LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8820, 17 March 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

ro-day is St. Patrick's day. . . The only outward observance of the occasion in..Ashburton is tlxat the banks are closed and the post office flag is flyrag. '■The airibulance collection in Timaru on Saturday amounted to £230, against £193 for last year. The country collections -are a fortnight later. . Several of the threshing mills operating in tho Ashburton County have temporarily pulled in on account of not being able to thresh because of sweatmg stacks. ■ . Our travelling reporter wires from Melhven that a petition was to-day forwarded to ■ the Government, from Hakaia residents, protesting against the proposal to form a Town Board at Rakaia. The local corps of'the St. John Ambulance Association propose-to hold an "Ambulance Saturday" on April 4, when sympathisers with the movement will be invited to contribute something towards the funds for carryng on the good work. ' • A Press Association telegram from Rotorua states that a foreigner who •arrived in the Dominion only at New Year, and who pleaded ignorance of the law, was convicted and. discharged for having supplied a Maori with liquor off licensed' premises. The Maori, who persuaded him to purchase the liquor j was, however, fined £25. Two writs have been issued (says, a Christchurch, Press Association'telegrain) by tho Customs - Department against Barlow ' Brothers, merchants, claiming duty alleged not to have;bean paid owing to the action of an employee alleged to be concerned in the Customs frauds. The employee has fled, but the Department holds tho firm liable for the amount. Surprise has been expressed that the recent conference of the W.C.T.U., at Gisborne, did not deal with the sub-' ject of offences by men against children ; b^t a detailed, report of the proceedings of the Conference shows that the following resolution • was passed with reference to this subject:—" Men convicted of sexual offences against children of under age should be detained for life, or be compelled, to | undergolJthe minor, surgical opera- j tion." It is stated that certain farmers hold to the belief that to feed off wheat jn its early growth is a bad thing for the crop subsequently. A " Guardian "" reporter was told this afternoon ' that two farmers in the Ashburton' County, working together, arranged to feed off a part of a crop of solid straw Tuscan I wheat. When it came to threshing, it was found that the part of the crop that, had been eaten off when young yielded 10 bushels per acre more than j the part that had not been eaten off. There was, moreover, not so much ■straw,, and the grain was better arid bigger, ■ . / The Chrisfcciiurch City Council recently accepted the invitation of the Timaru Borough Council to pay a civic visit to the southern seaside town. The visit eventuated to-day, and this .morn-. !ing the majority of the members of the i Christchurch bo.dy, including the Mayor (Mr H;'Holland); accompanied by a goodly number of citizens of the Cathedral City,, journeyed by special train southwards. They passed through Ashburton shortly after 10 o'clock. Today was the second occasion on which the City .Council has visited Timaru, the latter Council having paid one visit to Christchurch. A committee of ladies (Mesdames W. J. Dickie; E. C. W. Powell, E. Pawson, W. H.- Pearce, Ward, Anderson, and Glover), is trying to form a branch of the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children in Methven. If £12 per annum can be collected tlie district will be able to have the benefit of a visit from a Plunket nurse each ■> Thursday, and mothers will be able to consult her in the' township without charge. The committee will be glad of subscriptions to the fund. Among the letters received by the local Labour Department from intending immigrants is one from a Yorkshireman, who should prove a valued citizen. In outlining his qualifications for farm work he states that he has had long experience of farming and for six years had been a farm bailiff. Any work connected with the breeding, rearing arid feeding of stock was familiar to him. In addition to all this he had had six months on a farm in Canada and was able to do bush .work! The' intending immigrant is a married man, his wife being "a farmer's daughter _ and well trained in the duties which fall to • the work of x a farmer's wife. He has three children. —" Lyttelton Times."- ---; A Dunedin Press Association message states that when the Rev. Mr Jamieson's action against Chalmers Church was before the Supreme Court last month, counsel for the defence raised the question as to whether the Attor-ney-General and the trustees of the -Foreign .Missions Board should not have been""joined as parties 'to the transaction.. In an 'interim judgment this morning Mr.Justice Sim Held that where an action was brought to remedy any abuse or misapplication of charitable funds, the Attorney-General is the proper plaintiff, and the present suit would not be, allowed io proceed until he had been added as a party. It would be sufficient if the AttorneyGeneral was added as a defendant. There is no doubt when a. genuine opportunity is given the musical public to acquire good instruments at prices much below the usual, they do take advantage of ■it to the utmost. This has been abundantly evidenced by the extraordinary success of the Dresden Piano Company's removal sale now going on at their- premises, East Street. The really great reductions have been made on a scale which must appeal to the players (present or prospective) of every class and kind of instrument— pianos, organs, brass, reed, banjos,:mandolines, etc. Gramophones m many designs have received special attention, and the extraordinary low prices are very tempting indeed for those who are providently looking forward to the long evenings just ahead. The parcels of selected music—£l worth for half-a-crown—are also moving off quickly. As the sale will terminate in a few days, prospective purchasers should not delay. , 2 283 The old believe everything; the mid-dlo-aged 'suspect everything-; the .youngknow everything. '