LAND AND WATER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2471, 24 July 1901, Page 59

LAND AND WATER.

About two years ago a great deal was lieaid of a supposed kumi. sighted by a Native in the bush at the back of Gisborne. Many inquiries were made "by scientists from far and near. A report by a correspondent of the Gisborne Times may throw light on the hitherto unexplained mjstery. For weeks men in a bush camp had been disturbed by what to them were uncanny noises. A shot in the dark killed what two Tasmanians in camp declare to be the finest opossum they ever saw.

The scene in the Ashburton Domain on Monday evening (says the Mail) was very striking and attractive. The whole surface of the long strelch of water on the southwest of the oval was covered with bicy-clt lamps — there must have been dozens of them. A large number of skaters slided about amongst the lights, the whole forming quite a brilliant spectacle. It is seldom the ice in the locality referred to is in such excellent condition as it was on Monday.

Tlie crow is said to fly at the rate of 25 miles an hour. If it can keep up this speed for any length of time, it can give any train from Perth to Bunbury an hour's start audi a beating. — Perth Daily News.

Both at Ormondviile and Makotulcu district schools the boys are anxious to have a cadet corps formed, and the committees and master-5 are doing their utmost to get the wiches s oi the lads gratified. Riierton fishermen report that deep-water fi^-h. are very scarce just now. One boat, after fishing all day on Thursday on most of the best-known grounds, only succeeded in catching £01b weight of fish.

Mr W. Irving caught a shark 14ft long on Saturday wpek on the Hokitika beach opposite the lighthouse. After landing it tlie bieakera canied the creature oui to again.

A -"urious circumstance, which is not generally known, was referred to at th 6 meeting of the council of the Acclimatisation Society (says the Christchurch Press). Tl.ij was the migration of the godwit, which Dr Moorhousp stated migrates to Siberia to i:e»t. The birds go by way of the Philippine Islands", Japan, etc., and return to New Zealand eiery season.

The Hon. Alfred Lyttelton (Cambridge), M.P. for Warwick and Leamington, ba^ ■non the University Blue in the greatest number of sports — namely, athletics, cricket, Association football, lackets. and tennis. At; cricket he played for England against Australia, and was* regarded at the best amateur wicket-keeper that ever chew on a pair of glove?. Amongst ti;iple Blues a& being most famed may be 'mentioned Mr C. B. Fry (Oxford) aiid Mr F. Mitchell and Mr A. K. Hind, both Cambridge. Mi C. B. Fry won the triple Blue foi ciicket, football, and athletics, besides which he was a triple captain. He succeeded Mr Palairet i- captain of the Unner-ny ciicket team. He wa 1 - a'-o elected pus-ident of the Univer-ky Ath'etic Chib. and captain of the Association football ?levon. Mr F. Mitchell represented England in all throe inter nammal rr>aMir« for two years in succession, tie lu-is aNo played m the Yorkslnr ciuket eleven.

Tlie Scottish fi.-hers have been flourishing exceedingly ot late, according to the figures in the offi( ia 1 it-port of the FUheiy Boai-d. "Xevei." i' i- tlieiein stated, ''in the previous Li'-tory'of he mdu«tiy, have Scottish fisheimen obtained such high returns from the Lernng fHiery a* in 1899 and 1900. It was no uncommon occuirence during 1,:.«t Mimmei foi a crpv\ to teiinss from £200 to £300 for one night's catch." Mn>t of llu Luge boats, moreoier, proceeded to tlis English and liisl- \.sters when the Scotch tea-on \v;i- o\ci. Some boats made at much a? £170 C la.-t uinmer iv the Scotch fi-lierv alone.

