THROUGH OUR EXCHANGES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1824, 25 April 1888, Page 2

THROUGH OUR EXCHANGES.

KNOWING RABBITS

The following afcjry has been told to as: On a receut oooaaion. since the erection of the rabbit-proof gate on the bridge at Karow, live rabbits were seen leisurely oroßßibsr from the Karow aide. On arriving at the other Bide, however, they were confronted by the gate. After a short apparent consultation, the rabbits retreated to the embankment, and, walking down to the water's edge, quietly took to the water and swam across. The etory may be a trifle hard to gulp down all at once, bat we may state that oar informant was perfectly sober at the tim 9ha made the statement, and he informs as that he has never been up before a J.A*. In hia life. Let ua hope he never will. We . publish the story to ahow that rabbits are not to be prevented by even the Wai^aki from crossing over to richer pastures ; that the arguments of the MaoksDzse County Councillors that the erection of the proposed bridge over the Ohau would simply afford a means of rabbits crossing over, ia without, baokbone, and that the rabbits c*n swim the river If they want to cross. —-'KG. Times." CATCSIKG A TARTAR. The following rut liar good yarn comeß from Wan<>anui, and ia told m the " Weekly Press " :— At the race time, the hotel waa crowdod to overflowing, and the result was that the bedroom* had to j double bank, and shakedowns pervaded i thfl whole establishment. One of the bedvo^ms contained a station. owaer, alao a bank agent of slender form, and one or two others unknown to famo, and, like the rest of the party, unknown to each other. After all had gone to bed, and quietness was aspiring to the throne, sonorous tonea of unmistakable snoring commenced to emanate from one of the Bleepers, The dealer m bullion Btood it for some time, but as it got louder yet, nntil it resembled poals of distant thunder hie patience became exhausted, so that he resolved to put an end to the disturbance. QuieUy getting out of his bed and walking to that of hia room mate, he laid his hand gently on the erring one and said, "I don ? t know who you are, or what you are, but if auy more of this confounded noise gooa on you will be chucked out." Amidst yswnß and grunts came the very deliberate reply : I don't know who you arfl, or what you are, but I am Slavin. " History gives no more. -, A HEARTLESS JOKE.

A hoartlesa " ;pke," nnd one which ohowa the perpetrator to be as deficient

of the Bense of humour as an oyster, waa perpetrated (aays tho Auckland •' Star" of Monday) through the mediam of the telephone exohange yesterday. A message purporting to be from the District Hospital was aenb to the Imperial Hotel, Btating that one of the leading actora of the company now performing at Abbott's

Opera House had dropped down m tho atroot, and on being removed to the hospital had been found by the Houso Surgeon to be quite dead. As thnre are » number of the Brough-Boncioault Cora- ' pany Btaylng at the hotel named, the news naturally oaueed great alarm among them, and eeveral of tho ladies had a hysterical attack m couseqnenoc. Some of them sustained' auch a severe nervous shook that they wero ill all night, : even i after it had been ascertained that tho I

elephone mesaage was the rnondacious

invention of Bcma graceless tcanip who had do better way of spending his Sunday. £t Is stated, that the lying message has been so far tra«e4 that it is Jsnown to have been Bent from the Anpkland Club and if this is the case it ehonld not b difficult to get at the author c.f the di gracefal canard For the protection of fcbo public, who ua the telephone, it may 8 " be necessary for the Government to intro (;oc.) a law making the sendlog of false

••(■"' "'UK', and of personating persons