A HUMAN CURIOSITY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 34, 17 March 1914, Page 5

A HUMAN CURIOSITY.

In a lonely spot in South Gippsland the other day I came across a hatter living in a hut (writes a contributor to the "Sydney Mail"). He rarely saw anyone from week's end to week's end. Not having a timepiece, this extraordinary man had rigged up a sundial of unique description. A passer-by with a watch, he told me, camped one day with him, and he had evolved the dial from £he timepiece. A had been selected in an open space, round whrch were placed 12 pegs exactly one hour apart, so that the shade lying across the first at 6 a.m. would be on the last at 6 p.m. He said it required regulating to the season, and asked me to camp for the day while he made the alterations. His almanac was as curious as his sundial. "What day is this!" he asked me. I told him it was Tuesday. He then consulted a calendar on the wall of the hut. This calendar was a piece of cardboard with the days of the week upon it. To keep tally every day he shifted the peg. On referring to the almanac he said it was Monday. , Close by the day reckoner he had a tin of 30 stones in a large shell. Every morning he dropped a stone into the tin. He only reckoned 30 days to the month: hence the trouble. He told me he was no scholar; could not read or write. This kind of curiosity is becoming rare nowadays.