Notes and Queries

Otago Witness, Issue 3714, 19 May 1925, Page 44

Notes and Queries

Questions for reply tn coming issue lo be te freired not later than SATURDAY night. Questions will NOT be replied to through the post Questions must be accompanied by the name and address of the writer, but a nom de plume iaay be adoptod for publication. •‘•Soup,” Dunedin, asks for a recipe for celery soup. One quart white stock, four, heads celery, two tablespoonfuls white roux, four tabiespoonfuls cream. Put three heads of celery into the stock, and boil till very tender. Strain off the soup, and return to the saucepan. Add the fourth head of celery, finely cut. Simmer till tender. Thicken with the white roux. Scald the cream, and add to the soup. Season and serve. “Farmer,” Mandeville, writes:—l have just had hot and cold water for bath room, etc., added, and am now concerned about the frost bursting the pipes. They are all on the outside. They are too close to the wall to wrap sufficient covering around them, so I have cased or boxed them in, and contemplate filling the box up with sawdust or sand, and would like t-o know which is the better to resist the frost, sand or sawdust; or is there anything more effective? This question has been submitted to an expert plumber, and in his opinion neither sand nor sawdust will avail against the frost. Both will get damp, and freeze easier and harder. The only remedy which he can suggest is to drain the water from the pipes in frosty weather, and for thi s purpose they should be provided with drain cocks. “Puzzled," Warepa, asks us to describe the working and. answer to the following: A circular paddock has an area of ten acres. What length of rope would it require to let a cow, tethered to the boundary fence, feed off exactly half of the paddock? This question has been submitted to an authority on such problems, and his answer is as follows: —The area of your circular paddock being ten acres contains 100 square chains, which is radius squared multiplied by 3.1416. Therefore, by extraction of root, its radius is five chains 64 links nearly. On graph paper draw' to scale this circle, and draw diameter at right angles to this radius. Next, from tethering point at circumference, say at end of this found radius, by trial, find Hie circle which, beyond the diameter, includes an area equal to sum of the two triangular areas which now are bounded by (1) the diameter; (2) arcs of the paddock; and (3) of the trial circle cutting the diameter. The required half area of paddock for grazing your cow is now bounded by the arcs of the paddock, and of such trial circle whose radius is 6 chains 55 links, the length of tether rope needed. “Cover,” Clinton:—Please recommend a good preparation for waterproofing and preserving canvas and jute. “Agricola” replies. Canvas or sackcloth can be made as impervious to moisture as leather by steeping it in a decoction of one pound of oak bark with 14 pounds of boiling water. This quantity is sufficient for eight yards of material. The stuff has to soak twenty-four hours, w'hen it is taken out. passed through running water, and hung up to dry. The flax and hemp fibres, in absorbing the tanning, are at the same time better fitted to resist wear. A waterproof paint for van covers, etc., is as follows: Lampblack, ground in turpentine, quarter of a pound: ground black resin, one pound; Brunswick black, three quarts; boiled linseed oil, one quart. Mix well, and when the resin is dissolved, strain, and it is ready for use. “Inquirer,” Dunedin,- asks: (1) What are the duties of best man at a wedding? (21 Also, the duties of a groomsman? The best man is the principal groomsman or male attendant on the bridegroom. He accompanies the bridegroom to the church, stands with him at the altar to await the arrival of the bride, sees that the license and ring are ready, and attends to the payment of the fees and to the arrangement of the carriages and comfort of the guests on the return from the church. At the wedding breakfast he makes himself generally useful, and, for instance, reads the telegrams and congratulatory letters which have been forwarded to the bridal pair. The groomsman is a minor attendant, whose principal duty seems to be to look after the bridesmaids.

