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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2488, 11 March 1881, Page 3

Half a dozen small boys arrived by the express train from the South this afternoon. They were up before the Waimate Bench 10-day for stealing apples and were sentenced to be imprisoned for ten hours, with a whipping into the bargain. The juvenile delinquents appeared to be pretty jolly under the circumstances.

The latest fancy of those sportive youths, the Christchurch larrikins, is to send up kites by night, with small colored lanterns attached to the tails. The effect is said to be very good, but there is a certain amount of danger about the amusement, which, while it affords the keenest gratification to the larrikin, fills the householder with dismay, Then again it is misleading. Only the other night, we are assured, a scientific person was lured from his home after dark by the sight of a colored body, rapidly whisking through the air, and which he mistook for a new fashioned-comet.

We have received a sample of the “cards” that the Government are issuing for the collection of postage stamps by children attending schools. The following notice to intending depositors on the back of the cards explains their object“ Pupils attending any school, who may wish to save one shilling by penny contributions for ultimate deposit in the Post Office Saving Bank, may do so by purchasing with every penny so saved a penny postage stamp and affixing it to this card. When the squares are filled, the card may be taken to any Post Office Savings Bank, wheie it be accepted by the postmaster either as the first deposit of one shilling in a new account then to be opened, or as a subsequent deposit if the depositor has already opened an account. If any stamps affixed to this card are defaced or otherwise damaged, it will result in the rejection of the entire number. These cards may be obtained at all post offices.”

Dr Lovegrove informs us that a week or two ago he examined the premises at the Public School reserve, occupied by Mr Hammond, Inspector of Schools, with the view of ascertaining whether typhoid fever, which had manifested itself, was due to local causey. Nothing of a very offensive nature was discovered, but a small square pit, into which sewage was collected, was ordered to be filled up. The water in a concrete tank, used by the family, was submitted to a careful examination, but it was found, although impure, to be no worse than most of the water used in Timaru for domestic purposes. As a precaution, however, against the spread of fever the premises have been thoroughly overhauled, and care is taken to render the water used by the family harmless, if not pure. As typhoid fever is often ascribed to impure water in underground tanks into which sewage sometimes finds its way, we may state that the germs of the disease may be destroyed by boiling the water before using it. At present when so much illness prevails, everyone who has reason to suspect the purity of their water supply should adopt this precaution.