LAND AND WATER

Otago Witness, Issue 2565, 13 May 1903, Page 45

LAND AND WATER

The parade of school cadets whioh it was suggested should be held on the occasion of General Babington'e visit during the present month has bsen. definitely abandoned. Captain Mackie, of the Popotunoa Rifle<s, who is an indefatigable etalker. last week obtained two nice stags' heads in the Blue Mountains. The Westland Acclimatisation Society has lost sight of the moose bull? that were liberated thare some- years ago. Both the cows are under surveillance in difFere-nt localities. The red deer which were taken to the Coast some time ago are thriving well on tfos slopes of Mount Tuhua. Deer are reported to have found their way through tli-e Haast Pas 9 from Canterbury into Westland. D' ye ken John Pc-el? His youngest daughter died this week (says the Daily Express of March 14)", and wa? buried in Caldbeck Churchyard, where her father, the great huntsman, lies buried. This daughter was Mrs Hudson, Park End, Caldbeck, and sho was 80 years of age. Up to reoe-ntly Mrs Hudson was hale and hearty, and had many pleasant recollections of her father and his hunting exploits. In a letter to a friend in Clirif-tchurch Mr Con. Hodgkinson, of Longs! in Station, gives the result of a second deer-stalking trip to tho Dinglo thi3 season. His brother Harold shot a big 13-pointer with a. heavy beam and splendid lower tines, but the tops ;ire rather small. C'on.'s tally comprised two more l'oyata and a 14-pointeT, tb.3 latter being -the bc.-t head he has yet obtained. The length of horn is 41^in nnd width 40m, the top points being long, heavy, and well matched. Tho two royals were about the same size as the one ho shot early in tho season, though they were both uneven, j having seven points on ova horn and five oa tho other. Con. thinks his 14-pointcr ia the best head *hot in Otago this season, and is a long way better than tho 14-po:nter he secured last season. Tho.«3 who had hop**! that salmon was becoming acclimatised in Xew Zealand waters are, I am afraid (writes our London correspondent by last mail), doomed to wait a little longer for the realisation of their hopes. The. Ruapehu on her last voyage brought a fish which had been caught in a liver running into Blind Bay, where some salmon had been liberated in 1898. Thia specimen w.i 3 sent to tho Agent-ge-ne-ral for submission to an expert. By the advice of the Inspector of Fisheries to the Board of Trade, the fish was sent to a fish expert, Mr Boulanger, F.R.S., attached to the Natural History Museum, who has reported tliat it is a salmon trout (Salmo trutta), and in this opinion Mr Gunther, another wellknown authority on fish, concurs. Much interest was manifested in the matter at tho Natural History Museum, as it was hoped that the fish might prove to be a salmon. Tho Tee-To-Turn Athletic Club opened the athletic season in England with its first spring meeting at Stamford Hill on Saturday. March 21. J. Binke was a competitor in tho Half-mile, off scratch. . The champion was not fit. After running a hopelessly stern chase for 600 yards he retired. The final produced a good finish, T. Hunt winning off 76yc\3 by a yard from F. Garner 70yds, in 2min 1 l-53?0. Mr George- L. Watson, the Glasgow naval architect and joint designer of Shamrock 111, has been commissioned tc build for Mr Vanderbilt, of New York, a fast steam yacht of 14-00 tons. Wo hear (says the Timaru Herald) that

some sportsmen have been disgracing the name by shooting black swans on Wainono lagoon under most unsportsmanlike conditions, killing parent birds who were- trying to defend helpless cygnets. Another person earned the mental application of some strong epithets by those who saw him, by shooting at almost tame swans on Carolina Bay with a rifle. A skate weighing a hundredweight and a-half was (so the Post averw) brought into Wellinigton Harbour recently. A New Zealand yacht will be racing in Homi waters next summer. Some years ago Mr Mark Fey, the well-known Sydney draper, took to England a boat built for him in that port and raced against a yacht of about the same size, but of a totally different design, owned by an English gentleman, a Mr Bailey. Mrs Bailey sailed her husband's craft, which easily defeated the Sydney boat in a series of races for a trophy which has since been known as the Australian Cup. Mr Foy has now decided to make another attempt to bring the Cup to Sydney, and he has commissioned Logan Bros., of Auckland, builders of several Wellington-; owned yachts, to supply him with a beat witlT which to race for the Cup THE BILLIARD CHAMPIONSHIP. At the National Sporting Club, London on Saturday, March 21, Charles Dawson defeated H. W. Steyenscm (holder) in tho Billiard Championship by 300 points. Dawson's b-=st breaks were 382, 325, 248, 2*2, 236, 224, 208, 205 ; Stevenson's 417, 294, 273, 210y 188, 177, 167, 148. PREVIOUS GAMES FOR THE REVISED CHAMPIONSHIP (90W UP). Date and PJa-ie. Winner. Loser. Woo 1899 Gaiety Restaurant C. Dawrou J. North by Jan. 9to 14 9000 4715 42Si H. W. - 1900 Argyll Hall C. Dawson Stevenson April 1(5 to 23 MOO 6775 222! H. W. 19G01 fiaipty Restaurant Stevenson C. Dawson Dec. 31 to Jan. 5 9090 (UO6 259 ( H. W. 1901 Argyll Fall C. Dawfon Stevenson April Bti 13 S0"!0 579R 320' 1901, November 11, H. W. Stevenson declarei champion by Billiard Association through Daw son's refusal to p'.ay. 1903 Nat'lSport'ng Cl'b C. Daw Eon Stevenson March 16 to 21 !)000 8703 301