NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3724, 1 December 1927, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

Potati blight has made its appearance in Wanganui (says the Herald). It is also prevalent in the Glen Oroua district. Stratford has an Eel Club, with a membership of 500. A new, record for boys has been established by Ron Bird, of Ngaere, who caught an eel weighing 181 b. Tests recently made by a scientist go to prove that dogs are perfectly indifferent to moving pictures, whereas cats showed signs of fear at certain films such as dog pictures. Ostrich feathers, once the costly favourites of fashion, are now principally used for making feather dusters, with a result- that the number of birds is rapidly decreasing. When his wife appeared with her head shingled, a Tipton, Staffordshire, man promptly announced his intention of not shaving again until she allowed her hair to grow normally. Hartlepool is the safest large town in England, judging from street accident statistics. Last year there 1 were only ten accidents recorded, and none of these had fatal results. Pupils at the various educational establishments of the London County Council range from a baby of two at a nursery school to a man of seventy-six," who is attending a night-class. ; • ■ ' Over 21,600 engine headlamps on the London and North Eastern Railway, London, have been painted white. They classify the trains, and may be more easily seen when white. Settling in a tree at Anerly, South London, a swarm of bees was disturbed by a passing tram and fgll on to the tramlines, where they* were gathered up. Mr. R. H. Goodwin, a London mining engineer, has been investigating the mercury deposits at Puhipuhi on behalf of Sobels Ltd. This week he commences testing operations of the huge deposit of mercury ore at Mount Mitchell, near Whakapara, Bay of Plenty. The increasing numbers of pretty swamp birds, the pukekoes, is very evident to travellers on the NapierWaipukarau road just now, ithe blue bodies and red beaks of the birds being very conspicuous along the roadside marshes near the famous Te Aute bends.. The present is the nesting time for the birds and a Napier motorist proceeding along

the highway the other day was treated to the sight of a proud mother majestically stalking across the road with two little chicks. A strange angling experience was recorded at Windham one afternoon last week (says the Southland Times). As a 141 b. trout was being landed out of the Wyndham River by Mr. Fred Lindsay, an eel of about 101 b. to 121 b. weight grabbed at the fish, seizing it firmly. Try as he could the angler could not disengage the fish from the enemy’s teeth —not until his brother came to his assistance with a stick, and succeeded in whacking it off. The fish by this time was quite dead, having been badly toyn by the slimy marauder. The orchardists at Alexandra, Otago, had a bitter experience the other night, when a sharp frost was experienced with disastrous results to fruit trees and tomato plants. The heavy south-west gale which swept over Otago had died away, and the fruitgrowers had a feeling that it might be followed by frost. The night hours passed, however, and all seemed well, but at about 4.30 a.m. there was a chilling frost. Tomatoes in thousands have been ruined, also the stone fruits in most of the orchards. The orchardists in the Alexandra district had been looking forward to a very- remunerative season, but in little over.an hour their hopes for prolific crops were shattered. Everyone has heard of the little lamb that followed Mistress Mary to school, (says the Wanganui Herald), but it is something new to hear of an opossum going to church. It happcnen on Saturday night in Gonville. The pretty animal was taking a stroll in the moonlight—that is the time when all good opossums do their strolling—when it was seized upon by a monsler with two legs, red hair and a squeaky voice. The opossum scratched and bit, freed itself from the “giant’s” grasp, and ran a sfast as its stumpy legs could carry it into the Methodist Church, where Sunday School concert was being held. Naturally, the children were delighted, but some of the ladies became frightened and stood on the seats clutching at their skirts, as they do when all little creatures such as mice, rats, and opossums go sight-seeing in their vicinity. The children forgot all about their concert and paid no heed to the impatient ringing of the bell on the chairman’s tgble calling them to attention. More frightened than the ladies was the opossum, who was cliosed by dozens of “monsters’’ and finally dragged outside by its tail. The children 'all voted the concert one of the best they had ever attended !