RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 184, 1 May 1940, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights On Current

Events

(By

Kickshaws.)

Aviation, it is contended, is bringing countries closer together. Nevertheless, the whole thing is a bit of a bombshell.

Scientists report the discovery of a new lightweight and extremely rare gas. Nevertheless, it takes second place in lightness to the propaganda gas for which Ribbentrop has become world famed.

Mount Ruapehu, it is reported, has erupted a lot of blue mud. Judging by the use of the word “blue” in jazz one must merely assume that Ruapehu has produced a rare form of volcanic syncopation.

The tale of those kittens at Auckland is a reminder of what happened at a certain railway station in Britain, to which a pair of guinea pigs had been consigned. Owing to some error, the guinea pigs had arrived at the wrong destination. The pair were put to one side in their travelling box while a lengthy and somewhat acrimonious correspondence arose on the subject. Meanwhile, the guinea pigs had not been inactive. In due course the pair had increased by half a dozen. Further lengthy correspondence took place as to the correct procedure to be followed as a result of this increase, which forms no part in normal railway transport affairs. In due course the four pairs of guinea pigs each had half a dozen more offspring, making 32 guinea pigs in all. A lengthy correspondence then took place as to the official manner in which this colony should be housed and to whom it belonged, and to whom the cost of food supplies should be debited. Before that was over the 32 guinea pigs had each produced a further supply of six guinea pigs per pair. Figures now showed signs of reaching astronomical proportions, and the alarmed stationmaster wired that every pigeonhole contained its quota of guinea pigs.

Let us hope that the kitten problem in Auckland does not reach a stage at which the matter will be complicated by family affairs. Nevertheless, we would point out that cats are reputed to have nine lives, and it is not so easy to dispose of them as might be thought. Take the case of Inspector Macdonald, Hamilton, Ontario. He determined to reduce the cat population and took the first stray he saw to the lethal chamber. The cat struggled violently. Because of friction, sparks were emitted from its fur. The gas in the lethal chamber exploded. The chamber was blown to bits. The inspector was knocked senseless. When he came to, the cat had escaped. Consider another cat at Llandsmlet, near Swansea, England. It fell 100 feet into a mine. For a week it survived explosions of dynamite and other perils. Eventually it was rescued alive and well. A black cat belonging to a resident of Sandy, Bedfordshire, was sleeping in a bin when half a ton of chaff was accidentally emptied on top of it. When the bin was empty again, after 19 days, the cat emerged still going strong

Further complications may arise about the cats that have descended upon the naval authorities in Auckland, owing to the fact that cats have strong homing instincts. We may yet see the first echelon of cats marching through the city on their way home. A cat that lived at Uppingham, Rutland, England, was taken to Framlingham, in. Suffolk. Six days later the cat turned up at her old home, none the worse for a walk of 100 miles. The long distance record, however, seems to be held by a half Persian cat. It took four months to walk the 300 miles from Kent to Cornwall. It would seem, therefore, that those Auckland cats may get anywhere between that city and Wellington if they find things are too hot for them at the naval base. Maybe it was for that reason that an order was issued some years ago to all naval establishments that henceforth all cats belonging to those establishments must wear collars. If that is the case, it would seem that the naval authorities in Auckland are in for a busy time, or perhaps the regulations do not apply in New Zealand.

Actually, cats have succeeded in making themselves so useful that there have been many instances where cats have been granted official status. For example, the Government of Matta keeps a number of cats as servants of the State. Their duty is to guard the underground granaries from hordes of rats which would soon make short work of flie store were it not for these cats. Moreover, when Hong Kong was suffering from plague, cats were shipped to deal with the rats whence came the fleas that produced the plague. France, too, has had State cats for many years. These cats guard military stores from rats and mice. They are not enlisted on mere face value. They undergo a term of training, and even pass a rat-catching test before they are accepted. It is stated that a cat by the name of Rufus is the only cat that, ever got a rise in pay from the British Treasury. The Chancellor of the Treasury in an officially endorsed “Treasury Vote’’ increased the pay of Rufus from twopence a day to threepence a day. Abanazar, the official eat of No. .10 Downing Street, is also .on the strength having remained while prime ministers come and go.

"The merry-to-do at the Auckland . Naval Base concerning those cats and kittens reminds me of a very amusing incident which took place in the Wairnrapa district in tlie late ’seventies,” writes “W.D.” “The district was threatened with a plague of rabbits. Two well-known Wairarapa sheep-farmers hit upon the idea of collecting about 200 cats and turning them out. on tile properties. They expected that the cats would make their homes out on tlie runs and prey on the rabbits, young and old, for their food. The eats, however, misunderstood the position and, being domestically inclined, returned in force to the station homesteads in such numbers that the stations were ‘snowed under.’ Cats were seen everywhere in buildings, ou fences, on verandas, roofs, chimneys, and other points of vantage where they could take stock of the surroundings. The last places they favoured were out on the sheep country around. As a rabbit exterminating experiment it could hardly be regarded as a success. Most of the cats were collected in Wellington."

Silent and slow, from point to point. With stealthy feet he trod, And one by one. with ruthless hand. Put out the lamps of God. Then down the East triumphantly He hurled his golden rod. —Morgan.