Moralist.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 441, 29 September 1904, Page 7

Moralist.

VILLAGE BESIEGED BY TIGEE3. TELEGRAM to the St. PetersfsM®' burg ' Sviet from the village of m2K Barabashi, in Russian Turkestan, says that an 'entire family of tigers baa taken up its quarters just outaide the village, keeping the whole community in abject terror, and practically in a state of Biege. A CANINE EXQUISITE. The smartest dog in New York (says ' Town Topics') was driven up to a Fifthavenue b&sur,y parlor to have his hair brushed, parted in the contre, sad elesksd down with brUHautine. It wove a linen collar, «, silk four-in-lmad scarf with ft single peaul, a plaid ooafc with pockets, in which w«r« "*hit« gloves and a hand* kerchief. In another pocket there waa a visiting card, which re»d s—' My uama is Raffles. Who are you V ELEPHANT'S TOOTHACHE. Lieutenant - Colonel Parry Okeden, Turn worth, Dorset, writes tto the ' Field': —' I have in my possession an elephant's tooth, partially decayed The animal belonged to my father, who was in the East Indian Civil Service at Moradahad, and as the tooth caused the animal so much pain that it interfered with its eating, my father, with the assistance of the mahout's son sitting on the elephant's head, and telhsg him to be quiet, extracted the tooth "by means of hammer, iron bar and rope. The grateful animal used to like to have his gums dressed with tow and gin for days after the operation, A" this happened before 1842 no as aesthetic could have been used.' HOODIE CEOWS AND WOUNDED GAME. A correspondent of 'Country Life' writing from Norfolk says:—' At this time of the year we suffer from a regular invasion of grey crows which come across the North Sea. Normally, they haunt the coast and saltings, and feed on crabs and shell fish. But now that preserving 1b carried on so universally they come up to the pheasant coverts to roost, often drop, ping in very late. This would do no great harm, were it not that they have learnt to associate wounded game with the sound of guns, and, being very clever birds, they assemble almost like vultures when a pheasant-shoot is going on, or a partridge drive near the sea, They talk it over all the afternoon, and next morning are about almost b fore it is light, looking for wounded or dead birds not yet picked up, They are very sharp-eyed and nothing seems to escape them. Pheasant after pheasant is found devoured, and I verily believe that two or three of them will pick the flesh from a partridge's bones in two minutes. The loss of dead and wounded game, which would otherwise have been picked up in the course of the next morning, is considerable.' THE WORK OF THE MOLE. In searching for his food he does a large amount of digging, and as the loose earth rapidly accumulates, he is obliged to get rid of it. This he does by making his way to the surface-from time to time, breaking through, and pushing out with his powerful snout the obstructing material. Thus are produced the molehills or mole-casts which are so common a sight in England. In the summer-time, when food is plentiful, the mole often makes in fields and heaths long trenchlike runs immediately above the surface of the ground, but hidden by the gras3 or other growth. These temporary channels are probably very quickly made, rendering comparatively light his work in the warmer months of the year; but in the winter, when the frost drives the worms downward, his task in providing himself with the large amount of food necessary for his comfortable existence becomes extremely laborious. Moles naturally prefer light soils for their burrowing operations, and through these, by means of their strong, shovel-like forefeet, they make their way with surprising rapidity. Indeed, a close student of these creatures has likened their progress through such earth to swimming. Being a great carnivorous eater, the mole is also a great drinker, and, therefore, he always takes care to construct a tunnel to a water. supply. Where there is no ditch, pond, or stream available, it is said, on the authority of several mole-catchers, that he sinks a perpendicular shaft into the earth, at the bottom of which water is always found. Thus he adds well-sinking to his other engineering accomplishments.