In beautiful weather, with a light westerly wind which died away in the second spell, and with the Carisbrook Ground in splendid order, Otago severely defeated Southland on Saturday after a remarkably fast, open game, full of incident. The game was watched by about 12,000 persons (over £600 was taken at the gates), and everyone came away with the feeling that if the Otago fifteen can reproduce its form of Saturday against the other provincial teams it will win more matches than it loses. It is interesting to note that although Southland beat Otago at Dunedin last year, that was the first occasion the home team had been defeated by its southern opponents since 1906. Otago 31, Southland 11. Mr R. Torrance was referee. Confounding coffin case concluded In the early ’fifties, two men, with the lust of the yellow metal in their blood, were passing through Oamaru on their way to the Central Otago goldfields. Only a few people were living in the town at that time, and a shakedown was difficult to obtain. The two men entered a hut, and found a coffin on the clay floor. One of them laid the lid on the floor, and was soon asleep. The other spread his blankets in the coffin and turned in. But sleep, that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care, had flown, and the occupant of the coffin sat up, lit his pipe, and read, by candlelight, an old pamphlet picked up on the floor. Years later, in Timaru, a group of chance acquaintances were recalling the early days, when the former occupant of the coffin heard one of them relate his weird experience in Oamaru in the ’fifties. He had, he said, one night gone to a hut for shelter, when he saw a corpse sitting up in its coffin smoking a pipe and reading by candlelight. He stood not on the order of his going, but went, and ever since had been cudgelling his brain over the affair. His astonishment was great when the man who had been the occasion of the alarm recounted the circumstances of his strange bed that night in the days of long ago. Journey goes off the rails The Christchurch-Invercargill express arrived at Dunedin at 7.17 on Saturday night — three hours late. The delay was caused by the breaking of the bar supporting the coil-springs on the bogeys of one of the carriages when the train was one mile and a-half north of Hinds. The train was brought to a standstill after the carriage had been dragged for 200 yards. The rear wheels came off the line, and the train continued for a quarter of a mile, the wheels ploughing up the permanent way. The passengers suffered a severe jolting, but no one was injured. The permanent way was not damaged beyond a disturbance of the ballast. The carriage was got back on to the line with difficulty. Test play remarkable England has a light grip on the ashes after having been in a thoroughly bad position at the end of the first innings. That is the outstanding feature of the remarkable play on the first day of the final test. The Australians were delighted to see the last Englishman out at 280, but in the last hour the game dramatically swung the other way. To compensate for having the fourth use of the wicket the Australians must need to hold a lead of 100 runs. Will they get them? The day was a remarkable one for the triumph of the googly. No expense spared The cricket ground at the Waitaki Boys’ High School is regarded as one of the best in New Zealand, and those in charge of it intend using every effort to retain this reputation. A triplex lawn mower has just been purchased at a cost of over £l50. This should materially assist in keeping the pitch in order during the coming season. A start will shortly be made with the preparation of the pitch. — ODT, 16.8.1926
