Soldiers hold up soft drinks delivery

No 4 Troop, 16th Otago Mounted Rifles, in camp. - Otago Witness, 23.8.1916
No 4 Troop, 16th Otago Mounted Rifles, in camp. - Otago Witness, 23.8.1916
If any of the juvenile bottle-gatherers had been in the vicinity of Sawyer's Bay on Monday they would have been delighted at the sight of two large piles of "empties'', approximately 12 dozen, which were to be seen on the roadside.

A company of the Sixteenth Reinforcements was on a route march, when a delivery cart bound for Port Chalmers, loaded with bottles of soft drinks, was promptly held up by the soldiers, and the contents were appropriated and heartily enjoyed.

The driver in charge was much perturbed at being thus unceremoniously deprived of his goods, and drove away annoyed, but unable to retaliate. His chief concern, however, was not so much the loss of the aerated waters as what threatened to be the loss of the bottles, which are so much in demand. On returning to the spot later he was gratified to find the empty bottles neatly arranged on the roadside, with the following note placed near by:- ``Received, from Messrs Lane (Ltd.), Dunedin, with many thanks from G Company, 16th Reinforcements.''

The writer of a paper read before the Astronomical Branch of the Otago Institute last night considers that Dunedin is rather backward in the matter of recording the exact time. Mr John C. Begg, now a corporal in Trentham, who was the author of the paper, said that it was exceedingly difficult for a stranger, or even a native, to obtain the exact time here. He suggested that the branch should promote a scheme to secure a standard clock to which the time should be telegraphed from Wellington. He referred to the standard clock in Edinburgh kept correct to a second by constant electrical touch with Greenwich, and said he had noticed how much that clock was used and valued by Edinburgh residents. A similar clock in Dunedin would help to instill the virtues of exactness and punctuality into the community, and he hoped that after the war the matter would be taken up by the branch.

The Rita returned to Bluff on Thursday morning and reports landing the sealing party on The Snares, where seals are very plentiful, 58 skins being obtained for the one day that the Rita was there. Captain Roderique reports (says the Press) that the Rita covered the 120 miles down in 18 hours. At daylight on Tuesday a party of seven was put ashore on the reefs, and for the day captured 58 skins. The weather came up from the west, or the Rita would have landed the party for the second day on the reefs. The Rita returns for the party in about six weeks' time.

Since the season opened, about three months ago, no fewer than 31 whales have been killed by the Perano party, of Picton. With one exception, all were hump-backs. The Baldeck party, also of Picton, has not been so successful, only seven whales being taken so far. The fast launches, modern equipment, and expert knowledge of the men engaged in the operations give the whales little chance once they come within striking distance.

Recently a well-known resident of Hastings had an encounter with a fowl thief as he was leaving the premises with a sack full of hens, the result of the struggle being that the thief escaped, minus his ill-gotten booty, and the resident was the worse off by three broken ribs. The fowl-snatcher, however, made good on the other side of the road, where he successfully annexed a number of well-bred fowls. - ODT, 23.8.1916.

- Copies of picture available from ODT front office lower Stuart St, or www.otagoimages.co.nz

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