Dunedin resident battles octopus

The homestead at Hakataramea Station, with the Kirkliston Range (1830 metres) in the background. ...
The homestead at Hakataramea Station, with the Kirkliston Range (1830 metres) in the background. - Otago Witness, 30.4.1913. Copies of picture available from ODT front office, lower Stuart St, or www.otagoimages.co.nz.
A well-known resident of Dunedin met with a somewhat startling adventure with an octopus while fishing in the Lower Harbour a couple of days ago.

He was engaged in his favourite pastime from the rocky shore near the Acclimatisation Society's hatchery below Portobello. In his company were his wife and his young son.

His attention was drawn to some unusual appearance among the rocks and seaweed near him, and was attracted by the iridescent tints shown by an octopus, which also had a companion. Well acquainted with the malevolence of the octopus, he became possessed with a desire to kill it.

For this purpose he improvised a spear by fastening an opened pocket-knife to the butt end of his fishing rod. With this weapon he inflicted one stab on the devil fish. Its iridescent hues faded into a dull greyness, and its eyes gleamed with an appearance of fiendish hate and ferocity.

Instead of beating a retreat to the deep water not far away, the octopus actually left the shallow water and seemed imbued with malevolence, its eyes gleaming with unquenchable hate.

Its appearance was so terrifying that the lady screamed and fled, taking her son with her, and leaving her husband to battle alone with the monster, of which the tentacles were at least four feet long. Another stab failed to disable the octopus, although one of its eyes was destroyed, and yet this did not avert its evident determination to reach its enemy.

The blade of the knife was broken, and the fisherman had recourse to the butt. Half beaten to pulp, the octopus did not relax its fell purpose. The end of the struggle was that the monster found shelter in a crevice in the rocks, and from its remaining eye there still glared the fire of baffled hate.

The participator in this conflict was familiar with Jules Verne, and is now able to realise the malevolence of the cuttle fish, to which the octopus is a near relation.

He is also convinced that should a child while bathing encounter an octopus of any considerable size, the struggle for life would be a very unequal one.

 About 100 ladies met in the Art Gallery Hall for the purpose of holding a final conference to complete the arrangements for conducting the Y.W.C.A. new building campaign.

Miss Griffin, Mrs Reynolds, and Miss Callender delivered short addresses, referring to the magnificent work which was being carried on among girls and young women by the Y.W.C.A. in every part of the world.

The members of the teams were confident of the success of their efforts to collect the required 5000 within the next two weeks.

• The Timaru Post reports:'' A business man who recently returned from a trip south recounts a rather amusing tale, resultant upon the disastrous floods at Gore.

A drapery firm, which has a branch at Invercargill, removed its damaged goods to the latter town for sale by auction. Among the persons desirous of possessing some of the soiled goods was an elderly lady wearing a large cape, and evidently possessing shop-lifting proclivities.

One of the firm's employees noticed the lady in question covetously eyeing a piece of cloth in a roll. He continued to watch her, and, while wearing a benign, almost angelic countenance, she attempted to slip the roll of cloth beneath her cape, but it fell back to the floor.

In the crush she was not noticed, and proceeded to unwind the cloth and place it beneath her cape. When she had come to the end the shopman calmly seized the board and wound the cloth up again.

It took him some time to do this and judging by the laughter, his joke was considered a good one.''

- ODT, 29.4.1913.

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