NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 62, 24 May 1928, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

ftQTES FROM ALL PARTS.

SHB DOMINION DAY BY DAY. Rare Fish. A fine and very lively specimen of that curious deep-sea denizen, the sea horse, was "brought into the Auckland Star office one day last week by a member Of the crew of the scow Pahiki. It was caught in a sprat net off the north wall, and was found twined round one of. the cords of the net. According to Webster's dictionary, the sea horse is a fabulous creature, half horse and half fish, represented in classic mythology as driven by sea. gods, or ridden by nereids." Webster describes it as one of the genus Hippocampus. related to the pipe fishes, having the head and forepart of the body suggestive of the neck and- head Qf a horse. It is covered with rough, bony plates, and the tail is prehensile. The sea horse has an abdominal pouch in which it hatches the eggs. It occurs in most warm and most temperate seas, and reaches a' length of about three inches. A Bare Stamp/

Interesting philatelic history is associated with the discovery of a rare New Zealand stamp at Christchurch. In the late 'fifties and early 'sixties the young colony of New Zealapd, not then having risen to the status of a Dominion, needed comparatively few postage stamps, the white population l being but meagre. The issues in use at this date, the first that the colony ever had,' are now known to collectors as "full-face Queens." They were printed in London by a firm which has subsequently printed-many of New Zealand's stamps, Messrs Perkins, Bacon and Co., and were on ' unwatermarked paper. Sheets, ach containing 240 stamps, were sent out to New Z°aland in an unperforated condition. That is to say, the stamps were not separated from each other, and, when sold over the counter, scissors or a penknife bad to be used to separate them.

* * * Much Ado About Nothing. A Greymouth man was going home from his shift at the eerie hour of., 3" o'clock Ihe other morning, and in passing a nark alleyway, whicli had often struck him. as: being a good place for a sandbagger to pounce on an unsuspecting victim, he heard an ominous rustle, such as might result from the tread of a person wearing rubber shoes (reports the Grey Star). He quickened his pace, and the rustle behind him appeared to follow suit. His heart beat frantically and cold chills went down his back as he waited for the "sleep" producing blow from behind. "Ta-k-Lng "courage in both hands," he made a run for a' street lamp and turned to meet whoever was following him. There was no one in sight. Instead of a footpad armed to the teeth, a sheet of brown paper, being blown slowly along the footpath, by the early morning breeze, was the cause of the alarm. Getting Their Own Back, A story is being told of how the city ranger in Christchurch fell into the hands of the law. Through the nature of his duties, he is not over popular with some of the residents of the locality in which he lives—Woolston. Just after sunset a few evenings ago, his horse either got out, or was let out, and immediately the animal was seen on the road the local constable was summoned in order to have the horse impounded. Before the officer arrived, the horse had wandered on to private property, so he did not take action. The conspirators did not, however, have the mortification of seeing the constable go away without something happening, for just men the ranger appeared on a bicycle, and riding on the footpath. Although it was not completely dark, it was after the hour prescribed for lighting up, so the constable had to take the ranger's name and address for a double charge of riding on the footpath, and riding wtihout a light. There was great joy among the unrepentent observers. When the ranger later appeared in court he was fined 10s and costs for riding without a light, and on the other charge he was convicted and discharged.

It & * How We Won the War. ■ "When we arrived at Samoa we ■went ashore well supplied with guns and ammuition. Soon we were approached by some leading Samoans, who challenged us to a game of foothall." This is how a sailor from one of the New Zealand warships describes his first landing in Samoa. 'We told them to go about their business," he continued, "as we had mere important work to do, but they only laughed and assured us that there would be plenty of opportunities for a game if Ave thought we had a team we would like to try out. Wa took the field against the brown toys eventually, and were badly beaten. Later, when the oil tanker Nucu.'a arrived, we made up a representative team from all three ships, and again were badly beaten. That is how we won the war in Samoa," he concluded. He said that the real cause of the trouble was a road trading scheme. There were about 37 .miles o[ bitumen road laid down in Samoa. When it was proposed to start, on these the Samoaus, R is alleged, were given to understand that the terms would be much the same as any other local body would 'adopt in constructing roads, and that they would carry a sinking fund, and the debt would be wiped out at the end of a period of years. However, too much was asked in one lump from the people. They resented it, and, in his opinion, onfl argument' led to another until the recent complications ensued.