METHVEN.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8407, 8 November 1912, Page 7

METHVEN.

Police and Court.

-IA. Burnham boy, who escaped from the. school some three months a^o was arrested at Methven by I Senior-Con-stable Moore a few days ago. At the time of his arrest the youth was working for a contractor at a place 1 about ten miles from Methven. He was sent back to Burnham.

The Courthouse for Methven has been completed, and in future justice will ibe administered from the recent construction. / It is anticipated that the next Court day at Methven will be only a short one. So far the business comprises an adjourned case, a promissory note claim for £90, three judgment summonses, and a charge brought by the Inspector of Weights and Measures.

Telephone Extension. The arrival of a gang to construct telephone wires from Methven to Springfield, Estate (on the party system) and also to C'airnbrae is expected j at any date. The Springfield subscribers number about six, while there are three at Cairnbrae. An attempt is also being made to.have- the 'phone further extended towards the Rakaia River, if suitable arrangements can be made. ;. !

Mount Hutt County Bill. According to some Methyenites the Mount Hutt County Bill is/ still very much alive. The old arguments are being trotted out once more, while an additional one is being put forward in connection with the prospective bridgebuilding programme of the Alshburton County Council. Residents in the township pertinently observe that, though all the new bridges talked of will not benefit; the Mount Hutt district, the ratepayers of the riding will still have to find one-fifth of the necessary funds, apart from any Government grant that may be secured. : .

, Small Birds. •The people of the district are at present feeling the depredations of the small birds. In the recollection of the oldest inhabitants they, have never been so numerous, and this increase is accounted for by the reduction in the price per hoad offered. Those . who were late in sowing siiffered, the most, and more poisoned grain "has gone out during the last fortnight of sowing operations than had been asked for during the whole season.

Though the thrush and the blackbird are considered harmless, there is a great otitcry by fruitgrowers against the; harm that they do. One orchardist in Methven, who has a fine lot of black, yellow and white currant trees, has had the whole of his prospective yield stolen by thrushes, which birds, it seems, multiply marvellously.. Another grower,, who was possessed of a fine lot of cherry trees, cut the whole lot down simply because not a single cherry was to be saved, on accountof the liking , of blackbirds' for that particular kind of fruit.

Methven A. and P. Association. At the last meeting of the Methven A. and P. Association a prize-list was arranged, and a meeting is shortly to be held to confirm it. There is a delightful enthusiasm as regards the committee and sub-committees of the Association, and all the members appear to be striving to make the forthcoming show even, a'.greaier success than the 1 last one. Mr Alex. Orr (the president) has donated five guineas for the best collection of farm produce, and twenty guineas towards the funds of the Association.

Some amusing stories of his experiences in the Australian back-blocks were related by Bishop Long, at a meeting of the Bush Brotherhood in Sydney recently. On N one journey he met a woman who had been waiting ten years to have her children baptised. She was a Roman Catholic, and her husband a Primitive Methodist, so they had agreed to have the children baptised according to the rites of the English Church, byway of a compromise. In one village, devoid even of the usually inevitable "pub," an impromptu service in a billiard-room held representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Church of England, Presbyterians, Methodists, a Salvationist, and a Lutheran. When, after much difficulty, they agreed that they could all sing "Abide with Me," a' painful effect was produced by the Methodists singing it to one tune, the Salvationist to a second, and the Bishop and the rest of the congregation to a third. "However," the Bishop triumphantly remarked, " I think the Church of England fairly came out on top." The municipal elections for London and County Councils will take place in November. 'There: will be 877 LabourSocialist candidates. Considerable importance is attached to the elections, as they will give an indication of the way in which the electors will probably receive the next Parliamentary programme of the Labour party. The municipal programme of the Labour condidates provides for the substitution of an income tax and death duties for the present system of rating on rental values, the ear-marking of land taxes for municipal purposes, and the supplying of break, milk, and coal by the municipality.