LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 153, 10 April 1933, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A Wellington telegram stater, that the Associated Banks have decided to charge 21 per cent, for changing Australian notes. Charitable relief in the past month cost the Ashburton Hospital Board £SO G.s, according to a statement made at tiie hoard meeting to-day. Hearing her baby screaming, Mrs J. P. Nilsen, of High Street, Carterton, rushed into her bedroom to see a large rat spring from the child's cot and disappear. She found the rodent had bitten through the infant's hand, inflicting a painful and dangerous wound. Immediate medical attention was forthcoming, and the baby is recovering, says a Carterton message. The laving down of a permanent surface on 'Wills Street between Cass Street and the intersection With Victoria Street has been completed and a start was made .this morning of similar work on the street fronting the County Council offices, between Haveloek and Cameron Streets. In view of the fact that for si.me years past it has been stated by authorities that tuberculosis was on rna decrease and that the disease was rapioly coming under control, it came ns » surprise to members of the Ashburfcon Hospital Board this morning when Mr W. Bryant (the board's representative on the Waipiata Sanatorium. Committee) stated that it was apparent mat the disease was increasing and that preparations were being made l'i r .Die treatment of more patients next ye<\r than was the case this year. The. Ashburton quota had been placed at 26 beds. Admiration of the Germans as a race was expressed by Mr W. 11. Brugh, who has returned after a lengthy tcur of Europe, in an interview with an "Otago Daily Times" reporter. After referring to their friendly treatment of the visitor lie stated that he had been struck by the healthy and athletic appearance of both men and women. While one saw hundreds of thousands of women in England who made' liberal use of cosmetics, one might journey for a long time without .seeing a German woman who was "made up." The Germans practised all forms of physical culture with enthusiasm, and while he was in Dresden swimmers were so numerous that ho could scarcely see the river flowing through the city. The Town Clerk of Kumara (Mr G. Pamment) has received a letter- from Budapest, addressed as follows:—"To the Engineering Office of the City of Kumara, Kumara.. New Seeland." The letter stated that "a technical journal published in 1912 an article that they laid down pipes in the bed of the river 'Taramakan' for the gold-washing works there." Information was desired as to whether the pipes were still in use, and as to what experience and difficulties the authorities had had with the piping. The letter concluded: "With" best thanks, I beg to remain, yours truly, Spiegler Samu. Wo cannot send stamps. Please send your kind answer without stamps, to our expenses."

A fire broke out in the grass at the side of the main road between Dromore and Lnortsey yesterday afternoon and be lore ib was sujg>r#ssed by two farmers and the County Inspector it had destroyed fchr.ee or tour chains of County plantation. Stables on a farm nearby were endangered for a time. Suffering from shock as the result of a fall from her bicycle, Miss Edith Sumner, aged 17 years, a daughter of Mr F. Sumner, South Street, was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital on Saturday evening. Her condition tc-day was reported as satisfactory. A Wellington telegram states: Reports have been published that the government intends calling a conference of mayors of the principal cities and boroughs in Wellington next Wednesday to discuss unemployment plans for. the winter. There is no knowledge in official circles of such a conference, though inquiries have been made by mayors asking for details. No conference is being held, and it would be a most unsuitable time for one owing to the foot that the municipal election campaigns are in full swing. There was a large attendance at the Ashburton Salvation Army Hall last evening when, under the direction of Captain Thompson, the band; assisted by several vocalists, presented a scriptural song service entitled "Manger, Cross and Throne," which depicted scenes in the life of Christ under the following titles: Prophecy, birth, rejection,. Gethsemane, trial, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, throne of His glory." The service concluded with a rendition by the band of the Hallelujah Chorus. As the allocations for the relief workers in Ashburton have been very low oyer the past few weeks, and as next week is a stand-down week, the Ashburton County Council lias acceded to the request of Mr W. G. .Gallagher that the condition of many distressed fami ilies be alleviated to some has been agreed, therefore, that those relief workers wiio desire to do so may cut two cords of wood, in return for which the Council will deliver to their houses one cord of dry firewood sawn into four-feet lengths, if four cords are cut, two cords will be delivered. This applies to next week, which is a standdown week in Ashburton. Between 50 and 60 members of the St. Stephen's Anglican Girls' Bible Class were addressed by Miss Da vies (travelling secretary to the Anglican Bible Class Union) in Ashburton on Saturday evening. A rally for girls was conducted yesterday evening. About 90 attended 8 o'clock communion yesterday morning, and there were large congregations at all services. Special meetings were conducted before and after the evening service. Harvest festival services were held at Greenstroet at 2 p.m. and at Winchmore at 3 p.m. yesterday. The choir from St. Stephen's Church travelled to these services and Miss Flora Templeton sang a solo at each. The "Otago Daily Times" says: From the Roxburgh garden of Mr B. M. Jeffrey we have received a punnet of huckleberries. Common enough in North America and made familiar by Mark Twain in the literature youth, the low berry-bearing shruo is as yet a novelty in New Zealand gardens. It is an annual similar in growth to the tomato plant, and is prolific in the production of shiny black fruit, the size of the smaller