MOA BONES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 3

MOA BONES.

FIND NEAR CHRISTCHURCH. CHRISTCHURCH, August 19. While workmen were engaged yesterday in' excavating on the Cashmere Hille foV the city reservoir they unearthed a number of moa bones. The bones apparently belonged to a small specimen of the mo'a-. They were found about 15ft below the surface silt, and had been flattened to 1 , some extent by the pressure of the earth above. The bonce have been eecured ,bj; the Christchurch Museum curator.

During last year 129* tons of pearl shell were exported from Weet Australia, being valued at £163,000. The pearls found wer© estimated to be worth £50,(&Q.

Sir Joseph Ward, in reply to *a lotto i from rho Southland Conniy Coiikc!. h#ii informed that body that it :s tha int*jn tisn of the ISovemreent to reduce the ratei of haulage on road naetai tor local bodw by 25 pc/ oeaA

It is a curious fact that a butterfly can be frozen hard, and left so for seme hours, yet on being removed to warmth the insect will recover and fly away. More than wo dozen species of butterflies are knewa be*tuacj /&» Axotio Cii.de.

OMNIUM GATHEBUMT. Lake Erie is stated to produce more fish to the square mile than any other body of water in the world. • Duriaig the last cix years the bounty paid' For sugar grown in the Commonwealth by white labour has totalled £1,300,000. It is understood that a- motor car will shortly be supplied to the Ghristehurch Post Office for\the collection of mails from the posting boxesr Our 18-pounder field gun has a range 2000 yds greater than the old 15-pounder. A new heavy gun . is also being issued in place of the old 1.7. This is a 60-pounder Avifch telescopic sights. Mohair from Angora, goats depastured in New South Wales has sold up to 5s per lb in London: The goats 6hear from 31b to 41b of wool. It is stated by the Hawke's Bay Herald that Mrs Gr. P. Donnelly has decided to sell all her interests in Waimarama^ consisting of- over 6000 acres. Melbourne fruit • retailers are agitating for the introduction of legislation to punish growers who put good fruit, on the top of a case and inferior beneath. The French Government has decided to ■abandon the bill for the abolition of capital punishment which it has submitted to the Chamber of Deputies. The- law to compel the vaccination of children in Victoria is to bs strengthened. More than 70 per cent, of children born inthe State now vaccinated. On the motion of Mr Ansell, the Lambeth Borough Counoil will consider the advisability of -permitting smoking in the public libraries of the borough. The King and Queen of .Roumania were married four iimes — first by civil rites, then by Lutheran, thirdly by Roman Catholic, and fourthly by Greek ceremony. Thirty to forty thousand earthquakes yearly disturb the surface of our globe ; but of these, not more than 60 are heavy enough to do any serious damage. Recently George Armstrong (19)', a mill hand, was killed at Hobart by a piece of w f ood flying back off a circular saw and entering hie head tfhrough hi 3 eye. The other day James Nicholas was burned to death near Wollongong, N.S.W. He fell in a fit and knocked oven a kerosene lamp., and the flames caught hie clothing. The Cromwell Argus reports that Mr John Campbell, whose death was recorded on ilie 15th fnst., was one of the first to discover the sheep-killing habits of the kea. The Amount to be spent in the Telegraph and Telephone Departmente of the Commonwealth for new works during 1908-9 is £413,500, of which £105,300 is to co to Neiv South Wales. "How do you remember the date?" counsel asked a witness at the Clerkenwell Oounty Court. "It was the day on which I received a. post-ea.i % d from nay mother-in-law announcing her intention of paying- us a visit," the man replied. Strike pay is still being paid out to about 30 bakers concerned in tho recent trouble ip Wellington. Single men are receiving £1 per week, and married men £1 7s 6d with 2a 6d per week added for each member of the family not working. As the contributions which have been made for the re-endowment ol Oxford University have reached a total of more than £100,000, the second donation of £10,000 promised by Mr W. W. Astor has now been received by Lord Ourzon. France now owns a far larger area of Africa than does Great Britain. Our African possessions are 2714 square mile 3; those of France 3,305,000 square miles. Egypt, however, is not here included In tho British possessions. At the annual meeting of 5 the congregation of the Cheviot Presbyterian Church the treasurer reported that there was a deficit of about £90. The minister, the Rev. W. Watt, announced that he would hand in his resignation at the next meeting of the Presbytery. A serious accident occurred to John Reeves, $f Ulmarlgie (New South Wales). He was clearing a line for fencing when the dead branch of a tree fell on him, breaking several ribs and causing other injuries. The suffered hud to crawl two miles to his home. Three telegraph boys pleaded "Guilty" at the Palmoreton Police Court last week to cycling on a. footway. They were bound for Government House -with telegrama for his Excellency, when they ran foul of the inspector. Their destination did not save them from being fined 3s each. Owing to the large building programme before the Public Work 3 Department, the position of district engineer for Wellington, ' which has been in abeyance for many years, is lo be revived. There are at present district engineers for Auckland and Dunedin, j and an officer of that rank i 3 stationed at Stratford. The best part of a modern house isays Good Health) is its windows. To keap those open day and night, and to make the air inside approach as nearly as possible the air outside, shbuld be the first business of the housekeeper. _ Everything else phould be held subservient to the need of fresh air. With a view to maintaining the physical condition of army offioers, President Roose-

