The following sample of unconscious but grim humour was received by a well-known sheopfarmer in Waij)awa from a Napier mercantile firm:—: " Dear Sir-. —Wo havo much 'pleasure' in informing you that your wool shipped by the in a loss of £36 55.4r1."

During.a'lecture at I'afcea, the ■Kov. Hammond (who by the way is an ex* cellortt Maori scholar) told a story of how he " fell in. " at Kotorua. "He wag watching the decoration pfjioadQif the arches, and observed a"yevyj ordin ary-looking Maori covoring thje'archi with what is commonly known as ' crow's foot. Being curious to know whether the Northern Maori" gave it the same name as his West. Coast brother, he asked (in Maori): " What do you call . that stuff?" The reply came in perfect English, "We term it lycapodium ! "

According to the Wellington Post, a cool customer boarded the Eotorua at Lyttelton on Monday evening. He brought with him a bicycle and personally superintended its descent into the hold, giving special instruc tions as to its stowage. Later on, at sea, the ship's officers requested the production of his ticket. '•' I've got no ticket," he said, " and no money, but I'm going up to "Wellington." lie reached Wellington—^also , the Magistrate's Court, where he was given the choice of paying 20s or undergoing . a week's imprisonment. It frequently happens that steamboat captains, rather than go the trouble of prosecuting, allow persons who act in this way to travel free. Many of them know it, and act accordingly.
