30 June 1932

CLOSE SHAVE FOR THE HAWKER

NATURE STUDY CAN BE EXCITING

Here is an account of how a practical joke nearly ended in tragedy, and another showing that a small boy and a large lizard can provide plenty of excitement if given the opportunity.

The West Coast Stages A 'Necktie Party.'

— Some years ago, during the construction of the Port Lincoln Thevenard railway, a certain hawker periodically visited the construction camps and supplied the men with clothing, tobacco, and other everyday necessities. Like a good many others of his calling, he found that sly grogging was quite a lucrative business, and so he augmented his earnings by selling cheap wine, 'bulled' (broken down) with a certain amount of water, which again increased his profits.

At one camp he had done profitable business, and on his return a few days later found the men wanted some more of his particular brand of 'chain lightning.' Having heard several of them had caused trouble through having had too much after his previous trip and doubtless the camp boss also having warned him, he decided he would not now supply any, although he must have felt sick at losing such good money.

One of the men, a real 'hard case ' got some of his pals together and they decided to play a harmless practical joke on the old fellow, and see if they could frighten him into supplying them. To do this they let a few more into the 'know.' They got a rope, selected a nice forked tree, and then proceeded to find the hawker. The unfortunate man was brought over to the tree, where he saw a noosed rope hanging through the fork, a box, and a group of apparently grim and desperate men. Even under threat and pressure he refused to supply them, so one of the crowd cried, 'String him up.'

The hawker was placed on the box, and the slack of the rope pulled up after the noose was placed over his head. As everyone was shouting, and the old hawker expostulating and waving his arms about, he fell off the box and the rope got jammed in the fork of the tree. The unfortunate victim's feet were just touching the ground.

By this time things had got past a joke. The men had to get busy getting the old chap down, beads of cold perspiration oozing out of them the while. When at last the victim was freed, his face was ashy colored, and he lost no time in getting away from the camp, to which he never returned. The jokers went back to the tents considerably sobered, and vowing never again to play such another prank.

— 'Wesco,' Ceduna.

Blind Man And The Crow.

— On a certain farm a family used to live, and a crow was everlastingly taking their fowls' eggs. One day the housewife complained about it to her husband, who was blind. He said, 'Fetch me the gun, Susan.' 'What do you want with the gun?' she asked in astonishment. 'Fetch me the gun, Susan,' he repeated, so she gave it to him. He then said, 'Lead me to the door.' When they got there he asked, 'How far out on the limb, and how far off the ground.' Having got this information, he raised the gun and fired. The crow fell to the ground dead. And mind you, he was stone blind.

One day a snake got into the kitchen. It was a big rough stone room. The inmates turned things upside down in their search for the snake, but not a sign of it did they see. Then mother, who was of the large size, moved from where she had been standing, and there was the snake right under her foot. — 'Pansy,' Milang.

What Happened When The Lizard Went To School.

— Nature study! Well, it has its good points and its bad ones. It largely depends on the point of view You can place this story in whichever category you like. It happened in Verran. Teacher said we could have a nature study lesson the day after tomorrow.

'Now children,' she remarked, 'if you can get anything in the form of spiders or lizards, grass hoppers, or anything like that, fetch them along.' But she did not state whether they were to be alive or dead. I was only a little chap, and told mother I wanted a lizard for nature study. Mother, like all women, did not like the idea of catching a lizard. So she said, 'I expect she only wants a little one.' 'A little one,' I exclaimed, disgustedly, 'that would not be worth taking.'

I went out hunting, and soon spotted a large frill neck. He was some runner, but my brother always said I was a good runner, and now I was going to prove it. And I did. It took me about two hours to run him to a standstill. I caught him by the tail. Mother would not hold open the sugar bag. She had it in her head that he would run up her arm, or on to her head. But I got the lizard 'caged' at last.

I took him to school next morning. I said to the teacher, 'Here's your lizard; it's the largest I could find.' She did not seem too pleased. I tipped up the bag, and out flopped the angry reptile. The teacher screamed something that was not, 'Oh, heaven!' and sprang to a chair for safety. The children dashed round the room screaming like the day of judgment. The lizard made half a dozen circuits of the place in record time, and so did the kids. I never saw such a fuss over a small thing like a lizard. Finally the animal dived under the floor of the schoolroom, while the teacher and her class had a succession of hysterics. I did not think there was any harm in taking a big frill neck to school. But I've grown up now, and I know better. — Karl Verran Pahl, Verran.

The Sweetest Things Under a Hat.

— One sunny afternoon my sister and I were driving in the southern part of the ranges. We had driven a few miles from the township when we came upon a bush track off the main road, and found ourselves among a profusion of wildflowers. Further on we came to a cottage standing alone in a garden in the middle of the bush. The flowers were even more beautiful here.