velt (the Morning Post cays) has Approved the order of the General Staff requiring all officers annually to undergo a riding test of 90 miles, or, in lieu thereof, a march of 50 miles, to be made in three days in consecutive hours. Yarmouth's last postboy, Tom Codman, lately died in his eighty-fifth year. He started his career with a local hotel proprietor, who ran coaches and conveyed the mails /-between Ipswich and Yarmouth. Codman had to be sworn in as post-boy before the magistrates. He recollected the firet train travelling to Yarmouth. A remarkable escape happened at Werris Creek (New South Wales) a few days ago. Henry Oble was talking to friends, when an engine shunting struck some trucks, which came in the direction of Cole, who was knocked down. The air brake caught "him, and his trousers were torn to ribbons. He escaped otherwise uninjured. Mr Coombe. in his speech during the debate on the Address-in-Reply in the South | Australian House of Assembly, said they : had the lion of Liberalism, the lamb of i Conservatism, and the goat of Socialism all lying down together. Mr James raised J a laugh by interjecting : " You will be getting into trouble if you call the Socialists goats." A labourer named Christensen, of Copenhagen, bought an old overcoat for sixpence two years ago. He recently noticed some- ( thing hard in the lining at the back", and. on cutting it open discovered a savings bank book with £446 credited. The police have not been -able to find the .original owner, and -the money has been awarded to the labourer. Speaking at 'a welcome social, the Premier , of South Australia (Mr Price) said it was I necessary to bring in an Honest Dealing | Bill, so that when a person paid for mus- ■ tard he would get mustard, oi if he paid j for pills he would get pills. Even if a person paid a little more for the genuine I article it was better to" do so if he was sure | of getting it. ' - j Mr W. J. "Bryan, the Democratic leader , and candidate for the Presidency, is worth ' only £14,900 for the purposes of the county , tax assessor at Lincoln, Nebraska. The return shows that Mr Bryan possesses £420 in cash, £140 worth of diamonds and jewellery, farm land worth nearly £5900, while the balance consists of a newspaper and personal property. The Sydney City Council has adopted a scheme of wood-paving works to be carried out under the next loan. The new works are in various parts of the- city, and the total area amounts to 78,347 square yards, the estimated cost being £66,594 19s. It is also intended to repave with wood 34,013 square yards, the estimated cost being £17,856 16s 6d. An elderly woman informed the Green- ■ wich magistrate thai her favourite cat had 1 died and had been buried m the garden of the house in which she lodged. " I suspect poison," she declared tragically. ">but my landlord will not allow me to disinter tho remains. I want an order of the court." The magistrate regretted he could not grant an exhumation order. The Wanganui Chronicle learns that opposums are proving a great nuisance in the Fordell district. These little pests are literally swarming all over the place. A couple of young men "bagged" no less ihan 17 opposums on one tree a few nights ago. The opposums are playing havoc in the orchards, rendering successful fruitgrowing well nigh impossible. According to information supplied to the Poverty Bay Herald, the activity of the mud springs at Wa-imata, near Gisborne, seems to be closely associated with the presence of petroleum, which is plentiful in several Darte of the Poverty Bay district. It is shown that in many other countries petroleum occurs in the immediate neighbourhood of mud volcanoes. A curious fact about the American fleet is that the sailors who are Americans by birth mostly come from the inland States, only a very small percentage having b&en drawn from the States that have a 6ea frontage. "Half of our men are good riders," said officer of one of the battleships. " They hire horses when they get a chance, and ride the tails off them." Much consternation was created by the discovery in a Paris tube of a brown-paper parcel out of which peeped the head of a woman with rich golden hair. Under the escort of a large and anxious crowd, the remains of the unfortunate victim were carefully conveyed to ' the police station, where the parcel was opened, and was found to contain a hairdresser's wax model. i The King of Spain (says The Times) \ has just presented St. James's Church, j Spanish place,- -with a splendidly- ; embroideTed specimen of the " Old Flag of Castille," " both to show the affection in which his Majesty personally holds that church, and because of the special traditions which connect it with the Crown of Spain," as the accompanying deed of presentation narrates. ' . While an application for damasves was being heard in a South Australian court, a turbined Asiatic, who had been a frequenter of the courts for some days, walked in, and placing a bag, secured firmly with nearly a , dozen 6trap3. on the floor, he gravely ealuted J the judge. It is said that tho man was

