing through country infested with hostile natives. W. H. S. R —Thank you for the offer of the poem. , Another correspondent has sent us a print copy, j which is reproduced above. Maori writes:— Some papers mention that iMr ) Seddon wa«i welcomed with the ' Maori war cry. J Can you tell me what it was ? We have submitted your query to an authority, who kindly replies : Beyond 3houts and yells there was no war cry. The reference is to the vociferous mode in which the Maoris welcomed their distinguished visitors by calling out, " Haere mai, haere mai" (" Come hither, come hither.") T. K. H.— Thank you very .much; you will see that we have reprinted it above. C. Simpson. — The large lire in Princes street wheu the Exchange Hotel and other buildings were burnt down occurred on January 24, IStS.