Dietetic^ requirements among the occuliaui- ot Zoo land aie, of i-mrse, vaiious, but it wil 1 surprise many people to learn that, according to a report which was presented to the annual meeting of the Zoological Society, held undei the presidency o* tl>e Duke of Bedfoid, th* avpenses of" tli cumimssarLu department alone -Aunup; the pa-it year amounted to no less sum than £4099. The »o-t md carriage of animals; figures- at £874, as against the abnormal sum of £2524 in the previous year Menagerie expenses lan away with £3559, salaries am{ pensions. £5621, garden expend £958, work! and materials £5503, and rent, iate«, and 1 taxes £1828. As much ?s £17.127 was rea li-'fd by admission to the gardens, and th ' ct-nerpl receipts were \ery poiceptiblv in- 1

creased by the elephants and other carrying Animata, who between them brought into the common exchequer as much as £624-, a slight idecrease, due, no doubt, to the inclemency cf the weather as compared with the preitious year. — Home paper. A special train filled with 15,000 homing pigeons ran from Yorkshire and Lancashire io Crewe. The pigeons were addressed to She station master, with in&tructions to lijberate the birds. The train was run on So a siding, and the birds were set at liberty. f As an inventor of absurd contests the late Kir John Astley was almost as distinguished as the Marquis of Queensberry. His great forte was arranging contests between animals Jvhioh Nature had apparently made most Ainsuitable for the purpose. When quartered at Windsor he instituted the only races .that ever took place between chickens. The peculiar contests came about in this way. [iWhile on a visit to a friend near Windsor LWho kept a hen-ram, Sir John had noticed itfaow rapidly the chickens used to scurry to Itheii mother when food was thrown to her. i'Here was the germ of an idea for a good Sporting match, and at the mess a few nights 'afterwards he expounded to his brother 'officers his plans for a great chicken race. l(He had bought a hen with, a brood ot chickens. Each officer was to choose a 'chicken, and mark it with a ribbon, so that ■it could be easily recognised. The chickfiiis (were to^be placed sf> yards from ;their Wther, and the first to reach her in uwwer Vo her cackle when food was thrown .to her fro* to be adjudged the winner. Each Officer on entering a chicken paid £tt r and the whole of the money wa* to; go to the, "officer whose colours the winning •chicken, ' Wried. The Hen Derby came- off m thee barracks at Windsor, and was witnessed by jnearfy the whole brigade of Guards, whotravelled down specially from London. me 'a»c» proved so successful that it was ar-_ ran-ecTto repeat it in the following week It mio'ht have become a regular fixture, arTd a we&g stable of ehickea? been added to the ~ attritions of Windsor, 'if Sir John Astley a •■bird bad not won 'oh each occasion with suen 'consummate ease-as to dishearten the-sports-men It Vas "found that in both- races Sir ►John "hid selected* sturdy young, ceek, who was much too speedy for his biters; and la* no competition can continue to exist when victory is always a certainty for the same co^npVtitar,. the great chteken races started by Sir John came to an end. „.,_, Wi* no -doubt, heir with interest thatOolonel Saundersan. M.P., on« of the very first to take the old velocipede rerroSfyTand to introduce it into the North oi Inland! He -freqaehtiy made long jour-! s s awar J»?asiafs. at night, without his lamp, and with the chains" ot hk pedal tattling in accompanixnent.to the sighhig of the wind, tha t he pn> yoked the terror that get him known as "the Ghost." He is an athlete, and, with ft town Ifouse close to Hyde Park, he goes out every morning for a spin weaMd, and ia bis- -khaki smalls is a very different man from the heavy Guardsman of the atter"flk'our advertising columns we announce , tflat tbte -time of closing the entries of the OWu Futurity Stake has been 16 Thu«d»y, Ist prox. , The -entriia were toSSrffisd on Ael6ti inst but the feriDmfetMftß did not come «p to anything apn^B^hntS the nwrnb^ expected. At the aatTof closing- only 52 «ntriee ha*l come in, j 'aMd-*B^Bee were" mainly -fron> local aonu- - Srtocfc tho « opinion was expressed, and- sh.tred- by the meeting *ener- , laßy that owners had overlooked the date .of closing. Hence itr was -decided to ex'kend the time as stated, but the club will wot under any circumstances issue a nomination after that date. Tlie Futurity Stake wffl. be run in the Oamaru Plumpton early in May, 1902, and the club guarantees hdW "to the winner, conditional upon 100 nominations making* payment of the third metadjnent of 10s. Most of the "knowing ones w.ho -xre anglers, have "wrinkles" which they do not care to impart, to everybody, but wlien I had more iim-e for the sport than I have to-day, says a writer in- the Rural World. 1 used to put in many a half-day fishing for Ml sorts of fresh- water fish, and I abserved that a little oil of rhodium put with the bait seemed to be useful as an attraction for the nah. You. can buy a f few pennyworth* of this at the chemist's,, and a spot or two mixed with the bait is how I used to use it. lam told that a better mixture for the purpose is oil of rhodium, oil of juniper, and oil of cedarwood (in . equal parts)—especially for eels— but I l^e never tried this myself. . , Thus the Calcutta Asian :— "One" of the iiative officers s mho accompanied the Indian contingent -to Australia was Ressaldat -Major Sfisri Khan, of the 18tli Bengal Lancers. j£le used to- belong to the 18th B.L. polo "" team, and was an apt pupil of that excellent toaster of the same. Colonel George- Richardson; he was alsc-3 contemporary of CoJonel -Heera Singh, and thfe two often met in rivalry when the 12th B.C. and 18th B.L. teams were drawn together. Yet. strangely enough, when we -read of a team of the contingent that was chosen to oppose the Christchurch team in Xew Zealand, we miss the name oil Misri Khan from it. If may be the 18th were otherwise represented, and Ibrahim Khan is the player who completed the 18th quartet in the native cavalry tournament the season before last. The contingent team owe their defeat in New ZeaHand not only to their new combination, but to strange ponies and awkward sticks." WELLINGTON. July 22. The annual meeting of rhe New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association, to be held in Wellington on August 31, will be more than usually important. The Canterbury Club and Chrietchurch amateur clubs will propose that the association's headquarters be regnoved from Wellington to Christchurch. Xnd that a Provisional Committee be set up in the latter city to manage affairs until their appointment is revoked. The Otago, Xjueen's Drive, and Waitemata Clubs will move for the appointment of local associations, with power of local government. A BILLlIrd" MATCH. MELBOURNE, July 18. Ths billiard match Roberts v. Memmott. 7000 up, the latter receiving 2500, was won •asily by Mc-ioioti. Roberts scored 5246. HOMING NOTES. By Biue CH_E<jrßß. The show race is over and won. My anticipations as to the winner were wrong, but I think there was no one move surprised than Mr Pullen at the result, although Mr Macdonald expressed his opinion in Keora'f favour. Eeora, the winner of the Show 'Rare, was bred by H. Pullea, fcom an egg which Mr