desirous of broaching some imaginary case to a judge, but on this occasion, before he had time to .make any statement, he was quietly ushered out by a. constable. A Maori's^ indiscretion resulted in a. serious monetary loss at the . beginning of last week. He epent & night in a restau* rant, placing a puirse, containing £49, undei"" his pillow. la the morning, forgetful 06 his wealth, he went for a walk. Suddenly he remembered having left his purse, ajn<i fled back to where he had placed it tiiei previous evening. The purse had vani&hec?. Some strong remarks were passed by the Mayor of Timaru (Mr Oraigi^ at a Tecern^ meeting of the South Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid Board on the lack of pride shown by many young men nowadays in that they .had no compunction whatever in • neglecting to provide for their parents when circumstances demanded that thex should do so. This shirking of respond sibility and indifference to the claims of parents was a growing evil in New Zea.* land. A resident of Palmerston North got « surprise recently He was splitting a fairly large rata root, in the centre of which hj discovered a small cavity. On closer examination lie found a frog snugly ensconsed! inside. - It' must have been there "for 4 considerable period, and was quite black, probably from the juice of tho- wood. Although in a comatose condition, it was not dead, and was probably glad to be liberated^ from * its long imprisonment. — Manawatix Standard. t The export of eggs from New Zealand has now "reached very, respectable pfopor-*-tions. The annual report, of the Chief; Poultry Expert's Department, though it is printed, has not yet been distributed, buC it is understood that it will show the number of eggs dealt with by the department grading stores in Auckland and Dunedin during last season to have -been 2,680,143. The chief business was done at Auckland, where 2,423,919 eggs were dealt with. . Tlie " time-payment " system oropped' up at the meeting of the Wellington Benevolent Trustees this week. There • was thej man who had " purchased " a piano and had paid a few pounds on it, and also therfT was the sewing machine that would belong to this man's wife — some day. Work; failed ; the man had to go away — and so did the piano. Another man had furnished lavishly on the " time-payment '*■ system, 17s 6d a week out of a total wage of 30s weekly. A rather amusing little comedy was enacted on a recent Sunday in a Chinese, vegetable garden, where, 10 Celestials were' . occupied in digging. Two railway em-" ployees (says the Wairarapa Daily TimesJ approached th© fence, and one of them pulled out his book and pretended to write. First one and then another of thet Chinamen looked up, and sticking his spade - in fhe ground, scraped his boots, shouldered his spade, and the whole lot filed off to their whare. After studies extending ' over years, ami prosecuted in every country of Europe and America, Professor Gteier, of Munich, has? come ' to the conclusion that women's- feet are • rapidly growing larger, and^ that the\ time 1 may come when in the matter o£ feet there will be little difference between? the two sexes., In England he finds the most stacking- confirmation of his theory.- - He attributes the change to .the growing taste of Englishwomen for walking andi other outdoor exercises. - A schoolmaster was prosecuted in the Magistrate's Court in Wellington for having hit a girl pupil with a cane.