LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 80, 14 January 1928, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A case of scarlet fever was notified to the Borough Health Inspector (Mr J. a. Richardson) yesterday afternoon.

A Timaru telegram states that Mr R. E. Aubin, son of Dr. Aubm, of Auckland, climbed Mount Cook on Thursday with Guide Jack Pope. The weather conditions were perfect and the climb was made in the excellent time of 1H hours.

In accordance with its custom, the Acclimatisation Society has arranged to have reliable reports of the condition of the Rakaia, Rangitata and Ash burton rivers remitted to Ashburtoji weekly from February 1, the opening date of the quinnat salmon fishing season.

A Hastings telegram says that the the break in the town water supply was acetoned and the position retrieved, but rigid economy of water is necessary The new oipe will.be ready in a couple of days and in the meantime numping is going on satisfactorilyHouseholders suffered no inconvenience as domestic supplies were maintained.

At Wellington yesterday two returned soldiers were each fined £1 for failure to observe all the regulations in regard to firearms. They failed to notify a change of address while having the permission of the Minister for Defence to hold unlawful weapons, i.e., war souvenirs in the form of automatic pistols.

In appreciation of the services given to the public by the nurses of the County Hospital, the Fairfield Freezing Works Picnic Committee, in accordance with its custom, has forwarded to the chairman of the Hospital Board six railway passes and six luncheon tickets for the use of nurses on the occasion of the committee's annual picnic to Timaru on February 18.

Following a short meeting in Wellington on January 21 the Main Highways Board will make an extensive tour of South Island roads. It will commence its ofticial business at Waimate on January 23 and will afterwards go as far south as Invercargill (says a Wellington telegram). On Monday, January 30, the itinerary covers Timaru, Geraldine, Ashburton and Christchurch, which will be reached in the evening. The following day will be. devoted to business with Uaiiterbury local bodies When the Board is in Dunedm it will have a general discussion with public bodies' representatives on the distribution of the petrol tax and reconstruction of important main highways near that eity.

Strange companions fraternise in the lonely stretc'ies of the Far North. At Opua, the picturesque little bay across from historic Russell, lack of other associations has thrown together two unusual friends. A donkey, which was turned out and abandoned on the ' long acre" by a circus party, wanders dailjr tn close company with a half-grown sheep, which has found company in this friendship ever since it was a tiny lamb, and nothing can break the alliance. The youth of the township ride this bucking veteran of the sawdust ring, aijd the village dogs disturb the tranquil meanderings of its fleecy friend, but every morning without fail the two turn up together and make their presence known to travellers who bestow upon them titbits from the holiday hamper.

"It is so far satisfactory that the margin of advances Th excess of deposits shows a reduction of roughly £3,000.000," said Mr G. W. Mcintosh, of Wellington, chairman of the Associated B%nks, when reviewing the financial position of the country as revealed by the bank returns for the past quarter. "It is essential to the welfare of the community, however, that the whole of the- remaining excess of £4,000,000 should disappear, and it is well for the public to know that this can be largely helped by depositors placing their money with the trading banks, and so making it available in commercial and producing channels. The position still requires to be viewed cautiously."

A strange animal, strongly resembling a polecat, was killed by a terrier the other morning m a suburban garden in Auckland. The animal was attacked in a privet hedge and was dead before Mr T. Robinson, the occupier of the house, could reach the spot. Too* large for a ferret, the mysterious marauder had thick brown fur, almost cinnamon on top, and dark brown at the sides. The head was short and pointed, not so flat and diamond-shaped at that of a ferret, and the tail was bushy. The legs were short and the feet furnished with claws. Apparently (says "The New Zealand Herald") the supposed polecat met his violent end soon after arriving in the district, for local poultry runs were undisturbed and the polecat is a notoriously savage and wanton killer.

A striking example of the way in which members of the farming community flock to the assistance of one of their number who happens to be in trouble was given at Meanee, Hawke's Bay, the other day, when a haystack became ignited, seriously endangering the owner's house, and five other stacks surrounding it. Within a short time after the outbreak was discovered, many farmers and workers from surrounding properties had assembled and were fighting the flames. The fact that the house and the other stacks were saved was greatly due to the bright idea of one farmer, who secured his tractor. Having brought the machine to the spot, the fire-fighters placed a chain round the blazing stack, connected it with the tractor, and let in the clutch. After many efforts half of the burning mass was removed to a safer ouarter and another like procedure succeeded in placing the fire at a safe distance from the danger tfone.

"I am more convinced . than ever that we should have a South Island Main Highways Board, because our conditions are altogether different from those in the North Island, and our roads do not require such hea.vy expenditure as those in the North," said Mr J. A. Flesher, who has just returned from a tour of the North Island, in an interview yesterday. Mr Flesher paid a tribute to the Main Highway Board in respect of the work that he assumed was done under its subsidv system, by which deviations that saved distance, "and better grades had been made. As to the Board's intention to devote the extra taxation raised by means of the petrol tax to the _ improvement of secondary, or subsidiary, roads Mr Flesher remarked that the motorists who found the bulk of this extra money did not use the these subsidiary roads. "The whole scheme is to relieve the ratepavers in the counties," he added, "and the North Island counties wiH receive the largest share of such relief!"

Farmers in Ashburton yesterday complained of extreme difficulty in obtaining ploughmen. Most of the men in search of employment prefer to await harvesting.

On account of inclement weather the swimming carnival to have been held by the East Ashburton Swimming Club in the Hampstead Ba'ths this evening has been postponed until Tuesday evening.

After two days of bright sunshine, a light drizzle set in at Methven last evening' and this morning the sky was dull and overcast. The bowling match with Rakaia has been postponed and will be played some evening m the near future.

The continued unsettled weather has mad ite influence felt insofar as the Methven railway returns are concerned. For the period ended January 7 the outwards traffic showed a drop over the corresponding period of last year. In sheep traffic 9690 sheep were consigned' as against 11,290 last year, a difference of 1600, while the wool traffic showed a drop of 336 bales from the beginning of the season. This class of traffic is entirely dependent on weather conditions, both lamb fattening and shearing having been considerably delayed by the unusually broken weather. The general inwards traffic to. Methven showed a slight increase.