LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 260, 16 August 1930, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There was a large attendance of local bachelors at a meeting held in the Chertsey Library to make arrangements for a bachelors' ball. Messrs U. McSweeney and T. Flynn were elected joint secretaries. It was decided to hold it at the beginning of September, and that all benedicts and spinsters should be admitted free.

A method of raising finances has recently been brought to light in a northern, town which shows some ingenuity on the part of the promoter of the scheme. Briefly it is to advertise for tenders for the erection of a dwelling, plans and specifications tor which are left at an appointed place. Each tender is to be accompanied with a deposit of £2O. If a tender is received the cheque is lifted and cashed through some accommodating tradesman and nothing more is heard- of the contract for the dwellinghouse.

A Dunedin relief distributor who has been, and is y€t in the thick of the unemployment trouble says that manv of the really poor people hide their misery as well as thev can, and when found accent aid shrinkmgly, as though it hurt their pride. It is quite touching (says the "Evening Star ) to find a recipient coming along now and again to intimate, with the accompaniment of a smile, that "We are all right now, thank von. and _ can manage for ourselves." The spirit of independence is certainly not dying out.

The gallant action of three Boy Scouts, Corstorphine, Crosby arid Cowan, of the Mangapapa Troop, Gisborne, was referred to at a meeting of the Dominion Executive Committee of the Bov Scout Association on Thursdav evening, and it was decided to bring their names before the Chief Scout for an award in recognition of their fine work. The case was one in which three Scouts saved two Wolt Cubs from drowning in the \\aikohu River on Decern her 31 last At tiie soot where the rescue was effected the river is over 30 feet wide and eight feet deep, with a rapid current. After the Cubs bad been rescued from the river, artificial resniration was used to restore them. Fo'rtunatelv the three rescuing Scouts were holders of the Scout Ambulance Badge.

The Ashburton Rugby Union's junior representative team left for Timaru this morning to play its annual match against South Canterbury.

A meeting of the Chertsey School Committee was held on Thursday evening, when Mr R. W. Croy was in the chair. The following were present: — Messrs Mason. Symister, J. Doig and W. Cain. Final arrangements were made for the children's fancy dress ball on Tuesday evening next.

In the Legislative Council the Hon. G. J. Garland (Auckland) asked if the Government would favourably consider commencing summertime on the second Sunday in September, instead of October. The Leader of the Council (Sir Thomas Sidey) said that extensions to summertime were being considered. Personally, he was in favour of an extension of one month at both ends.

"There are too many boys wanting to become solicitors and business men, beyond the number the country can carry," said Mr Cavell at a meeting of the Wanganui Technical College Board of Governors the other evening. There were means wanted, he said, by which the boys would be interested iii farming so that they would take up land.

At the annual meeting of the Kai Twi Co-operative Dairy Company (Wanganui) the balance sheet showed that the pay-out on butter-fat for the year was Is 4d a pound. This amount was only .57d higher than the lowest price paid out by the company since 1926. In that year the amount was Is 3.43 d a pound. In 1928 the amount was Is B£d a pound.

A Palmerston North telegram states that the second annual conference of the New Zealand Dairy Science Association has been concluded, following a three days' session. Various matters were discussed, papers of a technical nature being read. Reference was made to the death of Mr F. T. Leighton, formerly assistant chemist to the Department of Agriculture (a member of the Association). Tributes were paid to his high scientific standing.

"It is going to be a. remarkably early season for narcissi," said a Wanganui bulb fancier the other day as he trimmed up the edges of a plot which contained the greater part of 10,000 bulbs. Pointing out the exceptional growth that was evident at the nresent stage of their growth, the enthusiast stated that the daffodils would be too early for any late September shows, and expressed the opinion that the displays during the first two weeks of next month would find this favourite spring flower at its best.

