LIFE’S LITTLE WANTS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 7 April 1927, Page 4

LIFE’S LITTLE WANTS.

A Chestnut. He: “Ah, darling, as we sit together under the spreading branches of this noble tree, I declare on my honour you are the only- girl I have ever loved.” She: “You always say- such appropriate things, John. This is a chestnut tree.” A Chinese Dinner. A traveller mentions a queer Chinese dinner, which" he had •to sample with chop sticks: "Fried walnuts and fermented eggs —live years old. (I skipped them). Asparagus with ginger, birds’ nests, shark fins, 'bamboo shoots, carps in caramel, and many other things. The drinks were strong: r yellow wine of Chao-ILsing, white wine and rose wine. The last would lunge satisfied a Scotchman.” The « nests mentioned are, of course, a lornl of gelatine which certain birds use as a lining for their nests.

A Duck of a Fish,

The fish were rising temptingly the other day in one of Taranaki's best fishing rivers and a well-known sportsman could not resist a trial with his line in the hope of landing a nice trout. Several easts were made without success, and finally the fisherman just cast out across to the other side of the stream and allowed his line to float down the opposite bank. In a little while the line tugged, and the sportsman began to play his catch. For a moment there was promise of a gojyH catch, but suddenly- the line began u> vise in the air and what was on the other end proved to be a grey duck and not a fish. The bird fiew back and jjgrward for a short time until tlie.fl£t gave wav and with the end in his beak the duck skimmed down oii to the water again and swam down stream, and the fisherman retired.. *** * * Imaginary Animal.s The art of constructing more or less iihnginary. animals is very old. Ancient traditions tells us of mermaids which were received with awe and wonder until the discovery that the mystery consisted in the combination of a ladyami a fish.

' Squire Waterloo, a skilled taxidermist, was an adept at creating com ite animals. One masterpiece of liis, built up of various odds and ends, led certain scientific Inquirers to believe that an ontirelv new creature had been discovered.

The faking of living animals, again, was at one time rather a : -. favourite form of practical joke.-. Mr : H; G. Tyr-whltt-Drake, an authority .. on wild boast and..menagerie work generallv, had been commissioned to supply certain for thc- World’s Fair. He had difficulty in dealing with one space which, of necessity, diad to be occulted by something that should in no nifty be a danger to the public, and yet should be sufficiently fearsome or attractive. He succeeded by- means of a donkey, and three bottles of hair dye, in turning out a beast not previously seen on sea or land. The animal Ajiis exhibited for six weeks, and thousands, of people were deceived. In the end an expert on rare equine"' races suggested that It must be • a hybrid. “Yes.” replied Mr Drake, is a hybrid between a donkey and a dye bottle.” There is sfimethiijg ’after all to be said for the child Who remarked when he first saw a giraffe, “I don’t believe it—. ”