LAND AND WATER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2654, 25 January 1905, Page 59

LAND AND WATER.

Owing to heavy losses of stock resulting from the depredations of t<he dogs and guns of so-called sportsmen, a large number of property-owners' in the Corstorphine and Green Island districts intimate that they ■will take rigorous proceedings against all trespassers "with dogs or guns on their properties. It is xeported on good authority that Mr Sydney J. Halcombe, ornithologist, of TJrenul, has just -discovered a bird which, as &r as can be ascertained, has .hitherto escaped the notice of naturalists. At a. meeting of ex- Volunteers, -held in j Asftßurton last- -week, Mr Samuel. Nelson ' stated i3iat .he iiad been -associated with the ■ New, Zealand Volunteer - movement for 40 years, naving" penned 1 the first company formed in Chrietchurch in 1863.; -H© is now ' an' honorary life member of the Asbburton Bines. ■ '~ . The Palmerston Times is credibly tafoiane'd that a good deal of poaching .has been going, on in Trotter's Creek during the present holiday season. It is currently reported that a -party of visitors speared 30 trout -in one- -day, a«d as some of the ' culprits are knosrn -more will probably be heard of the matter. A loca] angler states that this nne -fishing stream is now practically denuded of trout. _ Hearhrg-'6f a shark being caught in Turanga "Creek on Saturday, January 7, by a lad named Bertie Robson, a party out on Monday evening, with lines and =harpoon. and "were rewarded -with the. big catch of 20 sharks, xanging from sft 6in to 6ft in length. .They were of a fearless, hungry nature ; one of the number secured was ' so bold - as_ to come close «p -beside the boat, a baited ' hook was dropped over, _ and .the «hark i snapped it in instant, and Ttras soon har- J pooned. It is 'thought that the " boisterous weather, of the last two or, three months 13 "the cause of so jnany sharks being found in , the and -creeks. '- The half-dozen pretty little Japanese deer *• that -have been quarantined for the past six months on Somes Island" have at length obtained their release. The Tourist Department has despatched them north, and they axe- to be liberated on the 3£aimana._wa Ranee, about 15 miles south of -Lake Taupo. [ The range .is heavily timbered, with openj valleys and good water. The -shooting for a handsome cuwrpresented iiyMr St. John Buckley ior competition among , the "Volunteer corps of "Xorth Otago. took place -at Qainaru on Ti.ursd.ay, The. conditions -(after the first half hour) were all that could be desired, and some capital scores were put 'up. ' Five corps ha3ventered teams, and the totals in every case -were goo 3- The -winners' turned up in the Waitaki Mounted Kifles, who^put .up a soore of 765, fhe Queen's Hi&es with a " of 717 being second. The Hampden. Bifles ~ t scored -691, tire Oamaru Rifles €71.- and th© North Otago Mounted Rifles 661. The highest I Score for the afternoon -was made by Colour- J sergeant M'Kenzie (Queen's Uifles), who put «n9O. , , , Mi- H. A. Parker, the Kew Zealand jawn teams champion, who also made his mark on the other side of the water last year, intends ■ (•says tfoe 'Wellington correspondent, of tLe Christchurch Press) going across to Australia • a<»nin ahorflv for the purpose of defending his ! title -of champion at the South Australian and j TTasmanian iournaments. If he -scores anything i. ~~ Jike success it is probable that he will after- .} ■wards -go to England and enter for the Davis j Cup competition, in -which some of the finest ' players of 13ie Old World participate. It is ( furtherm-onre understood that Australia and j New 'Zealand intend this year to enter a team j for the World's Championship, to be fought j cut in England, f POX.O. - PALMEE-STOK NORTH, January 21. •_ Hawke's Bay 'beat Manawatu at polo to-day ty 5 goals to 2. TO THE RESCUE. A cable from London states that Tom Sullivan, the oarsman, and Mr Spencer H. Gollan, _ well-known in sporting circles, in a pair-oar racer, rescued three men who were overturned in a boat. off "ELammersmitb in a gale. OTAGO ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY. An ordinary meeting of the Council of the Otigo Acclimatisation fcsQciety was held on Friday avr-rnoon : present — Messrs Tl. Chieholm .{chairman), Forrest, Sinclair Thomson. S. M 'Donald, A. E. Farquhar, and Dr H. E. de Lautour. Apologies fcr absence were received from Messrs R. T. Wheeler and D. Barron. The Chairman reported that the total number of fry turned out for the season •tras 1,191.000, the largest number ever turned out by the society, and the yearlings

