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Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 47

About 50 territorials from Dunedin and about 20 from Invercargill went north by the second express .on Saturday with the object of taking part in -the annual army rifle meeting at Trentliam. The party was in charge of Staff-sergeant M’Kenzie.

Mr Justice Sim has granted probate in the estates of the undermentioned deceased persons:—John Malcolm, late of Dunedin storekeeper (Mr J. W. Thomson); Marguerite Henrietta Taylor, widow, late of Dunedin (Mr J. S. Stephens); Mungo A..ison, farmer, late of Hawea Flat (Mr A. 1. W. Wood); Samuel Spratt, draper’s assistant, late of Dunedin (Mr C. J Paytie); John Chittieburgh, late of Dunedin gardener (Mr G. Gallaway); and Mary Mead late of Port Chalmers, widow (Mr K. g’ Roy). Letters of administration were granted in the estates of Catherine Maitland, late of Dunedin, married woman (Mr F. B. Adams), and Annie Gray, late of Hillend, widow (Mr Rutherford).

An extraordinary happening occurred a? Balfour last Tuesday afternoon (says the Southland Tinies). Miss Lyla Grant, who is a keen swimmer, was sitting on the banks of the Mataura River prior to taking a plunge. Her hands were dangling near the water when a three-foot eel suddenly bobbed its head oat of the water and grasped the finger next the thumb. The finger was rather badly lacerated with the network of teeth, and the eel was lifted clean out of the water before releasing its grip To add to the confusion, Miss Grant slipped off the bank and had to swim a considerable distance before reaching safety.

Picking oysters during the close season is a very expensive pastime. Two men caught by inspectors of the Fisheries Department plucking them from rocks (reports our special correspondent in Auckland) were Hugh Dobbie and R. A. Kiddey, both of whom appeared at the Police Court yesterday morning. Dobbie was fined £4, and costs, while Kiddev, who took only two oysters, had to pay for bis at the rate of £1 each. He wa> fined £2 and costs.

No fewer than 11 motorists—Robert William Bain, John Walter Becker, Frederick Edward Caley, James Henry Dunean, Vincent Matia Horn, George William Jenner, Patrick Martin Kerr, Victor Constantine Meehan, George M’Knight, Stewart William Pitt, and Robert O’Connell Shiel —came before Mr H W. Bundle S.M., at the City Police Court on Friday on charges of dangerous driving. All these motorists were either on their way to or from the races at Wingatui, and, according to the evidence, passed through a police trap near Green Island at speeds varying from 51 to 34 miles an hour. The constables operating the trap stated that they had orders to charge anyone driving faster than 50 miles per hour, ami counsel who appeared on behalf of 'several of the defendants pointed out that under the new regulations, which had recently been framed, 35 miles an hour was considered a reasonable speed outside a borough. After considering this point, tile magistrate dismissed all the charges. Claiming that there was no harm in the game which engendered the social spirit and had no effect in the encouragement of gambling, a meeting of card players in Auckland on Thursday evening protested at the ban placed on progressive euchre tournaments by the recent decision of Mr Justice Adams in Christchurch. The resolutions of protest will be forwarded to the Minister of Justice and to the Minister of Internal Affairs.

The new motor regulations, which have now been gazetted, impose many fresh obligations upc:i motorists. In order to bring these before motorists and the general public, and to clear up any misapprehensions, Mr A. I. W. Wood has agreed to give an address on the mam alterations at the meeting of the Otago Motor Club this evening.

Until a motorist appears before (lie court and defends a charge of exceeding the speed limit, no definite decision will be available whether speed limits set by local by-laws hold good in the face of those prescribed by the recently gazetted regulations (says the Dominion). Apparently it was the intention of the regulations to cause all existing Iccal speed limits to be reconsidered by the local authorities, and fresh bylaws passed in conformity with the law and the regulations whenever it was desired to retain any local limits. As no advice is offered by the Public Works Department on the subject, it seems that the interpretation is to be left to the magistrates. The fair in aid cf the Home Science Building Fund, held in Mamma Hall of the University buildings on Saturday afternoon and evening, was an unqualified success from all points of view. It attracted a very large number of those interested in home science and the ample supply of goods on the stalls, such as fruit, lollies, fancy articles, etc., met with a ready sale. Professor Strong, dean of the Home Science Faculty, opened the fair very briefly, after which business was started and soon became brisk. In the evening a very entertaining programme of musical and elocutionary items was presented, amongst the performers being Mr Rutherford. Miss Dean, Miss M'Peak, and Miss Aslin. At the conclusion of the entertainment a short dance was held. The attendance at this was large, and a very pleasant couple of hours was spent. The city was visited by a thunderstorm of exceptional severity shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday. Early in the afternoon the weather had been pleasantly mild—typical, indeed, of many autumn days in Dunedin—but soon after 3 o clock the marshalling of heavy clouds in. the southern sky indicated that a change was imminent. In less than an hour the storm broke, and fop 20 minutes or so the rain descended with a tropical copiousness seldom equalled in this part of the world. A curious feature of the downpour consisted in the fact that the full force of its severity was experienced in the southern or coastal portions of the city, while the northern end of the town appears to have escaped with only a light sprinkling. Some heavy showers fell_ in the evening, but the sky cleared during the night and on Sunday and Monday the weather was again fine and mild.