Untitled

Motueka Star, Volume II, Issue 44, 14 January 1902, Page 4

The Australian Squadron is now in Tasmania, where it will remain till the 25th of the month, when it will sail for Port Lincoln, Smith Australia, arriving there about the 29th. On sth February a. departure will be taken for Adelaide, whence the squadron will sail 011 the 19th of February for New Zealand. To illustrate the way that some of the settlers in the back districts have t ) work in order to make both ends meet, the Wairurapa Daily Times says that a woman, on being asked how she had enjoyed herself on New Year’s Day, replied that she had been splitting posts all day. A young man came to Master-ton on Saturday, says the Wairarapa Star-, with a specimen of quartz, containing mineral which had a resemblance to gold.. He was very excited about the find, which was made in the neighborhood of Ekeiahuna, and intends submitting the specimen to analysis. The dreaded bot fly has made its appearance among the sheep in the Waikato. Hitherto the pest has only been found in horses in that district. In size and appearance the insect is not umike the common bot, but in habits it is different, inasmuch as it deposits its eggs up the nostrils of the sheep. The eggs soon hatch, and the maggots work their way up the nostrils of the unfortunate sheep and locate themselves in the cavities of the face between the nose and the windpipe. Here their presence soon sets up a discharge of pus; on which the maggots feed. They grow in size equal to the large horse bot —about three quarters of an inch long. When fully developed the}’ drop out, seek cover, grow wings, and are rearly to continue the round of existence.

The work of erecting the scaffold for repairing the Christchurch Cathedral spire has been commenced. A wire rope has been stretched from the topmost aperture on the north side of the spire and on Tuesday afternoon a workman ascended to fix pulleys. A lat ge crowd witnessed the operations, which to most people appeared rather perilous.