FROM OTHER PAPERS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 67, 12 December 1907, Page 5

FROM OTHER PAPERS.

A new chum at the recent Carterton show was much interested in the dairy coiv sections and much puzzled about' the various breeds, lie began to got familiar 'with Jersey cows, says a Wairarapa paper, Ayrshire cows, and Hnlstein cows, but presently astonished his friends by asking where were the beautiful knee cows he had heard so much about? The nikau fronds in the stewards' luncheon room were shown to him later ; but lie. still seemed to feel a sense "of- disappointment'.' '

Mr. Hugh Munro, a,'local "rabbit .agent, met with a peculiar accident recently, according to the Balclutha "Press." He was riding on horseback, and leading another horse, when one of the animals struck a small loose stone which flew up and entered Mr. -Munro's mouth. The stone found its way down his throat, and Mr. Munro,.took local medical advice, and ■ w.ent to Dunedin to have the •intruder removed. He,.felt a decided tickling sensation, and was certain the stone had passed down his gullet.

11l a certain town in the highlands., of Otago lived Mr. and Mrs. Blank. -Their, silver wedding anniversary was pretty near at hand, and Mrs. Blank was looking forward to the event with considerable interest.. Unluckily, the husband fell ill and died, says the Dunedin "Star." This would., liavo discouraged a mere man, but the ladv in question was not to be-stopped -by-trifles. -She got another husband, and oft the twenty-fifth anniversary of- her first., marriage. : tile , silver wodding celebration came- off; and she sat in state in her parlour and received the congratulations of many friends. Mn Blank No. 2 proudly handed round cake and wine.'

A large whale was observed about ten, days ago, lying some distance out at sea from Matakana, and a party ~of .residents (says, the Auckland "Star,") who. put ..put...in ~a boat, succeeded in securing its tail' witn a noose attached to a kedge ,anchor.'., Several, bullets were also discharged into, the. huge mass of flesh without any apparent result, but the cetacean afterwards - obligingly beached itself at a convenient spot. .'.lts' cap-, tors stripped the carcase of about two tons of blubber, but, owing to - the remainder making its presence' felt, to a somewhat painful degree, it was fihaily,.returned.,to.its native element. The di.mensipijs /of .the car-, case were found, to he 69 feet in length, 36 feet .in girth, 12 feet across the tail,'and 12 feet across the jaws.

A'witness at the District Court; according to the "Timaru Post," referred to a'mob of sheep as "stores," which his Honour, Mr. District Judge Haselden, suggested meant, sheep in too low a condition for freezing. 1 but whose health was not impaired'by l poor food or other cause. "Well,- no,"'replied tho witness, "stores may mean'sheep iii any : kind of low condition whatever.'"' Later, other points in connection with sheep wero being debated.'by counsel and witness/ and his Honour remarked that' possibly the jury knew more about sheep'in this district'than he did. The gentlemen' of the' jury, ■ however (who -wore respectively a' professional musician, a retired fishmonger,' a barber, and a carpenter) , thought"'that'' most " probably they did not/judging by the puzzled expressions on their faces.

What is undoubtedly a novelty, so far as this district is concerned may- be .seen inone of the gardens on the North Road; saysthe "Oamaru Mail," There is-1 in bloom npalm (Chamacrops Fortunei, trachycarpus excelsus), believed to be the first of its-kind to have blooriied in North Otago.- The specimen stands six and a half feot high, and the fans have been cut off the trunk up to three and a half feet from the ground. l The head is well furnished..with, splendid- fanshaped loaves of a dark green colour, and under the head has been produced fourspathes. From each of these; proceed a branching spadix, with • many panicles, of curious, saffron yellow flowers with calyx, stamens, and- corolla.- '.The - stem is-much tapered, and on its base there is a curious network of fibrous tissue. . When, grown' to its ultimate height, this species of fan. should stand about fifteen feet.- It is a 'liativo of Northern China, and the Chinese turn it lo good account for the production- of fans, brooms and hats. Europeans prize it as a decorative table plant-

