NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 55, 27 October 1931, Page 2

NEAR AND FAR

New Milk Product. Among the cargo shipped on hoard the Tongariro for Englahd is a new product of Southland called "milkiwey paste." The shipment comes from Edendale, and is a by-product of the New Zealand Sugar of Milk Company. A small quantity has been sent Home previously, and was such a success as "stock food" that a large order of 500 tons is the outcome. The "paste," which is a treacley consistency, is contained in casks and large oil drums, and fully 100 railway waggons were required for transportation from Edendale to the ship's side; She Ate Her Bets! Miss Mary Conway, of Newcastle, England, arrested her taking bets, escaped conviction by eating her betting slips. Lack of evidence resulted in her dismissal. Maid and a Cobweb. An actress of London claimed recently that an artist friend painted a cobweh on her ceiling so realistieally that her maid spent nearly an hour trying to remove it. Seeptics have declared that there may have been such an artist, but that it is doubtfui whether there ever was such a maid. The Best Way Out. There was an amusing incident at the Southport golf tpurnament, where the starter was sending away the players in the order of the draw. He announced the names with a barrack square elarity until he reached that of the Argentine player, Hector Freccero. Here the starter was stumped for a moment, and then, with a nod towards the player in question, he said: "Anyway, it's your honour." Scarecrow that Speaks. A scarecrow which talks keeps fruit-eating birds away from a berry farm near Portland, Oregon, United States". When the farmer discovered rhat his erry patches were providing free meals for large flocks of erows and robins he fixed a loud-speaker inside his scarecrow. The plan worked sucessfully. This device, howeverj is said to have attracted many song birds to the neighbourhood. Carefully Stacked. It was a horse fair, and among those for sale was a group of the most miserable nags imaginahle, huddled together in a dejected fashion. At length a man came along who wanted a horse for a little light work, but was only prepared to pay a low price. After much bargaining the dealer sold him one of the best of the bunch for 17s 6d. The customer gave him a pound note. "That is my first deal," said the man, "and I haven't any change, but if you like you can take another horse. Don't take it out of the middle, or the others may fail down!" Trees as Influenza Cure. Botanists have been puzzled over finding specimens of a rare tree, ascarina lucida, near isolated Maori pas about Mount •Egmont (reports the Taranaki Daily News). Specimens have been found near the old Kaitilce, the Okaihu, and the Patua Pas. Its original home is Stewart Island. Ihe Maoris were wise in their generation. They knew the tree had considerable medicinal value, espeeially as a cure for a form of in-, fluenza which they were subject to in the' old, as well as the present, days, and they had young trees trarisported in canoes from Stewart Island to Taranaki and other parts of the North Island, and planted near the pas. Doctors to Receive Fai'thing a Visit. Mr. Gandhi has described an India in which doctors would receive a farthing for a visit, and baristers half-a-crown for a prominent case. "Onee doctors and lawyers give their services at a eheaper rate, living itself will be eheaper," he said. He was speaking at a meeting of Parsees and was trying to persuade them to give up the liquor trade, in which they hold a monopoly. Tabby was Rescued. This is the story of how a tabby kitten made 11,000,000 gallons of water disappear. She fell into the I Bristol floating harbour in England, j and, swimming into a drain, was imprisoned there when the water rose (says the Observer) . An inspector of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the dock police, who told the harbourmaster, Captain Gilmore, who told the city engineer, and between them they poured the huge quantity of water in ' to the Avon so that pussy might be rescued by a police-sergeant in a Iboat holding a piece of red meat, the gift of a butcher. Exhausted hut eontent, the cat was restored to her owner. Hakas for Exercise. "There is no better means of exercise than the Maori haka," said Mr. Te-ari Pitama, conductor of a party of Maoris who gave a coneert in Christchurch. "The haka brings every muscle of tha body into piay. Even the eyes and the tongue are working. The New Zealand Government would do better to introduce

hakas into the schools than to copy the exereises of Sweden." Skilful Driving Prevents Smash. Twenty-four holiday makers had an unexpected thrill near Priory Park, Prittlewell (Essex) when onfe of the read wheels of the charabanc in which they were travelling came off. A passenger said "We were bumped from one side of the road to the other for a hundred yards. Only skilful driving prevented a nasty accident." Can Smell Speed. According to a defendant in the Wellington Police Court recently, Constable Morrison, of the Hutt Road, has his sense of smell as fully deYfeloped as the famous and rather awesome giant of "Jack and the Beahstalk." When charged with dangerous driving defendant said: "I was not travelling fast. When Constable Morrison stopped me he Said he could smell speed from the engine."