NEWS ITEMS.

Te Aroha News, Volume XIV, Issue 2087, 22 March 1898, Page 2

NEWS ITEMS.

A foreign exchange tells the following : —An Irishman contrived one night to lose his last shilling within the gilded halls of the Casino at Monte Carlo. With despair in his eye he strode into the Casino gardens, diew a revolver, fired, and fell. There was a hasty patter of feet. Two figures were promptly on the spot. They swiftly thrust their hands into the pockets of the prostrate form, and as quickly dashed out of sight into a neighbouring thicket. They had scarcely gone when the I corpse’ arose stuffed his hands into his pockets,found them well lined with bank notes, and went his way rejoicing. The suicide was a mere ruse, the- gambler having fired over, not into, his head. The two. dark figures were officials of the company, who selected this means of leading the publicto believe that the frequent suicides which disgrace Monte Carlo are not brought tbout by losses at the gaming tables. ■ * .. ■» . .. Through the instrumentality of the Board of Exports a large and flourishing trade in poultry is springing up between New South Wales and South Africa says a Thames paper. A start was made in October last, and since then the trade has grown apace till now from 5,000 to 4,000 fowls ducks and geese, and turkeys are sent from Sydney to South Africa by each steamer. The system adopted according to the Sydney Morning Herald, is-for the owners to take their poultry to the to the Board’s stores alive. The Board then kills,.plucks,,dresses, packs, freezes and ships the poultry, the whole of this work, including the supply of the cases, being done at a small chrge just sufficient to cover expenses. The poultry growers who, have sent their poultry to South Africa through the Board have expressed the highest gratification at the manner in which the Board has done the work entrusted to it.

A southern paper says ; ‘ That little native bird so. commonly known as the ‘ white-eye 1 is becoming more and more partial to the acclimatised fruits brought from Europe,. They have recently taken a liking to apples, which they sooop hollow,; leaving but a shell. They make a hole in one side of the fruit, and often they may be seen fighting for a turn inside the apple.’ • We 'do not know of any bird in this district termed the ‘ white-eye.’ Possibly it is the green-plnmaged ‘ blight-bird,’ which has a white ring to its eye such as might earn it the name mentioned. The ‘ blight-bird’s ’ partiality for acclimatised fruit is certainly not confined to apples. It ia passionately fond of figs, which it hollows out very cleanly, and lately it has developed a fondness for plums, leaving (toothing hanging on the branches but shreds of skin. The ‘ blight-bird,’ hawever, is such a devourer of the farmer’s insect enemies,, and is, above all, such a pretty and confiding little fellow, that we would be sorry indeed to see his fruit-eating propensities get him into trouble. His case is hard enough as it is, for the number of native birds which fall to the multitudinous small boys and their catapults is a big factor in their decrease.

■ Made him feel small.—A ' Murkan back blocks editor thus moralises :• — The other day a man residing in this district went out hunting, and while so engaged there came a big rain, and he sought, shelter in a hollow log. The log became soaked with water and swelled,until the aperture was too small for him to get out again. He was in a dilemma. He quickly reviewed his past life, and when he came to think that he was not even a subscriber to this paper, he felt so small that he crawled out of a knot hole in the log without any trouble.