OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 12

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

An Adelaide youth, who picked up a purse containing some £40 and restored it to its owner recently, was rewarded with the princely sum of Is.

Mr W. J. Gulliver, who has just left Wanganui for Australia, has presented the Wanganui Museum with a collection of 400 specimens of New Zealand mosses.

A Feilding- man, who has just returned from an 18 months' sojourn in England, says ho was glad to get back to New Zealand to enjoy the sunshine— -which is not too common in the Old Country. The yacht Privateer, which was presented to the Methodist Mission for the Islands, has been renamed the George Brown, after the Rev. George Brown, whom she has just taken back ro the mission field.

A curiosity has been on view in one of the Nelson fruit shops in the shape of a locally-grown pineapple. The fruit took four seasons to come to maturity. It is of fair- size, but of a light yellow colour. During the week (says the Western Star) a large number of wheelbarrows, dobbins, and other material have been conveyed to Waihoaka, evidently with the intention of preparing for the extension of the railway. Any " spielers " who visit Tasmania from Australia are in future to be made to show the authorities how they derive their livelihood, otherwise they will be liable to imprisonment, without the option of a fine.

A petition in circulation prays that Government give assistance to the extent of £1250 to a party of Orepuki miners who are applying to bring into Orepuki from the Waimeaniea a race, the altitude of which will be about 400 ft above existing races. -•A- About 5.20 a.m. on Monday week a sharp earthquake shock in Orepuki aroused many from their slumbers. The direction seemed to be from north to south ; its duration was about 30sec. Hurried lights revealed swinging lamps and osciUating pictures

is now more than three months since the Greymouth School Committee was elected, and so far it has failed to hold a meeting. The male members elected refuse to sit with the ladies chosen. The Education Board proposes to have a new committee elected. Js^The Maoris used to make from the pollen of the i-aupo gingerbread cakes, which were very durable and could be stored for long periods. The curator of the Colonial Museum has one to-day that was given to him 25 years ago. and "it is as good now as it was then."

A young couple strolled into a servants' registry office in Westport recently, and bashfully preferred a request to be "fixed up." When their mission was understood they were referred to Mr Logic, registrar of marriages, and went off to invoke his assistance to make them one.

An ex-Wellington resident, writing to one of the Post staff from Kobe, under date Juno 30, says there is no war news obtainable. " You hear more about it in Wellington than we do here," says the writer. " Most of the news comes from abroad ; in fact, the war is rarely mentioned here."

Lake Waikaremoana (says the Wairoa Guardian) is very high, and the rushing overflow at the' outlet, Onepoto, presents a very fine sight. The caretaker at Lake House and Guide Clark are making improvements at Waikaremoana, opening up a number of tracks round the lake, in preparation for the coming season.

On Thursday last (says the Bruce Herald) a prominent shopkeeper discovered his door open at midnight. That the lock, which is a Chubb, had been tampered with is evident, as the owner had previously tried all doors al 9 p.m. Up to the present nothing has been missed, so it is safe to assume that the culprit had been disturbed.

Many people run away with the idea that they are leceiving valuable information from the older generation of Maoris, when the fact is that the' Maoris are too polite to give them the correct version. Mr A. Hamilton stales that it is very common for persons questioning a Maori to ask leading questions. The Native does not care to «ay the assumptions are wrong, but, as often as not. politely assents.

During a fierce por'-wester about a week ago an Ashburton builder had a quantity of oorruga+ed iron and flooring boards awaiting delivery at the Ealing railway siding. Although the iron was weighted with huge sleepers, tho gale successfully^ removed them, and leap-frogged tho bundles of iron until they- were completely doubled, and only useful for fencing purposes. The flooring boards were scattered for a couple of miles.

"It takes a long time for the official mind to realise changes," said the Mayor <j£ Clirislohuroh (Mr 0. M. Gray/ a few days

! ago, when examining his correspondence.

Ec picked up four copies of gazetted vital statistics addressed to the Mayors of Christchurch, Syclenham, Linwood, and St. , Albans. " The four copies always come like that," he remarked, " though it ie two

years ami a-quarter since the amalgama-

tion." i The prisoners Ramsay and Ashton, who caused a. sensation a few days ago by endevouring to escape from Mount Eden Gaol, have been dealt with by the visiting

justices. As a punishment for their dis- ; orderly conduct prior to the attempt to break prison they have been ordered to be kept on biead and water for several days. It is not proposed now to bring them before a magistrate upon the more serious charge j of attempted gaol-breaking. i-l—Thei -l—The fern which furnishes the Maoris with \he root so much relished by them as a food is not very common. A great proportion of the plant which covers so much of . the land in New Zealand does not produce roots large enough or sufficiently rich in , starch to be worth digging. It is only in rich soils, and generally on sunny knolls, that the good fern root can be found. Mr A. Hamilton states that relish was often added to the dish by soaking it in the juke of the tutu.

" I believe that in this New Zealand of ours tha pa-sing of the standards in the public schools will become a curse unless something is done." The B/ev Dr O'Callaghan, in a forcible j-ermqn at Thames recently, thus declaimed against the action of parents in forcing their children to study so that they might pass at an early age, but at the sacrifice of their vitality and childhood. "Be ambitious for your children," he said. " bv.t let it be oommensurate with common sense."

A Lyttelton Times reporter was informed that when considering tenders for the installation of electrical plant the directors of Abe Glemnore Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company had been greatly influenced by the extent to which the sale of American electrical machinery had been pushed in the colonies, but had been advised, in view of the heavy na.ru.re of the work, to put in slow-running and substantial machines of British manufacture. Tho result, it is claimed, has amply justified tho wisdom of this course, the whole plant having repeatedly withstood heavy overloads without injury, illustrating the- fact .that in this, as 'ii other branches of engineering the English manufacturer is still unequalled

for substantial design and reliability for heavy work.