NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 23, 22 August 1928, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

NOTES FROM ALL PARTS. THE DOMINION OAY By DAY. HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE Kew Arrivals at the Zoo. A pair of marmosdts, presented to the Wellington Zoological Society, also three tortoises and one female black-faced spider monkey, which arrived per Remuera, have just been added to the zoological collection at Newton Park. XXX An Ancient Horse. The Gisborne pound at present contatins a small pony which would make quite a popular exhibit in any circus or sideshow. The animal was found m Awapuni Road recentt} by the poundkeeper, Mr Harris, anc in his opinion it is well over 30 years of age, for although in. i' lower jaw a few molars still remain it has not a .*tooth in its upper jaw, and it is a mystery how (the unfortunate veteran manages to masticate its feed. One glance at the animal is sufficient to show that *fce clippers have not been used upon .■ for many years. The hair of its coat, and especially that covering its short legs, is several inches in length, and on the lower side of the neck the pony's hirsute adornment has reached a length of well over half a foot. Its owner, has nqt yet applied to the poundkeeper for the 4 return of the ancient quadruped.

X *S. X Queer Sense o( Humour. A boy with a perverted sense of humour has during the past fortnight been a source of annoyance and trouble jto the Mount Albert Fire Brigade. • On about a dozen occasions he has telephoned the fire station between three and five o'clock in the afternoon, and told them of bogus outbreaks of fire. On several occasions the brigade has (turned out, but on others the scene of the proposed fire has been visible from the station, and the firemen have been saved a useless journey. The last l call was received at a quarter to five one day last week, when the brigade was informed that there was a fire in Clarke Streev This locality was, however, visible from the back of the station. The perpetrator of these practical jokes is promised a warm reception if the members of the brigade discover who he is. "' XXXX " ':'*! ' • Reminiscences of 1868. Members of the Early Settlers' Association have been urged to write their reminiscences. One of them, in so doing, has brought to light a copy book written by a .boy"at Wanganui Grammar School in 1863, a feature of the writing being the long strokes and the peculiar formation of the letter "t" The same early colonist mentions that the first florins were brought to Wanganui by soldiers from India, but shopkeepers fought shy of them, and an enterprising jeweiler made them up into watch-chain ornaments for five shillings! A schoolmaster of those days is also mentioned who, on the eve of his marriage, thought discretion to be the better part of valour, and disappeared. There being no telegraphs at that period, it was some time before he was traced. But eventually he was found and summoned for £4O for wedding breakfast expenses. But he made it up with the girl, was given £2OO by the man who summoned him (the bride's father), had ten' children, and died ait the ripe age of 78. * # » Visit of Noted Surgeon. Word has been received by the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association that Dr. W. Sampson Handley, the well-known Lcudon surgeon, will shortly visit Dominion, and will attend the i--,c annual conference of (the medical profession, which will be held in Wellington. Cancer is one of the subjects for discussion, a ■ subject on which Dr Handley is a recognised authority. fetor Bonney's recent visit has been helpful in drawing more closely together the profession at Home and overseas, and it is not improbable, states the "New Zealand Medical Journal '•■ that Sir Berkeley Moynihan another of the .leading fW ""J* Britain, will also shortly visit New Zealand. Dr. W. Sampson Handley is Professor of Surgery and Pathology/Royal College of Surgeons', England, and is surgeon o the Middles :s Hospitatl. He x^e author of "Cancer of the< Brea*t -Surgery o t the Lympnatic S>s tern," and o&er works. He represented Great. Britain last year at the international conference on can cer conrol.