NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2520, 2 July 1902, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Ne'ee-do-weel. — It is not always possible to answer questions right off, aa such questions os those you submitted, often necessitate consulting different person <». That wns the caso on this occasion, and Uiore has been no unnecessary de4ay m obtaining Uie reply which appears be'ow. The Australian Handbook makes no mention of a township called Thurn either in New South YTtvle;, or any of the Stales. Cadet — The que-ation pa to whether Starlight, the hero of Ro'f BoMrc-wood's tale "Robbery Under Ai-ins," was a real persoii or not has been the cause of a good deal of specuiatior-. A lengthy controversj on the question look place 111 the Pe>rth papers some 18 months ago, it being alleged by many people that o»ve Gordon, alias Pearson, aJixs Starlight, vho died from pssson self-administered, was the central figure in th« story. The outcome of the controversy was that the author of the book was asked to settle the matter, and he did so in a letter to the Melbourne Argus. He says: "St-irJight was by no n~eans au imaginary person — far from it. He was drawn from life, although the originr.l was not this man Gordon, but an earlier bushrpnger — or perhaps it would be more correct to say two earliei bushrangers, for I introduced actual incidents from the careers of two different men. The principal bushrpnger whose exploits were woven into the story was a man known to the police as ' Midnight,' whose le.ll name I know, but as ho has many relatives stiJl living, no good purpose would be served by makuig it public." The author then goes on to give some particulars of "Midnight's" career. Ho was a desperate and notorious horse •tln^f. Oil one occasion, when run down by Sergeant "Walhngs, of Dubbo, and two troopers, h-s shot the former, who was an exceedingly brave man, a description which, from their actioas, could not truthfully be app'.ied to his companions. The dare-devil SeTgeant Walling? was the ongmal of Sergeant Goring in the stor>. In the story a certain mare named Locket is introduced. She had a peculiar white mark on her neck. Two jockey 3 recognised the mare when Midnight was leading her through Cunnamulla, in Queensland. Thc-y told the police, who ran him down with a black trackc-r, and riddled him with bullets. He was askc-d his name ■when dying, but refused Starlight in tho story dies similarly. The other man fiom whom Boldrewood took incidents was one Jim R , of a family of seven brother* He was tried for ttcahr.g 1000 catt'e and Belling them in South Australia. Th'"s was the famous Mount Cornish case in the book In the story the cattle stealers are convicted; in the real life the jury scandalously found "Not grulty." The horse Uaiubo-v waa also real, belonging to a mysterious old fellow who scooped up the big prize at a race meeting in Gu'.gong in 1878, and theu disappeared. From tho above it will be seen that the real bushrangers were very different persons from t<hc romantic and gentlemanly person that Starlight is depicted by the author as b-mg. Bushrangers usuaJly are, but, it does not always suit tho novelist Ib makoMhei* •*»• (2k We Sue unable to mi

who the Marsdens were. More than likely they are partly real and partly imaginary. (3) As to the hollow, probably the author had no definite place in his mind. In the Australian bush there mu3t be many

"We have read of other bush-

such plac&3.

rangers having similar living places. Constant Reader. — The Albion Coriipany's ship Nelson first arrived at Port Chflmers on

December 31, 1874,

This is the Harbour

Master's record. Tapanui. — Apply boric acid ointment, and wear a suspensory bandage. Take tooling aperi-

ents. All chemists sell the bandages, and the cost 19 2s 6d cotton and 4s 6d silk. Viscount Kitchener's Birthtlace. — "Drumawhandie" writes: — I should have thougnt it was hardly necessary to inform "H. R." , that the all-conquering Kitchener was born in Ireland. All great generals are born there. At the same time, the fact that L-ietitenant-colonel Kitchener (13th Dragoons) happened to be stationed m County Kerry at the time of the infant Heibert's birth there does not make him the English father of an Irish son. Lieutenant-colonel Kitchener and his wife were both English by birth, and descent. It may be interesting to add that Viscount Kitchener is the youngest general in the army (.52). But "Wellington, although we nearly always view him as a hoary-headed veteran, was a frisky youth compared to Kitchener, a3 at the conclusion of his military career he was only 46.

Wellington was the Iron Duke ; W. T. Stead calls Kitchener "The Lord of Chilled Steel." Rakgipopo. — The seasons in New Zealand are so ill-defined that it is almost impossible to give a date for the commencement of each. Roughly speaking, winter may be said to begin, about the middle of May, and end about the middle of August. Ihe astronomical spring begins on. September 22. Ross. — (1) "Terror" replies to your question as f0110'73- — This is a difficult question to answer. Nothing but competition, necessitating a committee of investigation, could decide it. Outside of State farms, the largest

and most varied collection of poultry I ki.ow

of is at Seacliff Asylum. Mr Edwin R*>iliy, of Stucu oime, tot o sibiy omes iv xt, as he ke?p ■> more varieties than a.iy other breeuc. I know of. Pew fa-ncier^ ke?p more than three or four breeds, and most of them stick to one. (2) Lord Ranfurly's mother was the daughter of Mr James Rimmington, Broomheaa Hall, Yorkshire. We cannot find anything about any other Yorkshire connection. His addresses are — Northland House, Dun-

gannon, Co. Tyrone ; East Burnham Lodge,

Slough, Bucks., and several London clubs. Kia-Ob.c — Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer, kindly replies: — The best thing you could do ■would I>a to writ* to M*ssr3 Schlaadt Bros, or to Messrs A. axd T. Eurt, both of Cumberland street, or to Mr J. Anderson, Moray place, or Mr Garside, of

Castle street, any one of whom would do

what you lequire. Subscbibee. — A cylinder bore is a straight bore, whilst iv choke bore tapers towards the muzzle. There are a great ninny first-class gun makers in England, but perhaps three

of the leading ones are Greener, Hoilis, and

West.ey Richards. Ignorant I. — A watercourse may be diverted ixnder "The Public Works Act, 1831,; for the safety, proper maintenance, use, convenience, o" enjoyment of aay public work. A land drainage board has also power to divert watercourses. A private individual has similar authority under "The Land Drainage Act, 1893," but only under special ciicunastances. You do not say who proposes to divert the stream in. question, so a definite answer cannot be given. Igkokakt II. — Five shillings stamp duty. Widow and Fatherless. — (1; Your permission must first of all be obtained by written application. You can serve notice of objection on the applicant if you deem, the request unreasonable". See the procedure as set forth in Part 111 of "The Land Drainage Act, 1833." (2) You can have recourse to the provisions of the act. (3) Yes, if the county council i» also a constituted drainage beard. (4) Yes. (5) Copies of any of the New Zealand statutes may be obtained from the Government Printer, Wellington, on payment of the price for same. The local constable, or at ajjyrate the nearest clerk of court, would no doubt show you the act. (6) Yes, anyone may lay an information for aji

offence committed, whether the- aggrieved

party or not. A. B. C. — An overgrown gorse fence is not a "sufficient fence" within "The Fencing Act, 1825." Your query is answered by section 23 of said act, which says: "If the occupier of any land bounded by a road has erected a fence on the boundary of his land and such road, and any other person adopts any means

by which such fence is rendered of beneficial

xiae to himself, and avails himself of such fence, such person, so long as he continues to avail himself thereof, is liable to pay to

the person who erected such fence, or to

the occupier of the land whereon, the same is erected, interest on half the then value of

such fence, at the rate of flO per centum per annum, and also to bear half the cost of repairs."