NEWS BY MAIL

Hokitika Guardian, 16 February 1929, Page 3

NEWS BY MAIL

664 BOTTLES DROPPED. , NEW YORK, Dee. 22 New York’s Custom’s guards whose duty it is to prevent iiqour leaking ashore from incoming vessels celebrated Christmas 'by firing shots at sus■pects alleged to have bcefi trying to land bottles from three liners Alajostic, Minnowaska, and New York. The officers insist that the shots were not intended to > injure- the men. As evidence of this they cite the iact that no one was injured by the Hying bullets. In every ease except one the fugitives, who surrendered after dropping ,he bottles were released, the Custom* .gents explaining that once they had 'ot i'id of their burdens there was no evidence on which they could lie convicted. The one arrest was I rank 1 mill, ,tii oiler on ilie Majestic. A. search in his room disclosed 83 bottles of champagne and other liquors. Altogether 664 bottles oi liquor, whole or broken, were dropped by Jioso. trying to.get through the Customs barrier.

SWALLOWED ALIVE

In regard to the possibility of the vliale having swallowed Jonah as chronicled in the Bible, the following narrative, allegedly true, is told:—ln the. vicinity of Falkland Islands in February, 1891, two boats attacked i sp'Tin whale, which with a lash of its tail upset one of the boats. One ol lie men thrown into the water, James dart icy, could not be found. The .vliale was killed and next morning die dlomaeh was hoisted on board the whaling ship. The narrative pro reeded: The sailors were startled by something which gave spasmodic signs of life, and inside was found the missing sailor, doubled up and unconscious. . . He was kindly and careearefully treuteu by the captain and the officers of the ship, and gradually regained his senses. At the end ol the third week he had entirely recovered from the shock and resumed his duties. Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house :>f flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright, and not from lack of air.lfc- finally dawned upon him , hat he had been swallowed by the vliale, and he was overcome by horror at the situation. He could easily ■'reathe, but the heat was terrible. Death stared him in the face. He tried to look at it bravely, but the terrible quiet darkness and heat, combined with the horrible knowledge of his environment overcame him. The manager of the whaling station also stated that his men once found inside i whale the skeleton of a shark 16ft. long- .