NOTES AND OUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2524, 30 July 1902, Page 43

NOTES AND OUERIES.

■E H. writes:— "ln the lately published School Reader, 'Nature in New Zealand, I nr-d the following paragraph (page 29)- "lhe laughing owl, which has rather a pler.san. expitesion. and is sometimes called by coionists the 'laughing jackass/ has a peculiar cry, ludicrously like a laugh, to which it ov.-e3 its name. Besides its lau-h, it gives vent ..o a, strange not?, like the sound made by two branches of a tree rubbing together, repeated twice over at wide intervals.' Now, I have never bea^d or read of such a bird in New Zealand, yet the paragraph re?d3 as if the bird weie a Jamiliar one. I cannot claim "anything like a. thorough knowledge of our xurUve birds; and oue -would think that a boose edited by Capta.ui Hutton should be rree from errors in'natural history. Yet one does occasionally meet with fitr-tnge errors where one would least expect them. I thought the tiid popularly called 'laughing jackass' was exclusively Australian, and it is a kingfisher, not an owl. Can you inform me , whether a bird answering to the description given in the book is really a native of New Zealand, and if so, where is it to be fcund. 'lhe author does not mention our common owl, or mo-poke, one ot our most representative birds, "nor our kingfisher, nor many other very common ones. Of course a selection had "to be mad", but the author's does not seem to me th-> best possible."— _- There is au owl termed the "laughing owl" — now said to be very rare, except in certain distiicts. Its scientific name :s "Sceloglaux albifacies." There is no "laughing jackass" in New Zealand, of course. It is evidently

a slip of the pen

Governor Hobson.- Mr W. H. S. Roberts , kindly replies: — "Subscriber, Reidston, will / find a full account of Captain Hobson's arrival in New Zealand in "Brett's- Early History of New Zealand." "Captain Hobson failed from England in H.M.S. Druid in August, 1639, having received his appointment as Liexitenant-Govemor of New Zealand on 13th July. 1R39. He airived at Port Jackson on 24th December, 1639. Captain Hobson left Sydney for the Ray of Isla ds on 19tli January. 1840, in H.M.S. Herald, accora■pp.ried by tho following persons appointed by Sir George Gipps (not Oibb3), Governor of New South Wales — George Cooper, collector of customs and treasurer, at a salary of =£600 a year; Felton Matthew, acting surveyorgeneral, £400 a year; Willoughby Shortland, police magistrate. £SOO a year , James S. Ficeman. clerk; Saimiel Edmund Grinastone. clerk, a sejgnant and four troopers of tho mounted police of New South Wales. H.M.S. Hera'd, Cantaiu Nias, arrived at the Bay of Islands on Wednesday. 29th January, 1840. He landed on the following day at Kororareka,"

W^nnERBUEN. — You would require to serd to

a friend on the spot to act as intermediary. Kiv-i —The Bank of New South Wales. Either of those you name is good enough for your ~urpose, however. Housewife.— -Mix a cupful of plaster of Pans with double the quantity of oatmeal and a little sugar. Strew it on the floor or in the chinks where the cock-roaches frequent. Engineer, Otago. — Mr H. M. Davev, consulting ergineer, kindly replies. — Nearly five and a-half million gallons, if the depth you Tiama is maintained 'throughout. (2) About 11 hours if the height :u reservoir be maintained, but rather longer, if not. (3) The size pipes you name cany from less than two heads to more than 21 heads, according to the head, length, and inclination — you omit the- two later data. (4) About 37 heads. Water Race. — Mr Davey replies • — Through inadvertence two questions were mixed in part of an issue some little time since, and it is quite possible yours may have been one of these. The pipe you would require would bo 25in in diameter. To obtain the best result the intake should be larger, with a long taper pipe or two to the above fiize. There should be no sharp bends, and you would be the better of one or more cleaning holes, which may be doors, boltad o,i at the lowest point, cr points, of the inverted syphon. It is a mistake to speak of th'ae pipes as syphons, as they ha\e the centre at the highest point. Constant SoBSCR.tBER.--Mr Davey replies — Why a train? the question wou'd °eeni to be applicable to any enclosed travelling conveyance. With regard to the question itself. if you mean perpendicular to the spot at which it was released, certainly not If you mean perpendicular to the moving conveyance, probably it would so fall, as the air being carried on with the conveyance would not affect it appreciably in either direction. It could cot fall aa i<f dropped from a fixed

