LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1715, 19 November 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A notification to members of the Somerset Lodge Bazaar Committee appears m our advertising colama convening a meeting on Monday evening next, Nov. 21st, at 7.30 p.m., at which a fair attendance is requested. A series ol evangelistic meetings has been arranged to take place at Flemington, when Rev R. Stewart, of Rakaia, will address the meeting, the series to commence on Monday evening at half-past seven, Mr O'Brien, tha owner of Gipsy King, has discontinued legal proceedings against the 0.J.0. with reference to the N.Z Gap, The "European Mail" says: — The new half-sovereigns are being called m, and very little new silver is being issued. Two-pound pieces are likely to become valuable, as the dio at tbo mint haß been broken up ; a flaw m the shape ■ of a tear on Her Majesty's faoe having baen discovered. The number of Samaritans is now remarkably small. In Nablus (the old Siohem) here still remains only about 135 of these historic people. The terrible taxation system of the Turks has compelled them to give up their best land as a seourity for the payment. The leader of these people has, accordingly, gone to England, and appeals to the liberal Christians there for aid m aeonring again their ancestral estates. At the British Association Professor H. G. I Seeley exhibited to the geologists the most remakablo fossil which had ever been found. This fossil showed the development of the young of pleiosaur. Until this fossil had been found and forwarded to him he bad sought throughout the colleotiona of Europe for evidence on that developement, but without Buocess. No inoident m the history of fossilation was more singular than that whioh this specimen displayed. The fosßil was a series of mummies of minute pleiosaura, less than five inohes m length, whioh had the Bubstanoe of their flesh perfeotly preserved, and their bones preserved within the flesh. The remains showed different conditions of development. This was, the only case that had ever ocourred of the mineralisation of the muscular j lubßtanoe, and the preservation of the ex* ternal form of these animals ; and so perfsot waa the preservation that the circle of the eye was preserved, and the constituent bones

A Norwegian 'engineer, having had his attention drawn to tbe extreme buoyancy of reindeer hair, has suooeeded m constructing various articles of this material for Baying 1 life at sea, with whioh some interesting experiments were recently made. The first life- ] saving object tried was one whioh can be used i on board ship as a ohair-bedstead or couch, < but which m case of need may be converted * into a small boat. This apparatus was found i capable of supporting three full-grown men i m the water, though only intended to bear < two. Another objeot tried was a suits made ' of reindeer hair, and covering the entire body \ except the face, m which a man floated on i the water without having to make the i slightest movement. It was found perfectly J impossible to dive m the dress. The third , objeot tried was a door mat made of reindeer ■ hair, and this supported a man easily, i I although he was dressed m full outdoor cloth. | ing. On comparing lifebelts made of rein* - deer hair with similar ones of cork, it was found that the former were muoh lighter than the latter, a very important advantage to an exhausted drowning person when he has to put it on m the water. Reindeer hair is capable of supporting a] weight ten times heavier than its own. The appetite of the bird is wonderful. A thrash will eat at a mealj the largest snai} that England produoea. If a man could eat j as muoh m proportion he would consume a | whole round of beef for Mb dinner. The ; redbreast again is a most voracious bird. It haß been calculated that to keep a redbreast up to his normal weight an amount of animal food is required daily equal to an earthworm fourteen feet m length. Taking a man of average weight, and measuring bulk for bulk with the redbreast, I tried to calculate how muoh food be would oonsume m twenty-four hoars if he eat as muoh m proportion as tbe bird. Assuming a sausage nine inohes m circumference to be a fair equivalent of the earthworm, I find that the man would have to eat sixty-seven feet of suoh sausage m every twenty-four hours. I mention this m order to illustrate the amount of work which is done by inseot-eating birds. It is reported that there are signs that the Argentine Republic may shortly take the place of New Zealand m the frozen mutton business. In twelve months— From May, 1886, to May of this year— the supply from j the Argentine Republic had inoreased from 10,184 cwt to 33,864 owt, while for the same period the Australasian shipments had only inoreased from 27,864 owt to 33,505 cwfc* Still, notwithstanding this competition, the value of New Zealand meat rose from 45s to 55s per cwt, while the Argentine mutton did not average more than 40s per owt. This says a good deal for the superior quality of the mutton shipped from these colonies, It is reported that, taking all the imports o* dead meat into England during the first five months of this year, the weight almost reaohed 6000 tons, of the value of nearly a million sterling.