While playing on the sandhills near Lower Point, Lyall Bay, the other afternoon, some children found a skull buried in the sand. The parents of one of the children made a search of tiie spot later and found some more bones. The Miramar and Lyall Bay police were communicated with, and they brought to light, an almost complete skeleton of a male. The skeleton was found about a foot below the surface, and appears to have been there for many years.

With cold weather and lack of rain combined, Hawke's Bay is passing through a very trying time, according to a. King Country grazier who returned last week from a visit in search of stock. "The whole country is dry and burnt up," he said. "Too much dry. feed is having a bad effect on sheep and cattle, and many that I saw were in poor condition 1 . The outlook for lambing is not good. Sheep are freely offered, but there are no buyers. Prices for store cattle were attractive, but I did not buy because I could not get any guarantee of quick transit from the Railway Department and I was afraid that otherwise a number of the beasts would die on the journey."

"It is a criminal thing to go and plough up a paddock and grow root crops now that such results can be obtained with top-dressing," said Mr T. Davis (Waverley), addressing the executive of the Wanganui and Main Trunk Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs. He suggested that soon the Government might lie issuing permits for the growing of root crops. When Mr J. Rryden Hogg spoke he tendered the opinion that those who neglected the growing of root crops would be sorry some day. Mr Aiken (Waverley) said he had not grown root crops for some seven or eight years. He had 60 cows and 700 sheep on 200 acres, and had not been short of feed.

At a recent meeting of the Wanganui Agricultural Association the secretary said that, following a promise, Sir Charles Fergusson had sent out a handsome shield for competition amongst Maori tribes for arts and. crafts. Somehow the tribes had mot heen able to pull together, and the shield was held at Putiki. It had been offered to two tribes up the river, but they would have nothing to do with it. Palmerston North had been "chasing it" for two months, and the Wellington Winter Show had also been seeking it. But the Wanganui body had been offered the first opinion. It was decided that the shield should be secured for Wanganui.

It seems incredible that a road in the borough of New Plymouth, in fact, within 10 minutes of the post office, should be in such a state that it is a fairly common thing for motor cars to get bogged there. Norman Street, Vcgeltown, has this distinction ('says the "Taranaki Herald"). Until about four months ago the road was a mass of pot-holes. „ However, the city fathers decreed that it should be put in a "good state of repair." The work was'accordingly done. Unfortunately it seems that far too much clay was used in blinding. Now, after heavy rains, the. sides of the road become a quagmire, no culverts having been laid down to carry the water away. If a motorist once gets off the road into the clay, then assistance is required before he is able to get his car out of the mud. Norman Street is a popular residential area, and it is no credit to the New Plymouth Borough Council that such a state of affairs is allowed to exist.

"When a man repeats an offence such as being drunk in charge of a car, especially when his second conviction is not long after his first, he should he kept off the road for a very long time, if not for life," said Dr. S. Brown when, at the meeting of the Southland Motor Association,, he drew attention to a case reported from Palmerston North in which, for a second offence, a jnan had had his driver's license cancelled for only six months iii addition to a small monetary penalty. The amount of the fine, remarked Dr. Brown, did not greatly matter so far as the rest of the motoring community was concerned, but, in the interests of safety, he thought that it should; be made more difficult for a driver convicted of drunkenness to take a car on the road again and become a potential menace. It was decided to forward a resolution to the South Island Motor Uniion. nrotestin«; against light penalties in the case of second offences for drunkenness while driving.

Through the engine back-firing, a motor deliverv van, owned bv Messrs J. and J. Sutherland, bakers, of Ashburton, and driven by Mr P. Thomson, was badly damaged by fire in Princes Street last evening. Ihe Van was - insured.

How a summons was nailed to a man's front door was related at the Blenheim Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning in a case in which a man was sued for outstanding rates by the Blenheim Borough Council. Being unable to effect the service of the summons in the usual way, as the whereabouts of the defendant could not be ascertained, the borough officials nailed a copy of the document to the front door of his residence, and also published a copy as an advertisement in the "Marlborough Express. His Worship accepted this form of service and gave judgment for the borough by default for the amount claimed.