NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3353, 19 June 1918, Page 39

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming issue to be received not later than SATUBDAY night. Questions will NOT bo replied to through, tho post.

Jxtne writes:' "If a person residing in Canterbury goes to Dunedin, and her little one is born there, is it compulsory to. register, the child in Dunedin, or will it do if done in Canterbury, as*ldng- as it is done within two months of birth?" It is not necessary to register in Dunedin. The registrar'is notified by the nurse when the child is born. If., the child is then - registered in another district the Dunedin registrar is notified to that effect. • ' Aotea Roa writes: " (1) A man has his_life insured, and dies-, and because he has not told any of his friends his life was insured, will the friends have any difficulty in getting the insurance money paid • over? Premiums are all fully paid up and everything in order. (2) Is there any clause to that, effect in any office in New Zealand? If so, what office?" (1) No difficulty, beyond providing the usual proofs of death, and that the deceased was the person insured. The latter is to prevent fraud; but the proof required is not difficult to secure. (2) So far as we are .aware, there- is no company with an office in New Zealand which has such a clausoin its policy. Constant Reader. —The aoe is the lowest card in cutting at euchre. The other cards rank in value as in whist. Constant Reader II writes: "(1) How many days does a lad get to fill in his military register paper after attaining the age of 20? (2). Is a will legal if drawn out without the assistance of a solicitor?" Answers: (1) The registration should be made when a'lad is 16 years of age—that is, four years before attaining the age of 20 years. If he has not volunteered, a lad 19 years and 11 months is liable to be drawn in the ballot. . (2) If a will is drawn up in proper form the assistance of a solicitor is not necessary to make it legal. ■ f . f Inquirer. Plum Puaiding: Take lib suet, Jib flour, Jib breadcrumbs, -Jib sugar, ilb stoned raisins, lib currants, 4oz candied peel, a little nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and almond flavouring, four ' eggs, and a little milk if necessary. Mix all the dry ingredients together, add the beaten eggs- and the flavouring. Place the pudding in moulds, cover each with a cloth, and boil from five to six hours. (2) To prevent a mustard poultice from blistering, use the white of an egg in nixing the mustard, and on its removal place on the part affected a soft piece of linen with some olive oil on" the surface next the skin. (3) To starch linen collars, take Jib staroh, one teaspoouful borax starch glaze 1 tea-spoonful borax, one teaspoonful melted soap, two teaspoonfuls turpentine, and one quart cold water. Put dry ingredients into a deep basin, and mix together. Put in a little cold water to break the starch, and then add the rest. This preparation must stand two hours before being used; but it is really better to: make it a day or two before- ironing day. If there is any starch left over from .a former preparation it can be mixed with the new, so no starch is lost; The basin must be kept well covered to keep dust from the starch.' When required for use, stir it up with a spoon, put in half a dozen collars at a time, and get them thoroughly ooaked, then wring as dry a 3 possible. Rub between the hands, as if washing, to rub the starch in, then draw out and spread on a clean towel. When all are starched, fold the, towel, clap with the hands a ' few times, then put away for an hour or two. Iron in the usual way, and if a fine gloss is desired rub with a polishing l Iron. The collars should be dried before starching. 'A B 0. Southland.—When a Persian cat is losing, its .coat, the old fur must be combed out to prevent knotting. The combing ia the cure. Pakeha.—Kauka or kouka ti is the Maori for cabaga tree. It is pronounced as written, Inqutber, Pomahaka, writes - as follows in regard to a foal, which has lost its mother:r—"He is thoroughbred, five months old On June 8; is healthy, a good size but a bit thin. He is stabted at night, runs out in the daytime, and, so far, cats only gTass ■ (which is somewhat scarce at

this time of the year) and oat sheaf chaff. He absolutely refuses to touch milk, even if three-parts diluted with water. Ho dTinks out of a bucket—water with the chill just off it, and sometimes with a handful of oatmeal thrown in. He is a placid foal and a hungry feeder, but his condition is not improving. You advise giving him a nutritious diet. Would you bo so kind as to inform mo what really constitutes one for so young a foal and doing witliout milk? (1) Should linseed bo given? If eo, in what form—as seed or as meal? How much a day? (2) Should crushed oats be given? Aro they better than oat pollard? (3) Would bran mashes be advisable ? (4) As he is going without milk, and hence the sugar of mare's milk, should molasses be fed to him? (5) What about hay, or boiled wheat? What about salt? (6) His skin often seems itchy. We groom him lightly for it.'J 6 "Agricola " replies: "(1), (2)', (3), and. (5).. Continue. feeding the foal aa formerly, but -improve tho tucker. Mix two handfuls of boiled barley in his oaten chaff, with a pinch of salt. Coax him to eat' oaten chaff strengthened with a good handful of boiled linseed (seed). Try crushed, oats, two handfuls, with one handful of bran, mixed in his feed of clean oaten chaff, moistened ever so slightly with hot water, add pinch of salt, and stir well together. Feed him the best of tucker frequently, and pin your faith on the concentrated clean oaten chaff mixed as directed. Naturally he will favour one mixture more than another; but no insurmountable difficulty should present itself. He won't overeat himself. Provide some sweet hay—not an easy thing to secure nowadays, but necessary, as the pickings in a paddock are probably not up to much. (4) Not absolutely necessary. (6) No doubt the foal has lice, as the mare, you say, was low in condition. Wash thoroughly in Jey's fluid, 1 in 50 of hot water, and dry and rug him up warmly."

