If the material proves to be ambergris, the finder should be enriched to the extent of several thousand pounds sterling.
The discoverer is said to be a Mr Smith, who is now being trained in one of the military camps.
There is some uncertainty about the nature of the find.
Two experts in chemical analysis have been requested to make tests of the material, but the result of their analyses is not yet available.
In any case, chemical analysis need not prove finally whether a thing is or is not ambergris (according to one local authority).
One of the experts to whom the problem was referred said that he has an open mind on the subject.
He is prepared to be convinced that it is either ambergris, or that the luck of Mr Smith and his associates is not so good as they hope.
The stuff is rather new, and a decision may be made with greater ease and certainty after some little lapse of time.
However, an opinion which carried weight with one of the analysts is that of an old whaler.
The old man is reputed to have never made a mistake about ambergris, and he gives it as his unqualified opinion that it is the real thing - ambergris worth thousands.
■A lad not quite 16 years of age, came before Mr H. Y. Widdowson, S.M., in the Juvenile Court yesterday morning, charged with stealing, on December 15, two £1 notes, the property of Frederick Joseph O'Neill, his employer.
Chief Detective Bishop said that Mr O'Neill had come down in the morning and opened his safe.
He was called away and closed the safe, but did not lock it.
When he returned a few minutes later two £1 notes were missing.
The accused was one of several who might have taken them.
He subsequently admitted the offence to the detectives, and showed them where the remainder of the money was hidden.
He had spent 1s on cigarettes, 1d on matches, 6d on lollies, and repaid 1s to a friend, and the remainder (£1 17s 5d) had been recovered.
Mr O'Neill said he was willing to take the boy back if his father gave him a good thrashing.
The boy's explanation was that a mad fit had come on him all of a sudden and he had taken the money.
The father said he had never had any trouble with the boy, and he did not go out alone at night.
The father was ordered to pay the missing 2s 7d and to give the boy a good thrashing in the presence of Mr Axelsen.
A conviction was not recorded, and the boy was simply admonished and discharged.
■The scheme to secure 10,000 tins of jam for our troops is meeting with much success and many thanks are due to Miss Olive Turton for the suggestion and the valuable information which accompanied it.
Her family has sent jam to India and the East for the last 30 years, and it has never had a complaint about it not keeping.
The tins should be filled as full as possible, when the jam is boiling hot, left to cool, and then fastened down very tightly.
The orders for tins have come in so quickly that it is impossible to have the present demand satisfied before next week.
The committee will be very much obliged if those who are willing to make jam will let the members know exactly how many tins they require, so that a rush will be avoided at the beginning of February, when the stone fruits will be ready.
Although the scheme is only 10 days old, orders have been received for about 5000 tins, and this should give an indication of how necessary it is to order early, because it is impossible to supply them at a day's notice. - ODT, 17.12.1915