“Renlim,” Berwick, asks who was the father of the late Lord Milner, and to which part of the Continent lie belonged? -Lord Milner was the son of Charles Milner, M.D., and Mary, daughter of MajorGeneral Ready, Governor of Isle of Man. "Horticulture,” Brooklyn, asks if Myrtus Ugni autumn fruiting shrub mentioned in the Otago Witness garden notes of May 5 can be purchased in Dunedin, and from what nurseryman, also price per plant.—— Obtainable at any of the seedsmen in Dunedin. Write to Messrs Matheson and Roberts, Octagon, for a catalogue. “Bricklayer,” Invercargill, writes as follows: Where I can obtain a good book dealing with bricklaying? I can obtain works dealing with most trades, but nothing of any use dealing with bricklaying. Wliat i require is not a book merely giving a few hints to the amateur, but a book containing information useful to a man well advanced in the trade. “Brickwork and Masonry,” a practical text book for students, by Charley and G. Mitchell, published by Batsford, price 7s 6d to 10s, and obtainable from any of the booksellers advertising in the Otago Witness. “U. M. C..” Bannockburn, has a 1000-gallon concrete tank which leaks, and requires a remedy. Mr H. M.. Davey, consulting engineer, replies: There are many ways of making a concrete tank waterproof, but the simplest and cheapest seem to be as follow : If the tank were dry, two coats of hot tar (in'which preferably a little pitch were added), would be good, as such is cheap, and of no harm if the water were to be used for drinking, for tar-water was a great remedy many years ago. It seems probable that you would not care to wait till the tank was dry, so apply two, or three coats of fresh pure cement, mixed as thick as cream, put on with a white-wash brush. Two might be sufficient, but either before the first, or between the first and second coats, apply the extra one only just where tne leakage is worst. I mentioned this to a fellow sufferer, and he kindly wrote a letter (which only a very few do) saving that it was not -only perfectly satisfactory, but a cheaper and easier way than he had heard of before. “Constant Reader,” Heddon Bush, wishes to know (1) How many members there are on the Dairy Control Board? (2) What is its total cost per year to the Dairy Producers to run the Board? (1) Twelve in all, made up as follows: Nine elected members, one representing commercial interests, two Government members in the interests of the Dominion. (2) The levy is id on butter, l-16d on cheese, or, say Is 2d per hundredweight of butter, and 7d per hundredweight of cheese. It is impossible to state definitely what the cost will be annually to the producer, ag the board has not been in operation long enough. There is at present a substantial credit in hand. LAW QUERIES. [Answered by a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Letters and Telegrams must bo addressed to “LEX,” c/o Editor, Otago Witness, Dunedin.] “Enquirer.”—Subject to the express conditions on which' the loan is granted, you can take action to recover the principal and interest on the due date of repayment of the loan. You should consult your solicitor on the matter. “Cheque” asks: —If a witness in a civil ca&e who was not subpoenaed can claim expenses? It is not necessary that a witness in an action should be subpoenaed in order to entitle him to be paid for his attendance. “Farmer,” Oamaru, asks:—l wish to apply for a Government loan on a freehold farm under The Advances to Settlers Act. What steps do I take? You should write to the Superintendent, State Advances Office, Wellington, for the necessary application forms. “Farmer” asks:—(l) I a it necessary that farmers furnish returns of income?—(2) Ha 3 there been any alterations of the law with regard to farmers’ returns, and if so, what is the effect of such alterations.-—• (1) Yes, if they are farming leasehold lands. —(2) The Land and Income Tax Act, 1923, exempted from income tax profits derived from farming leasehold lands. The 1924 Act made these profits taxable for income tax.

On Friday the Arbitration Court concluded its Dunedin sittings, and Mr G. S. Thomson, who lias been representing several unions before it, took the opportunity of paying a tribute to the court and Its work. It was the first sitting of tho Arbitration Court he had attended, lie said, and he wished to thank the president, Mr Justice Frazer, and his associates for the way in which they had given the secretaries there almost more than a fair hearing. He was not saying that in the way of flattery, but he meant as compared with usual court procedure. He wished to dissociate himself from the sentiments coming just now from certain Labour organisations uttered not only against the court but against the president personally. At one time he himself wa3 against the Arbitration Court, but he liked to think of himself as a thinker. Within a few weeks of becoming a union secretary he became convinced that without the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act and the Arbitration Court to administer it, there would bo no possibility whatever of Labour organising, certainly not among the small and scattered unions. Even with such large unions as the Waterside Woikers he was satisfied the abolition of •the court would hit them so hard that they would not he able to organise in the same way. He thanked his Honor for the assistance ho had given him. Hi? Honor said they appreciated Mr Thomson's confidence in the court. They were a body liable to be criticised fairly freely, and tho criticism was based sometimes not on what they had or had not done, but on the peculiar industrial politics of the people who criticised them. They did not let that disturb them, but just went on the even tenor of their way and tried—all three of them—to deal with the work that came before them as justly and as fairly as possible. They could not please everybody, and so long as both sides were only moderately displeased they were satisfied. If both sides were pleased thev would think they had performed a miracle! “The planting of trees to commemorate important local occasions is already recognised,” remarked Mr D. Tannock in the course of • his address at the Exhibition grounds on Saturday. “There is the oak in the Botanic Gardens, planted on the occasion of the marriage of the late King Eld ward, and there are also the two oaks planted to commemorate the visit of the present King and Queen. An oak was planted in. Jubilee Park on the occasion of the jubilee of Queen Victoria, and another grove of oaks was planted there on tho occasion of the diamond jubilee. There is also the mulberry planted in the Shakespeare Garden by Dame Ellen Terry, and & number of other trees were planted there on the same occasion.”