LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLI, Issue 9383, 3 December 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The following isl the river- report to-' day:—B&ngitata, Opihi, and Ashbuj;ton, clear; Waitaki and Rakaia dirty. .•■ •:••.

The "pushfuFness" of the engine" at, Rakaia has on one or two occasions taken it clean through the corrugated iron door of the goods shed. To check this enterprising tendency, a couple of heavy battens were being fixed across the door on Wednesday. ■ .

Fishing at the mouth of the Ashburton River last night, Mr.>.*Wv./Page landed a. nice trout scaling ,just over 101b. _The fish was a trifle'long for the weight, otherwise 1 he was a good specimen. . Mr Page also landed some smaller fry averaging about 31b. ,

At the ' Christ'chiirch : Magistrate's Court yesterday, in the case P. and D. Duncaii, Ltd. (Mr'T. H. Williams), implement makers, v. Arthur L. Zouch, Ashburton (Mr R. Twynehani), claim £5 2s, for replacing a broken shaft in a motor-car, judgment was given for plaintiffs for the amount claimed, with costs.

The sale of work held yesterday in the Salvation Army Barracks in aid of the building fund for the Young People's Hall.was a great success, all the stalls being completely sold out. The sum of about £40 was raised^ In, the evening musical items were gTvefi, and the opportunity was taken totencjer.gja welcome to . Mrs oWyatt'-anti faijiily,,.,. : who have this week' joined Commandant" Wyatt in Ashburton. '■■ ; ■ :■"■'■ ■•■■ ■: "'! :'v.-. «;■■ t ia.

The rainfall at.. Methven/'..icjuring November „was: 2.24 ; •,anfihes^, according to the. recordrikept at' RuftsTOrie^y^Mr (JamesjCarr.Tlie rainfall for the first lljfmonthaiofwrithe v yeai-,hks^now, fallen, behindiv that. foc f f,-th'§.-; ipofifesponding periqct last year, feing",3s.4J).'inches, as against .37.01 finches last "year. . The heaviest fall,, was 43, points, recorded on .'• R^in fell on 10 days. The, prevailing ,yind in the Mqunt Hutt district during' the mpnth • wag 'Kiior'west,j i7 which was recoj^ecl; 'qn"W minings, /s^^westygnd'jeasiJ; winds prevail-' ing^ri^ix mornrngs eaclU TheTiighest barometric i; reading was !30.12 inches, on the- 26m,^Vand the lowest 29.18 inches, on','the 2nd. The lowest minimum was 25 degrees, on the 12th, the equivalent of a severe frost.

Even the representative of the King is not immune from the inconveniences and disappointments entailed by the house shortage (says the Christchurch "Press")-. On the occasion of the recent civic reception to the GovernorGeneral, Lord Jellicoe, he stated that he hoped to make a prolonged stay in Christchurch, but the following letter from Captain R. W. Curtis, private secretary to his Excellency, read at the meeting of the. Navy League last night, shows that Christchurch cannot | at present have the honour of having the Governor-General resident in the city:—" In reply to your letter of November 19, I have to inform you that their Excellencies had intended to go into, residence at Cliristchurch,' but that, owing to its being impossible to procure a suitable house, they are now unable to do so, and I am 'unable to say when they are likely to be in residence there. His Excellency will iegret being unable to receive the kind welcome of the Canterbury branch of the Navy League, but will hope for a later opportunity." .

A Stitch in Time.—Several of the leading business firms in this district whose cars have to stand up to hard work make a practice of having them overhauled regularly at G. H. Carson's motor service station. They find that by this methodical examination any defects in the mechanism are detected in time, and thut, prevent expensive delays on the road. The busy season is approaching, and Mr Carson .has added more up-to-date machinery to his plant to cope with rush ; orders. His mechanics are all capable men whr nave had half a lifetime's experience n,t their trade. Motorists are . invited to call and inspect this up-to-date ser vice station, where careful workman r-;hip. prompt service, and esivilitv ny found

At the poll held yesterday to elect a member to sit on the Canterbury Land Board, Mr D. StowelL of Timaru^ defeated Mr W. Oakley, of Ashburton, with a majority of 570 votes. Out of the total votes recorded,' ,Mr StoweU secured .743, Mr Oakley 173, the inrformal votes numbering 18.

'At Christchuroh torday William Fred Hallaway, a fireman on the railway, was sentenced to one month's imprisonment for the theft of a case of benzine, the property of the Railway Department.—Pres^ Association.

Applications are,., still, being • made- to the • Ashburton, Patriotic, Society by returned soldiers, for. . financial assistance. Applications from permanently disabled men are the most numerous, but gr.ants for furniture and clothing are also sought. s . .

' Tile following isl, the weather forecast to-day .-—-The indications are for westly winds, moderate,.to strong prevailing: The weather will-probably prove squally and changeable. The barometer has a rising tendency, but faffing after about 24 hours...