point, when it was being propel l ed at the high speed you mention at the moment of telling. If jou happen to be travelling at the speed you name, the experiment would hs an interesting one to make, and you might send the editor the result. Pho Bono Pubi.ico. — (1) Yes, there, is a line of electric cai-3 in Roslyn, one of the Duhedm hiJl suburbs. The line is cable to the town belt, then the continuation foi a couple of miles along the top of the hill to Maori Hill is electric The cars are large, roomy, and comfortable, and the fare is Id each way. (2) The last line laid down is the Dunedin and Kaikorai line; it is cable, the gradients being two steep for electricity. Ctraious asks: — " (1) Is there anything' in the Education Act to prevent an undischarged bankrupt from becoming a member of a school committee? (2) Is it legal or otherwise for a member of the school committee to accept a money gift from the funds 1 of the committee in return for his service* as secretary? (3) If nor, can the recipient of such donation be compelled to refund sime?" — The replies are as follow — (1) Section 59 of the Education Act of 1877 prevents an undischarged bankrupt from sitt ng a3 v member of a school committee. (2) It is illegal. (8) Yes, ho can be compelled to refund same. W. \V -The votes recorded at the various polling places in 1899 were- — North Dunedin Drill Shed: Continuance, 128, reduction, 137; no license, 128. Pme Hill Continuance, 83 ; reduction, 15; no license, 12. North-East Valley Schoolhouse • Continuance, 185, reduction, 2G9; no license, 2GS. North-East Valley Council Chambers, Continuance. 92, reduction, 11 , no license, 118. Upper Junction • Continuance, 19 ; reduction, 28 ; no license. 30. Ravensbourne . Continuance, SO, reduction, 57; no license, G3 J. H. H. — The free photograph swindle has been thoroughly exposed in the English papers. You will get no satisfaction if you reply to the alluring circular. Black Pine.— Each can claim compensation under " The Workers Compensatiou for Accidents Act, 1900. ' Where a worker's total or partial incapacity for work resu'ts from an injury, compensation is a weekly payment during the incapacity after the second week, not exceeding 50 per cert, of his average weelky earnings dunrg the previous 12 months, if he has been so long employed ; but if *iot, then for any less period during which he has been in the employment of the same employer St'ch weskl" payment cannot exceed £2, and the toi.r.i liability of the employer in respect theieof does r.o' exceed i£3Oo. There is a different teak (■ • accidents lesulting in death. M. P. D. M.— The law of cntai 1 is •= 11111 1 1 1 m force in Scotland. Lut its rigour hits ci Kite years been somewhat lessened. Subscriber 1.--(l) To become a bankrupt a. debtor ha? to file a petition in the nearest Supremo Court offieo. Form of petil'on and pll other requisite forms inav be obtained from any official assignee. The petition must be Pisned by debtor in the presence of a registrar of the Supremo Court, v solicitor, or a, Justice of the Pea';e, and thereafter forwarded •with £6 in stamps to the nearest Supreme Court registrar, whereupon the cL btor at once becomes a bankrupt. Within thiee days thereafter bankiupt inu«t deliver to the Official Assignee a full statement (vrified by affidavit) of his assets and hnbihtie= (,2) A solicitor can only charge his client £2 2s> lor filing the petition for him. The solicitor's other charges will be paid out of the estate, according to a prescribed scale. (3) Yes , but any surplus after a secured creditor has been paid in full out of his security pas-^e'i to the Official Assignee. (4) A debtor-, petition may be filed at any time when the eotut ofilce is open for business Subscribes II. — (1) The tenant is hound to erect the half dividing fence, unless there is any agreement to the contrnrv between himself and the landlord. A landlord may defend any proceeding under the Fenc mg Act against his tenant. (2) No. But if one of two occupiers of land facing each other across a load fences his boundary line on his side of the road, then so long as th" other avails himself of such fence, or adopts any means by v-hich such fence i« rendered of beneficial use to himself, he can be toin-ielled to pay the foim-T 10 per cent interest on half it 0 \ahie, and is al'-o liable foi half co->l of re-1-aiis AiiiTEfr. — An n:stiu T nent comrn-'i c, hoi=e-, .■-hall, unless the contraiv be r\»rri k ftl thermi, be deemed to l'iclude lot ni'lv the horses comprised therein, out all Wor->'-> the property of the jjpn'ir of th,- i, -inimrnt branded, or winch trai 1 haw ')?(•■ i>ra> d< d with the brand or marked, or whi' l > <-lict.il have been marked with, the mark aceuiied in.

me instrument, or which, the grantor shall Lave covenanted or agreed by such instruvrith the brand or mark, or which shall after the execution of such instrument, be depasturing, oi be at, in, or upon any lands or premises mentioned in such instrument or in the schedule thereto. Inquirer. — It is not necessary that the pedigrees of horses should be entered in the Stud Book to allow them to compete in a show for prizes, and no protest could be entered against a prize-winner on tnat account. It is extremely probable, however, that a rule will be shortly adopted by the New Zealand societies that all horses shall be subjected to examination by a competent veterinary surgeoi before being awarded prizes. Constant Reader.— So far ?s we know, German yeast is not obtainable m Dunedin, but we believe it is made in Cnristcluirch. Messrs A. and J. Macfarli»ne, however, inform us that they would procure it if there were any demand for it. J. F. — We do not know of any agency in the

colony, but are making inquiries. Subscriber, Waihola. — lhe date of the general election in 1893 was November 28, 1596, De cember 4 : and 1899, December 6. W. J. H. — The catch is as old as the hills, and has been thrashed out without result in every paper in the English-speaking world. It is not worth while beginning the old discussion over again, as there is no correct reply to it. Information. — It .s all a mattei of arrangement, but half is the usual rule.