Called, Up, Miller's Flat, wants to know the number of .tons of chaff in a stack, of average quality oats, built last February—Width, 17ft 3in; length, 35ft 6in; height to eaves, 7ft 6in; length on top, 14ft; height from eaves to top, 10ft. "Agricola" replies: "It is only possible to give you the weight aproximately, as it depends on the settlement of stack, heading of sheaves, etc. You should have supplied more detail, such as length of perpendicular eaves to roof: However, for all practical purposes there are some 220 cubic yards in stack. At 10 cubic yards to the ton, the weight of stack will go 22 tons. You might satisfy yourself how many cubic yards it is fair to allow to the ton, and strike an estimate of tonnage accordingly."

Holstein, Purakanui, says his eight-month-old calf, which is in good condition, about a month ago took what appeared to be a kind of fit. "lie seemed to be in great pain, struggling and frothing at the nose, and roaring with each breath. To my knowledge he has taken four of these turns within a month, each lasting from five to 10 minutes, and generally in half an hour ho is feeding as usual. When first taken bad he was getting grass and hay, but he is now in turnips. Hoping you can enlighten me as to cause."——"Agricola" replies: " The symptoms are evidence of some dietetic trouble, and a dose of salts should suffice. Make up a drench of Jib of sulphate'of magnesia (Eissom salts) dissolved in water, and sweeten slightly with treacle. Shake up ingredients in bottle and administer.

Amateur.—Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer and architect, replies: "Although I bslieve the construction you inquire about is not much,' if at all, used in this country, it was extensively used in Britain, and probably is still in use, and it is called brick nogging. The building, as I have seen it many times being built, i 3 not usually made with 3in x 2in studs, but the studs are 4gin x either ljin or 2in thick, placed so that either three or four bricks can be set in mortar between each stud, so studs and bricks are same thickness. Now in some cases there is a bottom plate, but often there is no bottom plate, but a temporary thin narrow board is nailed on one side of the studs to . keep them in position, and removed when two. or three rows of bricks are set in their places. In building, say, with studs the length of three bricks, or about 2Sin apart, three bricks are first laid in mortar over the concrete base, and the next course is composed of" half a brick, then two bricks, and finally the other half of the first brick, bo that the joints are broken in the usual manner. "When four or _ five coxubcb are thus laid alternately of either three whole bricks and then two whole and two halfbricks, a piece of wood stud is cut to the 2Sin and skew nailed between and to the stud at each end of the said piece with .two nailp at each end of same, and* this method is continued up to the top of the wall; and so a wall thus built has, as it were a wood framing with .brick panels, each panel, say, three bricks long and about five to six courses high. Usually this construction is only for inside partitions; but I have seen a four-roomed hous-; biyilt with all the walls thus made, the outsidea of the studs arid short cross pieces, being dreaned and subsequently painted for the outside walls. Of course, 3in x 2in studs could be used for thin partition walls, but tne bricks would be on edge in that case. Such walls are generally plastered, and have the advantage of the horizontal wood strips being •handy for driving nails ot screws into, which a wall of bricks alone is not. For outside walls, it is advisable to run a shallow plough-groove on both studs and orosspieces, both sides, when the grooves filling \xp wtih mortar makes it watertight more than a plain siirface would if there were any small shrinkage in the wood frame; and for outside walls the corners should be 4Mn x 4£in posts, the finish at top being a wall plate, to which the tops of the studs are fastened as in our wooden hoiiseg." Country.—Mr H. M. Davev, consulting engmer, replies: "On the supposition that the sides of your tank are perpendicular it would hold about 2700 cubic feet of water if quite full. With your magnificent fall of 660 ft you would only need an Sin diameter Pelton wheel, that would take seven cubic feet of water per minute. Such a wheel Would probably run at about 2600 revolutions per minute! If, however, you had a wheel twice the diameter it would run at about half that speed, as, niter all, it is the speed of the buckets that couut, and with twice the number of buckets passing the nozzle the speed would be half, and so on. Now the rest is easy. You' usa seven cubio i'eot oJ water per niinute, and if the tank were as Supposed above you divide 2700 by 7, when the time can be easily found. When the pipes aa-e laid, you elio\ild have a nozzlo so thick in its sides that it could be bored or rhymered out as needed. The one that delivers 6even cubic feet, if properly designed, would bo the one to

g-ivo you the best results, and the least thing in diameters makes a considerable difference. You might write and give the editor the exact diameter you fmd best — it will probably be between the two sizes you mention. 'Mind and see that your valve is a, straight-w.ay one, as otherwise that would curtail your supply considcrably. In fact, the valve, and especially tho nozzle, are by far the most important items for you to get just quits right." Balance, Westport.—Mr Davey replies: " Your appliance does not seem to be known much here. However,, more inquiries are being made, and it is hoped that yon may get a reply next week." P. E. 8., Riversdale.—Mr Davey replies: " Thanks for your sketch. It camo rather too late ..for a reply this week. It is a good thing that you can make a reservoir; it will make -all the difference to the echerne."