totalled £650, and it -was estimated that one yearling was worth a dozen fry. The society's manager, Mr F. Deans, reported that the distribution of young fish ■was nearly finished ; the work had been somewhat retarded by the inclement weather. Mr Stev&ns-had reported the heaviest flood he had known at Clinton hatchery, but the only damage caused was to some fencing. From Mr Stevens's report it would be ascertained that the aggregate numbers of fry and yearlings turned out from the Clinton hatchery were 850,000 and 6750 respectively, and from the Opoho hatchery 341,000 fry and 1900 yearlings; this did not include 22,000 fry received from Clinton. He (Mr Deans) wished to call attention to the assistance rendesf>d by several .gentlemen, notably so Mr M'Connochie, who supplied men and horses in distributing a large number of fish in JDunetan Creek «,nd the Manuherikia ; also Messrs Tyndall .and Wynn, of Law- | renoe, and others, and he (Mr Deans) had j no doubt Mr Stevens had met with similar kindnesses in his district. — Approved. Mr Stevens, of the Clinton hatchery, reported- that fry had been liberated as follows, leaving about 20.000 -etill on hand: — Brown trotrt, .613,000 ; Scotch barn, 101,000 ; j Loch Leven. 97,000; rainbow, 31-, 000; and ' salmon, 5000; and yearlings as follow: — j Rainbow, 2500; Loch Leven, 2100; brown ' trout, 600; Scotch burn, 550; and salmon, 1260. Brown tr<rut fry -were less than~"he ; had estimated owing to the tmsatisfactory j condition. o£ >the hatchery in which they I were Tested. — Approved. — Mr Deans was in- J st'rneted to- r-eport on the matter of mortality i amongst the -fry at Clinton 'hatchery. The Marine Department wrote stating that it ways obtaining a consignment from Ameritja of ealmon and -whitefish ova, which was expected to arrive at Bakataramea and Lake Teka-po about 3Tehruary %. As the manager of the hatchery' at Hakataramea Tvould lie required to go to Lak-e Tekapo with the- whitefish eggs, it would be necessary to arrange for an expert fish curator to supervise the -unpacking of the ova at Hakataramea. and -the department requested that Mr Deans might be permitted by the society to assist the department in thi3 matter at Hakataramea as formerly. — It was agreed to allow IVIr Deans to proceed to Hakataramea on the same aTi'angements as Before.. The Chairman said he thought that, perhaps, rather more attention was paid -at -the ' marine fish hatchery to ihe scientific side than to the practical side. The fact - should not he lost sight of that the money , was voted by the Government to be turned i to practical" account. i On the motion of Mr Sinclair Thomson it was resolved to communicate with various shipping companies to ascertain on what terms ,±hey would ■assist the society in importing lobster and other ova. [ Mr Chisholm said he thought of going- | Home to the Old Country -in .about two | months, and while these, if he could find 1 time, and he thought he coiild, to go into this matter with people at Horne — (" Hear, i hear "), — and if anything was decided upon he would do his best io have the arrangements carried out successfully. y Mr Forrest proposed that a bonuHst £2 j 10s be given to the person responsible for | the -care cf the* lobsters on -the voyage out i for each liealthy lobster -u,p to 2G landed j at the marine hatchery. — This -was added to Mr Sinclair Thomson's motion, and earned. The T-apanui Anglers' Society wrote asking the Acclimatisation Society ior a grant of 1 JB2 10s -towards the cost of -fencing in three j ;. acres around the Rankleburn hut, for the j | purpose of* keeping in horses. — Mr Ghishohn j said the matter of putting \vp a few barbed j j wires to keep in torses should surely b& ■ ; a matter -for the local people. Evevy j i appliance -was nr-ovided at the huts for the i convenience of anglers. — The letter -was '' received, and referred to the executive. i W. Quin, Tapanui, wrote asking if the society could procure a few hai-e.3 to stock j a swamp area of country in his district. — | j It was decided to refer" the letter to fhe j executive. The Chairman reported that he had been waited upon by Mr A: C. Iversen. of Alexsndra. who reported that email birds were | becoming a great »est to the orohardists in Central Otago, and he (Mr Iversen) suggested j the importation of English owls. — Mr -Chic- ! holm- said_if_the society inmorted owls they would require to be well protected for a few years.— lt was resolved ttS refer the matter to _Mr Bearg and Mr Chisholm to make inquiries at Home. The season for fallow deer shooting was fixed at. as formerly, from March 15 to the end of April, and the red deer season from April 1 to the end of May. i It was resolved to write to the Marine Department urging that the water* in the-U'pp-er harbour at Dutiedin should be declared a fish sanctuary, and that all netting should be prohibited therein. : Tb» latest luxurious innovation in the I big Atlantic liners is the introduction of elevators to lift passengers from the lower tleekfi to the upper ones. Some of these great j floating hotels have as many decks as the j stationary e&ra-va.n«ar?es a*hore ha-ve storeys The retnrn <->f rivii t^an^actec! m {lie Invercargill district during ihe part year ! shows that tie plaint* is^ied numbered j 1229. the total amount of the claims being j £12,003 fis 6d, and that recovered £6662 15s ; 'id. The previous ye.'f there were 1187 plaints issued, or 42 le&=. the claims totalling £10 396 3s Bd, £'1600 le== than tVie past voar, and the amount recovered £5638 jLP> 14. J