varieties of grapes. Huckleberries are highly spoken of as a jam fruit, being, in the opinion of many, far ahead of Cape gooseberry, the seeds of both being similar. The best results are gained by using fib of sugar to each pound of huckleberries. "I was interested to find that the only New Zealander who has been given a place in Madame Tussard's famous London gallery is David Low, the noted cartoonist of the "Evening Standard," who was born in Dunedin," said Mr W. R. Brugh, who has returned from a visit to Great Britain, in conversation with an ''Otago Daily Times" reporter on Friday; Low began his career as a cartoonist in New Zealand and afterwards earned distinction as a member of the staff of the "Sydney Bulletin," which he left some years ago in order to take up a position in London. Mr Brugh instanced as typical of the artist a cartoon which Ivow contributed to the '.'Evening Standard" after the suggestion had bean made that foreigners should be turned out of England. It depicted a group of Englishmen hustling from their country several "foreigners"—the Archbishop of Cantorbury (i'i Scotsman) Lord Beaverbrook (a Canadian), Sir Harry Lauder, the Prime Minister !(.Mr Ramsay MacDonald) and Low himself. Thrown from a cart and half buried under a heavy load of turnips, Noel Copestake, the three-year-old child of Mr George Copestake, a Warkworth farmer, had a remarkable escape from serious injury the other morning (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The boy was sitting on the load of turnips'in a spring dray and his father was walking beside the horse. Shying at some object, the horse stopped suddenly and began to back towards a steep slope. Before the father could do anything the cart ran down the slope, dragging the horse with it. Then the cart overturned, half burying; the child under its load. When the father extricated him, however, the boy was found to have escaped injury apart from some bruises and scratches. The cart, with the horse attached, righted itself and continued its career down the hill, hurtling over a fence and turning over several times. It finally came to rest in the gully below. The horse, now freed from the cart, fell on its back with its head and shoulders in a water hole. It was unable to regain its feet and was drowned. The cart was damaged beyond repair. An amusing incident which occurred in the Solomon Islands at the outbreak of the Great War is recounted by the Rev. J. F. Goldie, the founder of the Methodist Mission in the Solomons. Mr Goldie was in the British territory in the Western Solomons when war was declared and, knowing that there were German war vessels in the vicinity, thought it incumbent on the British residents to do their share in the defence of their country. It was decided to take a small party, including the British Administrator, to the . neighbouring Tasman Islands, then inhabited by a (Teiman, and annex the territory oh behalf of the Allies. But when the party landed on the main island they found that the Australian Fleet had beaten them to their task by some days, and consequently their prearranged formalities and earefully-drawn-up proclamation were not needed. The German living on the island was armed with an amnesty from the Australian commander. Mr Goldie said, but it was learned that he had been boasting of the prowess of his country's navy and its intentions. Rather than return from an entirely fruitless expedition, the party therefore held a formal gathering and read the German a severe lecture.

A friendly cricket match played in North Taraiiaki recently was a rather one-sided affair. One team made a score in the vicinity of a century and a-half and the other side failed to reach 20. Evidently it was not merely a temporary lapse, for the leading team let the opponents have four more innings, and not even then did they pass the original total. There was a very large congregation at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church last evening when the choir, under the direction of Mr L. J. Watt, presented Stainer's "Crucifixion." The soloists were Messrs Watt (bass) and H. S. Gardner (tenor). The services, morning and evening were conducted by the Rev. John Miller, of Christchurch. There was a full church in .the morning. A short sermon appropriate to TTaster, and coinciding with the "Crucifixion," was given by the preacher in'the evening. The Ashburton branch of the Cooperative Rabbit Breeders' Association met on Saturday evening when the president (Mr F. A. Coldicott) occupied the chair. There was an attendance of 14 members. One new' member was elected. The following were appointed an executive committee: Messrs Cross, Thompson, Morrison and S. M. Graham and Mrs Mason. It was decided to hold the next meeting early in May. The secretary (Mr H. R. Ilopwood) reported that he hoped to obtain a cup for the rabbit section at the forthcoming winter shew. It was also stated that a lantern lecture would be held in Ashburton at an early date. Rather a remarkable ease of endurance and persistence on the part of an unemployed Auckland girl has come to notice (says the "Star.") She borrowed £1 from her grandmother, an old-age pensioner, with ..whom she was living, and then started off on the road, carrying a small pack on her back, to see if she could reach Wellington, and then take boat to Nelson, where she thought she might get a job in the hop gardens. On the way down she received many lifts, and even got the pack carried by a goods train on one occasion. The settlers were very kind to her, and only_on one occasion had she to sleep out in the open all night. She succeeded in crossing to Nelson in a small boat, but found when she got there that work was not plentiful, but managed to earn a little money while there. After a while she decided to take to the road again. Tramping and getting lifts, she finally reached Dunedin, where, although amongst strangers, her pluck was rewarded and she got suitable work. Writing home last week, she said she would soon be able to repay the £1 she borrowed, and that, after all the tramping and trying experiences she has.been through, she knows how to appreciate a good job.