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A time for remembrance

The aqua-planing sport: Mr L. W. Potter's launch tows Mr J. Somerville on the Taieri River. Mr...
The aqua-planing sport: Mr L. W. Potter's launch tows Mr J. Somerville on the Taieri River. Mr Somerville usually stands straight up on the board, which gives him the appearance of skimming through the water on his feet. - Otago Witness, 18.2.1914.
The memorial tablet which is to be erected on the Scott Cairn at Port Chalmers was viewed by a Daily Times reporter yesterday afternoon, at Messrs H. S. Bingham and Co.'s yard in Moray place, and was found to be a very creditable piece of work.

The tablet has been constructed from a solid slab of Carrara marble, 4ft 3in high, and 2ft 6in broad, and has been rounded off and polished very tastefully.

At the top of the tablet are two flags, crossed, and a wreath, which have been left in high relief after the stone was carved away.

The tool used for this work was a pneumatic appliance, which enables work to be carried out on the brittle surface of a marble slab much more reliably than would a hard instrument.

Messrs Bingham and Co. have the only appliance of the kind in the city, and they state that it reduces the risk of cracking the marble to a minimum.

The lettering, which stands out in clear, black type, reads as follows:-

''In memoriam: Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, C. V. O., R. N. Dr Edward Adrian Wilson, F. Z. S., Capt. Lawrence E. G. Oates, Inniskilling Dragons, Lieut. Henry R. Bowers, R. I. M., Petty-officer Edgar Evans, R. N., who sailed in the Terra Nova from this port on November 19th, 1910, and reached the South Pole on January 17th, 1912, but lost their lives on the homeward journey.''

Then follows Captain Scott's last well-known message, and at the foot of the tablet is the 21st verse of Joshua iv: ''Your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stories?''

The cairn, as it now stands, is complete in every detail, and will be sent on to Port Chalmers as soon as instructions are received to that effect.

• The unusual spectacle of a dairyman's horse ''helping itself'' from a baker's cart was witnessed in Oamaru on Wednesday (says the Oamaru Mail).

Two delivery vehicles, one containing milk and the other bread, were left standing - the dairyman's behind the baker's - whilst the attendants were engaged delivering at the houses nearby.

The unprotected bread in the baker's van proved too tempting a morsel for the dairyman's horse, which made the most of the opportunity of getting a good square meal.

The Taieri Advocate states that the picnickers at Mount Stuart on Saturday were treated to some amusement by two motorists who, not noticing that the bridge was ''absent for repairs'', rode into space and came to a full stop down the bank.

Fortunately neither was hurt, and the car was practically undamaged. A crowd very quickly gathered from the picnic grounds and by means of ropes pulled the car on to the road again.

• Messrs Ballingall and party, on the Roaring Meg, have made good progress since the New Year, and are now within easy distance of their claim.

They expect to get to work early next month. The water has been running from the head of the race to the end of the pipes, and the result is more than satisfactory.

Old mining hands in and around Cardrona and Cromwell are particularly interested in this venture. Mr Ballingall has practically, at his own expense - running into four figures - taken up the unfinished work of 30 years ago.

In the early days splendid gold was obtained above and below the claim, and as Mr Ballingall's property covers half a mile of virgin ground, good results for all interested may be looked for.

The race is 3 1/2 miles long, and in the driest season there is an ample supply of water. Some 200 and odd 21ft pipes have been laid, and the Roaring Meg has been crossed twice.

A tunnel 160ft long at a depth of 40ft from the surface has been put through, and it now only remains for some fluming and incidental work to be done prior to commencing operations.

- ODT, 21.2.1914.

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