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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13300, 9 February 1914, Page 3

The other day a Dunedin architect called for tenders for a small building job, hoping to get as many as a dozen, if lucky. This, shows (telegraphs a correspondent) the present state of the building trade. Every bit of work, however small, is eagerly snapped up so as to help to keep the shops going. There are many journeymen out of work at present, or only partially employed. . In North Canterbury large numbers of the horses working on the farms and stations are wearing streamers of bright red ribbon attached to the straps of their bridles behind their lower jaws (saye tlie Oliristchurch Press). Imagining that the red ribbon indicated that the horses were a remount reserve for Red Fed cavalry, a rfceent visitor to the district made inquiries m the matter. He w„as quite reassured when he was informed that the red ribbons were worn to scare off bot-flies, which usually attack a horse jon its lower jaw, but which leaves animals so decorated* severely alone. The red ribbons have proved quite effective as a preventive of botfly attacks on horses, which seems to indicate that even that destructive pest scents danger m the red flag. \