Macdonald (who owns the parents, of Keora) was about to smash. Mr Pullen, who was around in Macdonald' s aviary, through Mac's generosity, thus became the owner of the egg. He placed it under one of his own hens, which after being hatched he trained, and became Mac's victor. Pilot, the second bird, is an old performer in the club races. Mr J. G. Macdonald scored several races with him. He has flown as far south as the Bluff, and to Culverdin, 240 miles north. He won the Orepuki (137 miles), Bluff (109 miles), Maheno (50 miles), and Christchurch miles) laces, besides being placed several times. I have no doubt had Mr Macdonald expected such a fine day he would have entered his young birds, who are much better on a fine day and at that distance. The third bird, Kismet, was bred from a Mealy cocb bred by J. G. Macdonald, and Tui, a hen from Mr Hodgkins. a late member of the club, from whom Mr Macdonald got her. This time last year tMr Macdonald presented to Mr Patei=on the old pair, Tui, and the Mealy, of whom Kismet was bred. . The next race is the Novice Race, for all new members, for a trophy presented by Mr D. W. Paterson, to be held on August 17. As the new members are very keen, I anticipate a good race. * A slight error occurred in la&r week s notes. I mentioned that Mr W. H. Jeavons had secured three seconds. As he bad only flown 'twice, it was impossible for him to score second three times. He only flew twice, and was second to Mr J. G. Macdonald on each occasio«I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr Tompkins. of Oamarn. who was down at the show last week. He showed me a diploma painted by his daughter, which she has presented as a trophy to the North Otagw Pigeon Flying Club. Lucky cln-b! We can't get anything like that to race for. Mir Blaoi, who also, haik from Oamaru, owned the champion flyers when he left that district two years ago. He also called on me. I understand that he has proettred several homers, including Avon Pearl, from Mr W. H. Jeavons, to send up to his brother in Oamaru, who is to be congratulated oil procuring such a -valuable strain. Mr W. Tattersfield, the secretary of the local club, has procured the rings with which we are to ring our birds for the 1902 Derby. They ane much lighter than any we luuve yet had, being made of aluminium.