TELEGEAPHIC INTELLIGENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 303, 20 December 1872, Page 2

TELEGEAPHIC INTELLIGENCE.

[Per Anglo- Australian" Pbess Telegraph Agency.] PROVINCIAL. Dunedix, December 20. H.M.R. Dido lias been successfully clocked at Port Chalmers. The caterpillars have created great; ravages in the Taieri district, where several acres of barley have been totally destroyed by them. Messrs M'Landrers & Hepburn have disposed of ] 67 bales of hemp at auction, at prices ranging from £2 1 10s to £23. For continuation of news see fourth p iije.

Thbbe was recently exhibited in the exhibition of Lima, a clock, made by Mr. Ruiz, a Peruvian, which was 50ft. 7in. in height, and 49ft. 2in. wide. It marts the weeks, seasons, years, and centuries; it shows the courses of the sun and moon, hoists up and lowers daily the flag of Peru, and presents pictures commemorative of the great events in the history of Peru. It strikes the hours and quarters of hours, and plays certain tunes at stated periods. EXTERMINATING RATS. — C> L. L." of Vienna, writes, giving the following singular recipe for getting rid of rats. We do not vouch for it, but give it for what it is worth : Catch, by any ordinary trap, three rats, put them in a cage constructed of wire, in any place which is plagued by the animal, and give them no food whatever. On the third day you will find only two rats, one being eaten by two others, and on the sixth day only a single rat in the cage. Give the survivor his liberty on the seventh day and you will be, in the course of one week, rid of all the rats, except the one monster which ate up his brothers, and which you may feed for sympathy's sake. The mode was adopted with great success in a building in the former ThiergarteD, at Vienna, where all other means to expel these animals were useless. A Man Worried by a Donkey. — A. very singular case has been reported to the Sheffield police. At the Bull Inn, Dunnelds, a number of men were drinking, and about half-a-dozen of them adjourned to the stable yard, in which was a donkey belonging to a hawker. One of the men, named Hooton, commenced to tease and then to illtreat the animal by kicking and otherwise maltreating it. He was very drunk, and no persuasion on the part of his companions could induce him to discontinue his insane practices. At last tho animal ran at him, knocked him down, and whilst he was on the ground seized his lower jaw, and bit his under lip completely off. As soon as possible his companions dragged him from under the feet of the infuriated animal. So cleanly was the piece bitten from the man's lip that his gums and teeth were laid entirely bare, as was his jawbone. After a long search the piece of flesh bitten out was found, and the man was removed to the infirmary, where it was sewn on again, and he is progressing as favorably as can be expected. The donkey was not a vicious one, but, on -the contrary, has hitherto been considered remarkable quiet. — Sheffield Independent.