LIFE’S LITTLE WANTS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 23 May 1928, Page 4

LIFE’S LITTLE WANTS.

Stcry-telling. Mother: “Sit down, Sammy, and quiet your sister. Tell her a story.” Sammy: “I can’t sit down. I just told daddy' a story'.” * * * • No Replacements. A farmer had the misfortune -to get his barn burned, but he was well insured, and went to an Aberdeen insurance office to collect the bawbees. The official informed him that they intended to replace the barn, and the. farmer immediately' cancelled his wife's, policy'. “If anything comes ower Jean,” he explained, “you’re no gawn to replace her.” s’.- * * w • Singing It! _J... It is a curious fact that people who stutter can memorise a poem and .a song and recite or sing it without impediment. There was a mate on a ship, and he stuttered. One day., he rushed up to the captain, but was suffering so acutely' that he could hardly get a syllable out. -. “Here,” said the captain at last, “go away' and c-onie back in two hours and sing it to me. ’ ’ 1 In two hours the mate came back, saluted gravely, and satfg:' Should auld acquaintance be forgot, . And never brought to mJndj'\Av The blankv cook’s gone overboard And is twenty miles behind. •“ • •

Gloria Caruso’s Voice. Gloria Caruso, the elghUvear-old daughter of the famous tenor, gives every promise of inheriting her father’s voice. Her mother stated that Gloria was being carefully trained* by the best instructors, -who had paid a high tribute to her attainments. This i. statement was made by' Caruso's I widow -after the conclusion of the action in Chancery' on her daughter’s behalf for the apportionment of the royalties from the Victor records of her late husband’s songs. Gloria Caruso is to receive £2400 yearly from the proceeds of these royalties. It was stated in Court that since 1921 the roy'alties had amounted to £148,000.

A Marvel of Migration. After long centuries of conjecture and hypothesis, the mystery' of the eel, Its life, migrations and reproduction, was finally revealed to an astonished world as the result of the fesearehes of Dr. Joseph Schmidt between the years 1904 and 1922, say's a writer In the “Scotsman.” Wonderful it indeed is that such a lowly' creature should perform all unaided the long trek across the Atlantic to within the region of the West Indies, there to spawn and die. The eel has no current to guide, no land to mark, and no lights to delimit its marine passage, nor, indeed, can one passage satisfy' their needs, for all the eels of Norway, of the Baltic or the Rhine, of Great Britain or Spain, even of the Mediterranean and of the mighty Nile itself, make for the same spawning ground, and in so doing must necessarily travel along converging ways, and not on the same route. This ocean journey' of the adults, probably equalled in nature only; by the migratory-; flights of such birds as the swallows, almost pales into insignificance when compared with the return trip of t!io tiny, delicate young which, all alone, without parent, guide or friend, return to the European shores Avhich their progenitors quitted once and for all.

Money in Rabbits. During liis Auckland visit the Prime Minister was interviewed by the editor of the “New Zealand Smallholder” on behalf of the “ Million-a-Year ’’ industrial rabbit movement. The following facts were put before him: — The Industrial rabbits are creatures of captivity, especially the Angoras. The food supply can be all home-grown, making the food bill almost nil. The wool revenue on English figures, is:— Each Angora rabbit/ lOoz wool, 36s per lb first grade, £1 per rabbit per annum. The buyers are Derwent Mills, Ltd., Matlock, Derbyshire. The skin revenue from the fur breeds, on English figures, is £.7 per annum from the progeny of one doe. If farmed in large netted runs (which is suitable for the. fur breeds), there would be occasional escapes, but not enough to increase the rabbit pest by one 100,000 th. The Angoras would perish if jit liberty. The industry is suited to financiers, working small farmers, women and families, poor returned 'incapacitated soldiers. Minimum carrying capacity, 5 acres, 300 Angoras, one woman’s work with a helper; 15 acres, 1000 Angoras, one man and wife with a helper. Present requirements. Order-in-Council permitting immediate importation of the profitable British strains. The Prime Minister said he already possessed some information about the industrial rabbit movement. He would ask the Department of Agriculture to investigate the matter.