LAND AND WATER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2735, 15 August 1906, Page 52

LAND AND WATER.

A memory of the football match j New Zealand v. Wales, played last/ year, turned up at the premises of Messrs Thomas Ballinger and Co., Wellington, last w-eek. On a case of ironmongery being opened, a large sheet of brown paper bearing tho following lettering was brought tj light: — "Notice. — To whoever opens this case: This case was mado.on December 16, 1905, the same day that New Zealand played Wale 3at Cardiff. — Signed, Archie ' Jones. Good old Wales !" The goods with ' which this document arrived were consigned ! to Wellington by a Cardiff firm. As exemplifying the extreme enthusiasm of Rugfcy footballers in Central Otago, b description of the Cambrians ground, em- ; bodied in die report of Monday's meeting Of the O.R.F.TJ. Committee, is of especial intereeta The football ground at Cambriaßa would seem to be a very extraordinary place indeed. On one side the ball is at any moment liable to fall away into space. In another part of tbe ground there is a deep hollow. Players develop a tendency to concentrate in this hollow, and forthwith (as "it is solemnly asserted) become invisible to the spectator. Alao,

the whole ground is "at a slope." One ; way and another, football at Cambrians seems to be a more sensational and breakneck diversion than almost anywhere else j on earth. That probably accounts in some part for the local ardour. In Central Otago sensational and breakneck diversions . are not of necessity unpopular. The 1 American game, which has a rich fruitage of casualties and contusions, only needs to be introduced up there in order to be beloved. By comparison with American football, the bull-fight ranks with 'croquet as an amusement for the timorous and effeminate. i It is mentioned as a curious fact in an article in the July number of the Windsor Magazine that imported wapiti, as a ruic, breed and thrive better in menageries than when given free use of a large area. Some time ago, in the Highlands of Scotland, an interesting attempt was made to cross North American wapiti with red deer in the hope of increasing the size of the latter breed. Complete failure, however, attended the enterprise, and, strange to say, the wapiti were quite unable to adapt • themselves to an environment so well «mted to the red deer, and soon entirely disappeared. i Saturday's Xorth Otago Times says' — • '" Whether Mr C. Swinard will take out letters patent for his discovery we do not know, but it was supposed that trout ova had to be handled with exquisite care. However, T»e found about a dozen ova at the hatchery that bad clung to the suri ronnding moss and were thrown away. j These he put in his pocket and carried ' home. The ova were put in a basin, and are doing well. They were shown at the meeting of the Acclimatisation Society test night, hatched out, and are as lively as if ; they had gone through the recognised procedure, the departure from the ordinary course not having affected them detri- .' mentally in the slightest degree." • Of the 6? species of whales only three, .Mr Bullen said at Christchurch, were ' hunted. All the others were lumped by the sailor into one great class. " wrong- ! 'uns," and woe betide the lookout man if he sent out a boat to chase one of these, 1 for they were of no commercial xra!ue. i "To give you my idea of Chicago," said j Sir Joseph * Ward at New Plymouth, " I } may mention that we motored over 115 miles 1 nt its streets, trav-c-lling for six hour.?, without covering: the .wne ground twice." This, said Sir Joseph, included the parks, which were magnificently laid out. Though Chicago streets were reported to bo dirty, he had not found them so — it was a wonderful piece. The hatcheries of the Waitaki Acclimatisation Society have received about 100,000 browu trout ova, obtained from Mr Ayson, ■as part of the result of his recent visit to the Opihi. During the visit paid to the Opihi. fish stripping, Mr Ayson obtained between 400,000 and 500,000 ova, which have mostly been distributed amongst the various societies in tbe colony. Several trained Sooteh collies were used jby the Germans in their South-West i African campaign, but. according to reporfs received in Berlin /says the Petit i Bleu) they proved an utter failure. Apparently they lose their sense of smell after ' they have been in the tropics for any j length of time. The Christchurch Sociefcv for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is having a petition I to Parliament drawn up. asking for legis- I lation prohibiting pigeon-shooting matches. : The Westland Acclimatisation Society , has just received a consignment of 3000 j Makioawa or Great Lake trout, an excel- j lent Canadian edible fish. j The pea rifle nuisance is still rife fays a Cbristebureh paper). On Sunday. July 29, a son of Mr J. B. Gould, of Hanmer, was walking in Heatheotf Valley, when a bullet 1 from on© of these rifles knocked his cap off, the rifle being fired by someone on the other sido of the fence. It is understood that the police have the matter in hand. One of the whalers at Te Awaiti. nreiT the- head of Queen Charlotte Sonnd, mii formed a representative of tho Marlborough Herald a few days ago that 125 whales had been sighted this season, but the great majority of them had been too far out. and none had been caught. The North Island seeim to bo having more attraction than the South tins year. One day a-3 many as 25 whales were seen passing through Oook Straits, beading away to tho north. Only 10 whales were chased, and with no practical results. Mr F. M. B. Fisher, M.H.R.. purposes to introduce a measure during tho coming session which should effectually put a stop to tho dangerous practice of the promiscuous and unrestricted use of pea rifles by boys and youths. Profc-ssor Scott was inclined to prophecy while lecturing at Christchurch last week. > Perhaps, he said, had it not been for the very restrictive legislation of 1830, when the sp^ed of swam vehicles on the roads was limited to four miles a-n hour, inland transportation might have been entirely different to-day. Tho money spent on railways inighfc have been devoted to the loath, and the people of the future would '

have had no cause ie grumble against the cumbersome railway system of collecting and distributing goods. They would not have been limited to the track bounded by two rails, but would have used the roads. He believed that there would soon be a revolt against trams and trains.

The chief inspector of fisheries (Mr L. F. Ayson) has completed the work of collecting half a- million rainbow trout ova in the Hot Lakes district, and has returned to Wellington. The eggs were gathered in the streams running into Lakes Rotorua and Tarawera, all of which were found to be teeming with spawning fish. The eggs, •fter being eyed out at Rotorua, were distributed throughout the colony. Mr Ayson says that if required he could have collected 2,000,000 eggs.

Thirty millions of hares and rabbits are killed annsr.ally in the United Kingdom. They are valued at £2,200,000. A Brisbane cablegram states that in the contest for the lawn tennis championship Queensland beat New South Wales by 36 sets to 27 sets. The chief inspector of vermin in Victoria- estimates that there are 300,000 foxes in the colony, and that they kill at least 60,000,000 rabbity per annum.