GENERAL ITEMS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXXII, Issue 59, 7 May 1924, Page 3

GENERAL ITEMS

A useful lire extinguisher for small domestic blazes is very easily inane with thre pounds of scl-f .in one, gal lon of water, with one ,and a. ha’-f pounds of sal ammoniac, added. , '■> the mixture is bottled and placed m various parts of the house small outbreaks can quickly ho) 1 by uncorking the 1 ottdo and pouring the liquid over the dames.

It is reported that a Weraroa rosident lias evolved a now variety .o', potato, lu a small plot treated exactly.' as w?s the remainder of the surrounding crop, the average weight rf potatoes per root was from L'lb to ioib, whilst other varieties gave a result of a. third or- less than this wa-g-ht. The potato has been' grown by this resident for several years, and is a consistently heavy bearer, several neighbouring farmers win have obtained 1 seed having also secured exception l ! results.

At the Oxford Terraco ('burcii, Christihuroll, last Tuesday night, the Rev. J. ,1. North said that he had been n neh iihpre.ss.3d by the loneliness of ■the pulpit. Preachers spoke along lines of the r own own choosing and often missed the point ot view that bothered ordinary- people. To meet that situation he proposed to answer every night a question addressed to him from the pew. Any-one-who chose-could s:nd a question by post. Ho' could not promise to answer everything, for theie aic mystories that no logic resolves. But he would promise to do Ins best, and if any question w?re unsuitable., for public discussion be would prowise a private reply; The question answered lust night was, “Ought a man to say all that he thinks?” Tie innovation seemed- t-. meet "in nreat favour from the congregation. .

The life of the wild animal—the bird especially—had always Icon bc’set by dangel’s. From the beginning predaceous creatures baac haunted its path, taking a steady toll and in each recurring winter th« risk 'of extended frost, with famine in its wake, has to bo faced. V atalitics also occur frrtm many minor enubes. Fhitangleritents with string and fibre cauie numerous "deaths. A danger to which lidi-cating birds are liable is that of being choked m the endeavour to swallow prey to» large for them. Herons and king-fisherS are the commonest victims. All these casualties, however, are comparatively slight when compared with the wholesale loss of bird me arising from migration—a desperate adventure which annually in\o\cs the loss of countless thousands. These are all dangers ' of Nature s making, but civilisation has brought new’ terrors i 0 every form of wilo life. The discovery of' gun-powder was an event that the fo-.-i l> races have bitter cause to deplore In the ora of bows: and arrows, then’ vigilance and powers of flight .stood thorn in good stead, but. with tM modern hrcch-loader, man practically bolds their lives, in, the hollow oi lii.s hand. Almost:, every .human invention carries death in its wake to the birds. • •

An interesting discovery, or rediscovery, has been made during the ti-buching operations on the main road at Karori, the turning up at a point about a hundred yards on the city side of Church Hill of a deposit of blue clay, gritless, and when worked tip of putty-like consistency, a clay which is considered admirably suitably for modelling (says the “Post”). The nature of the day was remarked upon to Mr J. H. Howell, director of the Wellington Technical College, hy Air H. Hamil,t ai, a member of tbe Dominion Museum staff, and a sample was submitted to Mr ,1. Ellis art instructor, who pronounced it a first-rate modelling clay, quite as good as that which had in the past to he imported from Australia. It is proposed that the Wellington Technical College should now “stock up” with Karori clay, and it is also considered probable that many inquiries ironv other schools, both in and out ot Wellington, will be received es to supplies of day. The Assistant City Engineer, Mr J Brigham, for manv years borough engineer at Karon, states that he has been a ware of tire Finn clay denosits for a long tuny and that he had suggested some years ago that it. would be excellent dav for the nifniuf’aHure of r.hina. There jl". «’«! kl Air Briuham, any * mount of I the da-.- in various Marts rf Karon. For- Con eh h and Colds, never fails. Woods’ Groat Peppermint Cure,