COLONIAL ITEMS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 268, 29 December 1874, Page 7

COLONIAL ITEMS.

«ue:?lo;lM.T.r l * t . The following Story is told in connec- ] tidh with one of the gaols on the West Coast:—A certain man was arrested on,a ( particular evening, and lodged in gaol for i attempting to defraud his creditors. , His ( examination was fixed for the following i Cadraing at eleven o’clock, and while wash- i ing in theyard, after his first night in 1 durance, vile, this would-be absconder met < « casual acquaintance, of'whom the ques- 1 tion was asked, u What aVe you in for 1” j ** Drunkenness," was the answer. “ How i , Jong have you to serve!” “Three days,” i was the ready reply., '“'Then do me a i favour ” aaid the gentleman who was going | to interview his creditors. u Look here, I , have. £2O. I want to take my oath in i Court I have no money, so you-take these ] till I come back.” The trust was accepted, j the conscientious his 1 examination, made his solemn declaration, , and was discharged.. With eager haste he * . returned to his cell to obtain his cash, but * hts whilom fellow-prisoner had vacated the department, and his inquiries for the man elicited the following fact. “You see,” , aaid the constable, in reply to the query, he vfas fined 405,,' or three days in dej fault Well,'.'after ,you w'etit' to ;the ;Gourt *. he cam© to the sergeant, and said, ‘ Here, - I’ve been long enough in this,’ and taking two ones from his boot he paid the fine, and w© let him out” Messrs Paterson and Sloan, of Pleasant ' Talley, have forwarded to the Museum v grubs found in the' cavities pf a sheep’s head, with the explanation that grubs like ‘ ' these are the cause of a disease very prevalent at present among sheep. The speci- . mens forwarded are the larvoe of the sheep bot-fly (ocstris ovis). These larvses are found from October to December in the nasal cavities of sheep, and they work their way up the head. When they are ready to change they come out, fall to the ground, and go into the chrysalis state, the fully-developed fly appearing at the latter end of the summer. The sheep bot is of a dirty ash colour, with yellowish and white specks, aud the tail is hairy at the end. Specimens of the. same larva have also been received from the Taieri. At a late meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society, we read that “ Mr Travers exhibited a bottle containing worms, found by Mr Bidwell, of the Wairarapa, in the the throat and nostrils of some sheep. Mr Waterhouse informed the meeting that these worms were very injurious to sheep, often causing death, no doubt from suffocation. The .worms referred to are evidently the larvae of sheep bot. This bot has been introduced into the Colony from Europe, and appears to be spreading very widely. The only check upon it is destruction by insectivorous birds. Sheepowners will see in a matter like this a reason for supporting the Acclimatisation Society.—Dcdty Times. The young girl, Cecilia Allan, charged at Auckland with repeated attempts to burn buildings, seems to be quite an unnatural phenomenon. The police regard her as the most dangerous girl they ever had iu custody. When caught in the act of breaking down the wall of her cell with & hammer she declared she did not do it, and called heaven to witness the truth of her statement. A singular death took place at Oamaru some days ago. One W. M'Adara, suffering from drink, went into a butcher’s shop, obtaining a piece of raw meat, and thinking that this would do him good. He had not long left the shop when he dropped down dead, and medical examination proved that he had been choked by the meat. Larceny of a novel kind is reported by thnWangamUa Star: —“ We have received reliable information that some thieving scoundrel or scoundrels have lately been cutting off the manes and tails of the horses running at North Wangaratta and Docker’s Plains, apparently to sell the hair. From eighty to a hundred horses have lately been treated in this manner.’’ ■ A piece of crystallised gold, one of the rarest mineral specimens in the Dunedin Museum, was recently surreptitiously removed from a glass ca.se by some thief.