SNOWSHOES PER S.S. TURKESTAN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 980, 22 November 1910, Page 4

SNOWSHOES PER S.S. TURKESTAN.

AND WHY THEY CAME. Turkestan, s.s., is now here from Montreal, and somewhere under her hatches there was supposed to lurk a consignment of snow shoes. At least, so said an American shipping paper, and the paper followed up this harmless fact with the following amusing explanation of. the why and wherefore of these snow shoes. It stated :- "A large consignment of snow shoes is booked to leave this port (Montreal) for Australasia on the steamer ■ Turkestan, which has been brought out to supply the place of the , Tokomaru, and is the next ship leaving for that country. Although the cargo appears somewhat unusual, it must be remembered that the southern part of the islands comprising rlie colony of New Zealand lies but little outside the Antarctic Circle, and consequently there is qurto a lot of 6now there every year." Yesterday a Dominion representative, armed with the above clipping, made inquiries on board the Turkestan, and when asked if he knew anything in re-' gard to this portion of the ship's cargo one of the officers asked the reporter if he v."as trying to take a. rise out of "him. When shown the "news item," the officer burst into fits of laughter. "Trust the Americans for news," ho said. "I reckon that the person who wrote that had an imagination l worthy of Munchausen. No, we have no snow shoes in our cargo, at least as far as I know, and I think if anyone did know anything about the ship's cargo I should, for I have all the manifests for different ports in my drawer here."