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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2510, 10 July 1915, Page 2

From information given to the police it appears that a clever swindler has been at work in Dunedin, and has operated from there to As'hburton and Invercargill, states an exchange. In April a man who purported 1 to carry oil business as a produce and general merchant, leased an office in Dunedin, and from there' communicated ;with a number of • Invercqf gill firms,-; asking for samples and quotations'for grain. These were supplied*.and presently the mail ordered small quantities of wheat and oats. -Before these were delivered inquiries were caused to be made regarding the financial position of the purchaser, but investigation showed that he had a credit balance with one of the bank's, and delivery was given. The credit balance and the small orders'are interpreted by the police to mean that a clever rogue was at work. 1 ' Later on the man lodged orders for Wge quantities, and as his financial standing had already beeii investigated, and found satisfactory, the orders Were filled. When demands for payment were forwarded there was no response, so further inquiries were made. These elicited the information that the man had disappeared, but had first disposed of the grain and other produce through' a Dunedin firm'of auctioneers.A shell which is claimed to possess •several' advantages over the ordinary pattern has been iiivented by an Auckland resident, who intends to offer his rights over the invention to the War Office, through the Defence.Department. The -invention, states the Auckland "Star," relates' to the means employed to give tho shell a grip upon the rifling of the gun. The sheila at present in use by most countries are provided with a copper "driving band," Which encircles the projectile close to the base. ■ This band, being made of greater diameter than.' the shell, . is forced into the grooves of tho gun, and so causes the ■ tfnell to rotate. It also serves ,to prevent tho powder gases from getting past the t shell _ and so injuring the bore. The 'invention provides for the placing of two soft copper tubes containing grease around the shell at intervals between the noso and the driv-ing-band. These, it is contended, will help to grip' the rifling, and will also, by breaking open, lubricate the bore as the shell passes along it. It is also claimed that with the addition'of two rings , it will be possible to make t)he driving-band much narrower, and so to: economise copper. The inventor states that shells fitted' with the tubes have been fired with most satisfactory results, and that he is prepared to submit the invention to any test the autlioritios may wish to impose.