GENERAL NEWS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 24 December 1912, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS

.at'Alv Afc'MVVV. \ -Uf roct-0..- of ..■ itis.- <L ilidlllKLsl, ililS UU-01l l!|> !I,lV\ ~ Ulg .Vl'JVk- j U> .->ave the ratepayer of :»*• parish [' expeu.M?. The ciiiiiv .••i'« ii *,\steh T * j of too parish, which is m'-ui- .Market J LrayLori, hay liOL.i u!\i(.'! ■ •:,■ ■■«! ue i brought up to date, and the. cent ot' the iusitoria.l is being found by voluntary .subscription. Air Richards volunteered t*> assist in the »vork of excavation,, and is backed up by far- ' merj*, a grocer, and helpers from » every 01a,5&.. The volunteer navvies lliope to finis]), their task by the end of' the year.. [ TURTLE'S TASTE ¥Oll DUCKS. A monster snapper-turtle that had been feeding on, the young ducks iu '.Central Park, New York, for several years', has been captured in Swan. Lake,, in .tfho lower .section of the park. During the summer of 1911 more than 150 young ducks were lost. The depredations have been going on. for nearly ten years. Hawks and owlswere'* blainod until'the keeper saw a; dark object on the surface of the lake near the ducks. Ho fired a shotgun, and the object went down. Later on ( he saw a. gib lit•'turtle erawling up the i shore from the lake. Taking a piece of rope, he ran to it, put it upon its back, and hitched the rope to its hind leg; the .snapper was dragged to the menn-gene, where it was weighed. It scaled 331b,the largest ono that the keeper lias over seen. J LONDON FOGS. ! London fogs are by no means a, modern - development. The South _of England bore a' bad' reputation ( for" fogs in the time of Tacitus.. Pepys as strangely silent about this j Y . plaguo. hut hi 6 contemporary diarist, j ;. John Evelyn, records two terrible fogs / . during which artificial lights wore_ of ,j. no avail to prevent; highway robberies | ;'. in: the public streets. Evelyn publish- |i ed a pampWot "Fumifugium," de- | ncamcing the "hellish and damnable | cloude of seacoale," which made Lbn- g don unhealthy, and evem. inured the | vineyards, of France 1 This pamphlet | won'the approval of Charles IT., who 9 commanded Evelyn "to prepare a b Bill against the :ncxt session of Par- | li.ame.nt. being resolved to have some- | thins done," But the proposed anti- | fog legislation ended in smoke. f£ WORLD'S LARGEST DIAMOND, j | The largest diamond in the world now that the Cullinan has been cut j up has been found at -Uhe foot of the ■ Premier Mine, South Africa (says Lloyd's Weekly). The stone, | which, was discovered after Wasting, weighs 1649 carats, .and in shape is g like an egg with the top out off. It g has black streaks, but the experts g consider tihat the flaws are only on g the surface. No estimate of the value g of the stone is possible yet, the Oul- g linan diamond-weighing in. the rough g state 3025 carats and found m the | same mine—was the largest m the | •world *nd was valued at £200,000. | The ihuge gem was named after the g then chairman of the company. It g was presented to the King by the g Transvaal Government, and was out g into eleven flawless stones lhe | largest, of 310} carats, is m the Im- g perial Crown, and two great stones g are worn bv the Queen as jewels, as g a pendant, on State occasions. I MEREDITH AND THE WINE. 1

iSir Arthur Collar Doyle related some stories of Meredith' in his speech at the -dinner of the Newsven- j dors' Institution in London last \ mouth. The great novelist knew, j among other things, the value of a ' bottle of good wine. But he was forbidden bv Iris doctor to toudh any aI- i cohol, and he said to Sir Arthur: "11 I have a bottle of ehiinee wine out j of miy cellar will you undertake to ( drink it all?" Ho remarked that ' there .would be no difficulty about , that, a.nd Meredith Hatched him ■ drink the wine, and seemed to get j a kind of reflex enjoyment out of it. j Afterwards he raid: "You gave roe. great pleasure by the way you drank ; that bottle of wine. People come to t see me,/and I have laid in. (in other j days, a very precious little stock of i wine.' I am not a rich man, but T > took -tibe trouble that every drop Eihould be good. People come down ; and have a bottle drawn. They drink ( a glass, and T see the rest wasted on j the table, and it goes to my heart. Tfc -made me happv to see you drink ' the. whole of the bottle." "T was j glad to intimate to ihim," added P. ; " j Arthur, "that any time I could give give 'him any pleasure — ." j■ | I