Untitled

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 70, 18 March 1912, Page 6

• i If* VO’ . CHf-W: - ) I ..1 ( Sortie orchard-,thieves met with unexpected retribution, when paying a depredatory visit to a Poverty Bay orchard. They proceeded up .too Waimata River in two canoes, visit,ftcl..ane, or fciy.o orchard®, helped themselves freply, besides doing very considerable damage to the trees, am. then proceeded to add to their store trow'another) (settler's melon gardens, in the meanijirpefeme. of the settlers,' y. ijoso property,,.had been visited by tiie' .youths, set ctit r in pursuit m ** m’otiV-lauiich;’ 1 armed ’ ’with' an axo. When he 'found-the’canoes he did such execution withntho axo that, the canoes were soon absolute wrecks. Heating the noise of the smashing which ’wills going on, the lads returned to investigate,, but noting what was taking "place, they waited till darkness set in, and then made a stealthy retreat, glad to get away with whole skirts. . The other day there wandered into MasteVtcn an elderly canvasser with a persuasive tongue, a hatpin, and a bicycle wheel. The wheeel had on it a common rubber tyre, blown up tight and hard, and the canvasser introduced himself by 'sticking the hatpin into the tyre. He followed this up by producing mails aand tacks, wherewith he performed the same feat. M’lie tyre remained hard and tight, and he explained that this was duo to a pink powder, which was pourou through the valve into the inner tube, and which automatically closed up punctures. He sold large quantities'of the powder tat 2s per tin, one tin being sufficient to treat one tyre only. Tiie sequel was interesting, ami may. be seen in a local 'cycledealer’s shop, in the shape of a bundle of useless “inner-tubes” —which the cycle dealer cherishes 'tenderly. The pink powder destroyed the solution which held on the patches, and in some cases even ate its 'way through the tube at the place where the valve is joined to the rubber. If this enterprising canvasser, who is touring New Zealand, should find his .way. back to Mastcrton lie will receive a stirring welcome from a number of bicycle-owners here, who have been put to the expense of buying new “inner - tubes.” Wairarapa “Daily Times.”

People whose business or inclination drew them to tiie banks of the Upper Yarra one afternoon last week (says the “Melbourne Argus”) were attracted by a sculling lb oat propelled by a portly, middle-aged man at a pace altogether too slow for the power exerted. The rower was forcing ids sculls through the water In a manner which showed a familiarity with ideal rowing methods, using back, logs, and (arms strenuously, but the boat was proceeding at a snail’s pace. Club crews, pleasure boats, and canoes sped past him, though no greater power Was applied in their craft than his. The explanation was that the veteran was demonstrating a claim that it was possible for a man by rowing a boat between Prince’s Bridge and Twickenham Gardens, a distance of about four and a half miles, and back again to Prince’s Bridge, to lose 71b in weight within the interval between 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock. There had been a lot of debate on the possibility of the 'weight being lost in the time and distance, doctors and athletes being on both sides of the argument. 'Edwards and Son provided the rower with a slid-ing-seat outrigger, with an ordinary iron bucket made fast behind it under the water. Jt was because he was towing the bucket opening foremost that his progress was so slow. The Henley mile was covered in threequarters of an hour, and the return journey was finished in five hours. Scales showed that the oarsman, who weighed 19611) when lie wont out, bad lost 0.'.1h in weight' on the journey. The experiment re one of great interto medical men, trainers, and trainees.

A correspondent ef the “Times” describes an important discovery made near Ipswich by Mr. J. Reid Moir. Mr. Moir excavated a human skeleton, which, if all the evidence holds good, represents not only the earliest remains of man yet found hi England, hut, with the exception ol the Hiedolbeig jaw, tho earliest yet found in Europe. The remains may be 100,001) years old. The skeleton was apparently that of a man of about oft lOin hr height. The skull was small. The thigh bones and tho bones of the forearms and hands were absolutely tho same as in modern Englishmen. The bones were so frag lc that it was found impossible to remove them. Growing evidence supports tho opinions of these anthropologists vi'ho have supposed that the modern type of m'an was evolved at an extremely early date, and that long after_ his disappearance a much more primitive man also existed in Europe—the type we now name Noandcrtal. The modern typo of man was apparently evolved before the commencement of the Glacial period. A water-softening process, originated in Germany, and already in successful use on the Great Northern Railway in England, lias recently been introduced into New York, and is arousing keen interest. The process has been installed .on an experimental scale at one of the Standard Cal Company's plants, an i also at a point on the New York .Central railroad. It appears to be successful. The process consists in allowing boiler-fed water to flow in a thin film down a steadily inclining aluminium plate, exposed to the full rays of the sun. No chemical .change between top and bottom of tho plate can he detected, but on evaporation in a boiler, the water thus treated forms an impalpable sediment instead of the usual hard scale, and not only this, but it will decompose any scale previously accumulated from untreated water. The causes of this .phenomenon are obscure, but the aluminium plate and the sunshine seem to ho essential- elements. After treat meat, the-water can be stored overnight, or through a cloudy season, without loss of its virtues. Most people have a decided aversion to the presence of snakes in any shape or form, and prefer to give them a wide berth. 'An exception, however, to the rule (says the “Melbourne Argus”), is Mr. diaries French, jnnr., a resident of Camberwell, and his family, who make a pet of one of the diamond species, which is said to he non-poisonous; The snake (7ft lOin in .length) was brought from the neighbourhood of Richmond River, N.S.W., some time ago, and is now quite at home. The reptile passes the hours of tiie clay curled round the branch of a wattle tree in the garden, and at night time is placed in a wooden, box, the front of which is covered with wire netting of a fine mesh. Ihe children oi Mr. French’s family play with and fondle the snake in much the same way as other juveniles handle and hug the household cat or clog. The principal food of the diamond snake consists of a 'sparrow, specially ‘caught for the purpose -every other day, and this is. . tvlwdlb, beak and legs included. It is a small cater, and seems to be happy and well contented enough in the Camberwell surroundings. “As quiet and ’harmless as,,a..kitiqn,” is the >:lescfripUoh /given 1 Uy-'Mri ’Fieiieh'. of Iris snakeshfip.* - -j* -