- The. mother of the girl, in answer, to a. question! from the magistrate, said she did not approve of her children being punished a* school at all. "Do you punish' _thenx a£home yourself?" asked his Worship! 'Ons. no!" was -the answer of tihe* shocked parent. "Well, if you did," 'was the* reply, " they would behave themselves a good deal better, than they eeem to do now." The assistant secretary of a Field Trial and Show Society in South Australia was saved from unpleasant if not serious cpn> sequences by a hard hat. He was leading a restive three-year-old horse, which, # aj» it would not follow, he touched gently wittj his whip. The animal reared and brought its two fore hoofs down upon his head., smashing the hat, tearing off the brim, andl leaving a bruise on the forehead and ant abrasion on the nose. Undoubtedly the liat saved the wearer from more eerious injuries. . Recently a cow, owned by a Goulburni (New South Wales) resident, was noticed to be suffering much discomfort. As there were indications on the fore part of the body • -that bhe cause o£ the trouble mighty ,bs there, hot water was applied, and a alighfj incision made in the akin. Next morning; a small piece of wire *rae found projectingfrom the out. By degrees the wire was withdrawn, <und was found to be .portion q£ an umbrella rib. It was about 15in long. It is supposed that the cow swallowed a' piece of cover to which the rib was attachea. . - Mor Leonard W. Blake, of Oharistchurch, acknowledges th* receipt of the following additional subscriptions in eid of the com- _ poser of the hymn " Peace, perfect peace" i) Miss M. A., 10s; "For One wi Need," Ba 6d; Mary and S. H., ss; " Sympat-hisex" (Otautau), Is; "Oneida," 10s; "Ponrua» • 6s 6d; " Seddonville," le 6d; " Symp^ thiser" (Sutherlands), 2s 6d: Ahuriri Bibfo Class, 2s 6d; J. R., ss; "Three Sympathiser*" (Spring Creek), 7e 6d; H. P. 0., ss; Mrs R. 0., 10s; "In Hb Name," 2a:T. 8., 10s; G. A. T., 10s;— total, £4 11* This amount, less Is 9d for expenses paidf. was forwarded to London on August 20. The railway employees stationed a€ Woodville have formed themselves into * cash purchase association. They invitee? the business people of the town to supply lists of prices for the goods and drapery they would want, and these prices Are so? satisfactory that they have concluded arrangements for all the drapery, groceries, boot* and shoes, butchers' meat, etc., their families will require. The associaW tion consists of 60 members. 40 being married men with families, and this meanm a good deal of business with Woodville, the bulk of which haS been going to Palmerston and other towns for years paetr* — Examiner. "" . Joshua Poole, known as Fifldler'Jose, 1 -' who recently died at Bradford- at ths-age' of 82, was, in his early days, a notorious gambler and drunkard, and served several terms of imprisonment. While in Wakefield gfol he came under the influence! of a prison warder, who brought about his reform, and on his release he became cele>» 'br'ateti! las a preacher and ' iemperance' advocate. He was induced to_ devote his life to evangelism, and- "with his wife conducted missions in all parts of the United Kingdom. The name " Fiddle^ Joss," by which he had been known owing to hi* dexterity with' the violin, clung to hinj. through life,.