Tho contention of ,'a : number of local mcdical practitioners that lengthy fasts,, such as those vouched for in the cases ,of several Wanganui residents, cannot be reconciled with the laws which govern human life, has received support from the opposition quarter in a manner not unexpected by the Auckland doctors. A'" telegram' from 'Taihapp, com-' ments the Auckland "Star;" 'announced the ■ fact that a tangi was to be held over a rangatira named, Edward "Arani, who "died at Wanganui the other day. Our readers may remember that Edward .-rani ivas.one oi the most ardent advocates ot' 'the" fasting cure, and was, in a letter from Mr. Lloyd Jones, of'Wanganui,' on.the 21st." ult.; reported to be oil the thirty-first clay of a fast ; - undertaken for the'cure of dropsy, 'obesity-/ indigestion and several other .ailments; * During this period of.abstentioii from food' his weight decreased by 431b., audi tho patient'was well assured that lie was oii Jiis way to convalescence. It was then (according" to Mr. Lloyd Jones) impossible to foresee how long it might take for tho treatment to effect acure, but it would possibly require, sixty or seventy days. -It appears'to have taken much less. <•: •

There vas brought iriio the office of the "Southland- Times," fa by.-!' -Mr. C. Smith, .a growing specimen.'!', of the plant Stillbocarpa. ..Solaris, ! ' 'which the ijundonald castaways used as a vegetable during their sojourn on' Disappointment Island. The leaves of the plant are large,' smooth, and palo green in colour, but'not liMiny 'way remarkable. What is remarkable'libout' tile plant is the long oil''which' the leaves grow. The specimen . shown : has ' a stom nearly two. feet long, and about aninch and a half in diameteiv This, Mr. Smith describes as a small... plant, and ho says that the stem .is„not,.,infrequently. :.'s. thick as a man's arm. Jjb.is .this long.stalk which the, unfortunate sailors turned'to account as vegetable, cooking it in the only' way. possible .under the ... circumstances—by roasting it l on an open fire. ..In appearance and texture, the "vegetable'' isj something between a cabbage' stallc.ami a'parsnip. It is said to be very nutritrous, and an excellent preventive of such skin diseases as men living almost entirely w G sh might be, expected to suffer from.lt is probable' that the men owe their practical immunity-from' any such disease during .the .-.-even months which they spent on the island, to .their use of this plant for food.

Referring to Mr.' WV, oiie of i\ortli Otcgos- , very oldest settlers, 1 the Oamaru Mail!." says-:—Mr. Dansey... had barely made a start in Southland iii i 857 before he got so disheart'enod with his" pro-' spects that he again d&ided to come' North i° i ,0 -ii a 1 : T-' T , A m""! n S • b l"' k ' h e made adeal with Mr. J. P. Taylor, afterwards Superintendent of Southland,- for the' Oteliaiko run, part of the purchase: money for'which was given in cattlb and ir run near tho Holconui mountains, in . Southland. Mr Dansey remained on Otekaik'o for about eight l years, l'ortuiie, however, refused 'to smile hnd he was forced to . relinquish it alter having practically -lost •••ovcrvthing, since which he has mado his living principally about the town of.Oamaru. Dansoy's l'ass* upon which Mr. Dansey hit, although ho does not lay claim to having first discovered it bears his name. One of Mr,Dansoy's experiences in the earlier days; ■when roads wero not and bridges a convenienco that could only bo thought about, is worth rccordni". He, along with n companion, was crossimj the Waitalci from I'npakaio to J'iko's Station (now Waikakahi) on liorscbaclt. By a fortuitous circumstance his horse drowned under him, carrying him underneath beforo ho could free himself. Mr. Dausev passed into unconsciousness, and was washed on to 0110 of the islands of the river. How Jong he remained on the island he does not know but he eventually came to., search parties wero sent out from tho station to, if possible recover tho body of the supposed drowned man, and one of the party'camo across him as ho was in the 'dangerous act of forama i the stream between his desolate isle and the mainland. Ihe assistance was timely, for Mr. Dansey was by this' t-imo mucV exnausted, and probably would, after all have become a prey to the treacherous' .Waitaki. <