During the past two months the Asthburton County has been very free from infectious disease, with the exception of measles and mumps. At the present timel the isolation wardsl at the County hospital are empty, with the exception of two, cases/ of tuberculosis and one case of. measles.

A Christehurch telegram says that Bernard Francis Darby, trading as Wallace and Company, in the Magistrate's Court to-day, was fined £25 and costs 1 for selliiig to, R. E. Alexander, IMrector of the Agricultural College, Lincoln, half a'gallon of Borol, a patent medicine, for 455. The evidence showed that the wholesale price paid by the defendant, was 255.;

The fii'st picnic on a large scale since pre-war days, will be held in the Domain on January 22, the Christchurch grocers having decided to hold their annual excursion at Ashburton this year. Last January similar ao> ,rang©ments. were made, but owing to inclement we?.th'er. conditions; the. ex,cursicMiists • were. ..compslled to cancel .the;.outing. „.„,,. .... .—-

„' ;I "ii could not/say, ; your Worship. All .I'!,fcimv is i that 1' followed the Gover- ■ npr rt G,eneral?a -car. ,all ;/fJije! way from; the f racecours6^\.:'s^.efl''a".de|en^nt,-jniotorv: ist at the Hiitt Court, wheri!; asked "at whak.sneed he had been travelling. Defendant explained that his motor-cycle did not pQsse^s^a,, speedometer, and he 1 was not'HaJwiire xh'at' he w ; as travelling?.l] at ; 27 miles, an,,hour.,, , Tlie Bench im>'po's'ed.si fine 'of * i£lVhd J'.'costs' 19s 6dl.' •■■]

; A\Chris3bohurch message! says that A. $~:.',.^hitta,, Jt .who was/ yesterday con.yicted ',of a', cqmmciif . gaming 'house, ahci Sentenced.to. three months' ■ imprisonment,/ was released on bail^ pending an appeal to the Supreme Court, that the Magistrate's decision was against the facts of the evidence submitted. v The appeal will be heard during the next sitting of the Supreme Court, at Christchurch, to commence on Monday, February 7. The bail was fixed at self in £75, and two sureties of £37 10s each. ;

The Matriculation and University Scholarship examinations are at present being- held in-the St. Andrew's Church classrooms, the Rev. G. Miller supervising. " ' The number of candidates., this year is 29, of these 25 being candidates for Matriculation. New regulatiolis tending, to stiffen the test in this latter examination "appear at irregular'intervals, and this year three papers of two hours, each are being set in mathematics instead of two papers as in previous years

A suggestion that the Court be cleared was made by Mr G-. H. Buchanan, counsel, for the defendant, when an affiliation case was coming on for hearing this morning; before Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M. The Magistrate said he did not agree with counsel. He did not believe in clearing the Court except in very exceptional circumstances. The light of publicity on these cases might contribute to fewer of them being brought before the Court. - •-t , x i.

The improvements to, the "swimming pool in ,the Domain will be- contaenced by the workmen to-morrow, j The • mud and debris from the. .bottomf'of 'the. pool will be.,cleaa-ed, andf-a social staff of ca-rpenters will then. ; proceed to erect thet i wooden ,'.dam and protective' works round the,, sides of the baths. It is hoped .thai* the baths wiljll -bel ready' for the> r proposed opening of the Swimming, Club's season on Thursday nefctjjbut as it is desirable to fill and empty the baths *dnce before, th«i final fillings it may be another few days before,.the pool wifl. be ready for use. In conversation \yith, a "Guardian"' representative this morning, the Very Hey. Dean O'JDonnell remarked ! that there was no possibility of the proposed ! new Roman Catholic Church in Ashburton materialising for some time to come. Although the desirability for a new building was recognisedj the high price of timber and the scarcity of all other materials were obstacles * calculated to render hopeless any idea of an early start being made. Furthermore, he had noticed that a permit for building a new church on the Cashmere Hills had recently been refused, and progress with a much-needed church in the Papanui district had had to be suspended owing to lack of materials.

It is apparent that the lack of boarding accommodation in Auckland will be more severely felt during the coming holiday season thah ever before (telegraphs a correspondent). , The leading hotels and boarding-houses were fully booked up months ago, even beds in smoking-rooms and , commercial-rooms and, in fact, any makeshift being .eagerly accepted.. In spite of the fact^ that hotels have for so long been de-* clining applications, requests continue to be received, and there appears to be no end to the number of people who intend to visit Auckland during the holidays. One of the principal attractions is the Davis Cup lawn tennis contest, to witness which many enthusiasts are coming from Australia and -some from the United States. One result of the acute position that has been reached is the desire of intending visitors to secure houses or flats from Aucklanders who are going away for their holidays. It is reported that many residences have been let for the Christmas season.

Solving the "What shall I give for Christmas problem?" is always a worry. Here's a'suggestion. A dozen photographs from Bunz Studio. They will please immensely. Quite economical, and yet they still remain the one riift that your friends cannot buy. It is better to make an appointment—it raves time both ways. 'Phcawj Studio Burnett Street, llx