LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 141, 26 March 1928, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A case of diphtheria from Barrhill was the only case of infectious disease notified to the County Health Inspector last week.

The rugged road which newspaper founders have to tread was exemplified on Saturday, when the Whangarei morning paper, which made its debut about fifteen months ago, ceased publication, states a. Whangarei Press Association message.

Harvest thanksgiving services were held at the Lagmhor iPresbvterian Church yesterday afternoon, a large congregation being present. The Rev. W. Marshall conducted the service, his address being taken from the text, “The harvest truly is great.” The Church was tastefully decorated with cereals and flowers, and a large collection of fruit and cereals will be forwarded to the orphanage. The harvest thanks offering was a record.

Driver’s licenses issued by the County Inspector (Mr E. N. Johnson) for the new motoring year which commences next Sunday, totalled 578 up till Saturday.

A series of thefts has been reported from the East Ashburton district. A storekeeper had a sack of potatoes removed from his premises, while other residents report the loss of poultry and fruit. One or two such losses yyere reported earlier in the year, but during the last fortnight the depredations have become numerous.

A Greymouth message states that an earthquake occurred tiiere shortly before 9.15 a.m. yesterday. The tremors at first were slight, but a greater shock followed, objects in houses vibrating for several seconds. The direction appeared to be north-west to south-east. A smart shock was also experienced at Hokitika, lasting several seconds.

Anglers met with poor results, generally, over , the week-end. The ltangitata and Rakaia Rivers were both d'irtv, and little results were obtained from them. A few trout were caught up stream in the Ashburton. The latter is still clear, but the ltangitata is ’dirty and the Rakaia unfishable, according to reports received by the secretary of the Acclimatisation Society (Mr J. B. Nicoll), to-day.

Successful harvest thanksgiving giving services were conducted at the Salvation Army Hall -yesterday, by Major Haines (manager of the Industrial Home, Christchurch) and Mrs Haines, assisted by Major and Mrs Barnes, of Christchurch. The attendances at all the services were very good. A concert will be held in the Hall this evening, after which the fruit and produce contributed to the thanksgiving services will bo sold.

The Rev. A. G. Irvine, at the morning service at St. Andrew’s (Presbyterian) Church, yesterday, feelingly referred to the death of two of the oldest members of the congregation, Mrs J. Funge and Mr John Crysell. Mrs Funge had been an invalid for some years. Her husband, the late Mr Funge, had been the contractor for the brick-work in the erection of St. Andrew’s Church.

A Press Association message from New Plymouth states that the first serious rain in North Taranaki, for about three months fell during the week-end. It was extremely welcome in the town and countryside. Bush fires which had been burning in various parts of the district have been extinguished. Rain following a dry spell lasting for months has fallen generally on West Coast at intervals during the last two or three days, and has done good to pastures.

There was a large attendance at the final. session of the Hampstead War Memorial Committee’s All Nations Fair on Saturday night. The committee’s object was to liquidate the debt of £2OO on the War Memorial. Sideshows drew a good deal of attention and there was a busy scene in the vicinity of the various “national” stalls, where most of the goods were disposed of. The takings for the four sessions amounted to about £l5O, out, of which there wijl have to be taken about £2(3 for expenses.

A peculiar pomological specimen was discovered by Mr H. W. Thompson, of Otoko, near Gisborne, in his orchard a few days ago. It is a half Delicious and half Scarlet Permain apple, apparently due to cross fertilisation. It was grown on a Delicious tree on a small branch hanging by itself and not shaded in any way. The Permains_ are situated 100 yards from the Delicious trees, with four or five different varieties in between. One half of the apple is deep red, and the other half of the Delicious, variegated colouring, the demarcation being vei;y distinct.

The First Company of the Ashburton Girl Guides, numbering about 30, under Acting-Captain Hillier and Lieutenant Cambridge, held a church parade yesterday, when they attended the morning service at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. This was the first time that the Guides paraded as a separate unit, their, previous attendance at St. Stephen’s being on the occasion of the unveiling of the War Memorial. The relieving vicar, the Rev. F. B. Allen, before commencing his address, welcomed them. He drew attention to the principles underlying the movement, and urged them to endeavour to practise these principles in their daily activities.

A Hawke’s Bay farmer tells a story of the maternal instinct and sagacity of his sheep dog in regard to the care of seven puppies, who were born in a hole dug under a heap of logs at the bottom of a paddock some distance from the farm buildings. All went well until the country was deluged by rain. On the following morning the farmer was surprised to find that during the night the dog had transported all her family safer ly across the paddock to the nearest building, a cowshed. That this removal of the litter was done at the height of the storm at night was shown by the mud-splashed condition of the pups, which must have been carried one by one to a shelter which the mother knew would, be high and dry.

When the Wair.au River Board decided to purchase a small mob of young cattle to release on the Waiyau riverbed to eat down willow growth it anticipated that, provided the animals were not washed out to sea by a s'dden flood, a profit would be made when ‘■hey were sold as “fats.” This anticipation has been quite handsomely realised, the investment having yielded a profit of over £22. The secretary stated that the cattle cost £74 in the first place, and expenses during the period they had been in the Board's possession were £l3 18s 4d, making a total outlay of £B7 18s 4d. The stock had just been sold for £llO 5s 3d. leaving a clear profit of £22 6s lid, with one' animal still unsold.

The attitude of the Government toward the employment in the public service of men who had undergone a term of imprisonment was condemned by Mr L. Salek (registrar of the Federation of New Zealand Justices’ Associations) in the course of remarks made at the annual conference of the federation at Auckland. The speaker said he knew of a case where a young man who had served a term of imprisonment succeeded in getting a iob as a labourer in a Government workshop, only to be dismissed in a few weeks’ time when his -ecord was discovered. “One can understand the Government exercising caution in the matter of whom they emnlov in responsible positions,” he said, “but by refusing to emplov men on manual work for such a reason is in direct opposition to the efforts of those who, wish to see discharged prisoners 'riven every opportunity to rehabilitate themselves.”

About 120 Cadets of “A” Company (Ashburton High School) 6th Cadet Battalion, Canterbury Regiment, went into barracks at the High School this afternoon for a five-day course of military drill (including physical training, infantry, and musketry courses). The officer in command is Lieutenant R. McGregor, assisted by Lieutenants P. Seyb and E. Wood.

At the Dunedin Police Court to-day Hugh Wilson, a factory manager, pleaded guilty to the theft of £ll, the property of Hallenstein Bros. The police stated that accused sold a number of suits and failed to account for the money. He was admitted to probation for twelve months, says a Press Association message.