We got out of the sulky and tied our pony to a tree, and gathered the blooms at our own sweet will. There were some goats in a paddock next to the garden, and we were admiring them, when, from over the hedge of the garden, the grey head of a man appeared. We passed the time of day and got into conversation about the goats. He asked if we would like to see his birds, and we assented. With a click the gate went up in the air, and we stepped through. Another click and it slammed down. He explained it was his own invention and was made from an iron bed end.

At the end of the pathway was the house, an old tramway waiting room. It looked cosy and pretty covered in roses and creepers. We followed round little pathways and terraces, planned out like a miniature old English garden. Ivy and honeysuckle ran wild everywhere.

After inspecting the birds we came to the trees, but what struck us most peculiar were a lot of straw boater hats hanging all over then. On seeing our surprise, he took one down and turned it over. It proved to be full of honeycomb. 'These hats are out of fashion,' he said; 'I got a gross of them for 2/6. This in the hat is worth 3/.' When we drove off we were the proud possessors of a beautiful block of honeycomb out of the strangest hive we had ever seen. — Evelyn Jones, Mount Barker.

About the Murray Mouth.

— Over 60 years ago a man was swept out to sea at the Murray Mouth. Many people saw him, but nobody from Goolwa had the presence of mind to mount a horse and gallop about twelve miles to Victor Harbour, where there was a lifeboat. The victim floated for four hours before he disappeared. To show the treacherousness of the Murray Mouth, many years later two brothers were fishing. The tide, rushing out to sea, dragged the boat and anchor, and to save themselves from being swept out to sea, the two men had to stand on the boat's anchor all night. — 'Pansy,' Milang.

Cat and a Snake.

— In 1873, when I was a lad eight years old, my father took up land on Yorke Peninsula. He built a weatherboard cottage there that same year, and travelled overland with his family the following year. Just before we left our old home at St. Peters, a friend gave us a tabby kitten, saying, 'Take care of kitty, and when she grows up she will kill snakes.' Although we did not see her kill any, a few years later some of her family proved their snake killing capabilities.

My mother one morning saw the cat following a big snake, which escaped for the time being, by crawling under the board floor of the cottage. The cat had four young kittens in the room which she at once carried to a place of safety. She also told her fears to her mate, Tom, who, like a good father, realised the danger, and shouldered the responsibility of looking after the family. Whenever mother puss wanted to go for food, or a walk, father puss would curl himself up with the kittens, and purr away to them until her return. I and my brothers often went to see if they were all right, and we never once found them alone, for over three weeks.

One day at lunch time, mother told us that the cat had brought her kittens into the room again. We ran out to see if we could find the snake, and sure enough, about 40 feet from the house, lay a big brown snake, 5 ft. 6 in. long. It was quite dead, with cat's teeth marks on its body. The tomcat felt he was needed no longer, and was never seen with the kittens again. — 'P.A.C..' Templers.

Horse the King Rode.

— This is the story of the woman who broke in the horse that the Duke of Cornwall (the present King) rode when he visited Adelaide. She was a dark, brown-eyed girl in those days, and her father was a great breeder of horses. Mrs. Mc D ? , as the girl was in later life, was a fearless rider — and had always loved the big brown bay horse from a young thing. She decided that she herself would break it in. After educating the horse and becoming very attached to it, her father sold it. The next time the girl saw her horse was when the Duke of Cornwall rode it down an Adelaide street. The horse came from Bull's Creek. — 'Pansy' , Milang

Unlicensed Groggeries.

— While the drains were being constructed in the immediate vicinity of Millicent, there were no fewer than four unlicensed grog shops within about a mile radius. Mr. C. Butte (manager of the drainage works) did not offer any serious objection to them, as long as the employes were not served with spirits.

At a period when the men were off work, two of them, Mick and Pat, waited on one lawbreaker, whose shanty was near a belt of ti-tree, told him the police were down from Mount Gambier, looking up the sly-grog sellers, and suggested planting the barrel. Bung thanked them, and set about rolling the barrel into the ti-tree. Pat and Mick manifested so much interest in the location of the plant, that its owner became suspicious, and took it back to the camp. He guessed their intentions rightly, but they, themselves, spoilt the show.

Pat then waited on another Bung, who had a shanty not far away, and asked a pint of barley water. This man had no measure of that capacity, and left to get one from a nearby camp. Whilst he was away Pat shouldered the ten gallon keg, and made along a toe-path for the other side of the drain, where the main camp was situated. The shanty-keeper took to the low ti-tree skirting the ridge, and, getting ahead of the man with the keg, planted himself behind a stringybark tree beside the track.

When man and barrel were within striking distance, he let Pat have it behind the ear, sending him sprawling into the ferns. Pat set up a great hullabaloo. His mates came up, shooed Bung off, and took the barrel to the camp and consumed the contents. Be it said to their credit they eventually made a 'tarpaulin collection.' and paid for the beer. — Tanta Tyga, Millicent.