LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 16, 30 October 1933, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

“It is o'ood to see a. subdivision plan Eurain,” said Mr D. R. HoggaVd, chairman of the Hutt County Council, at the last meeting. The plan was one of a proposed subdivision of a block at tne Plateau, Te Marua.

Approximately £l7 was raised by the Ashburton Church of Christ Ladies Guild at the fair held in the Social flail; on Friday afternoon m aid or Church funds. This result is considered very satisfactory.

A Press Association telegram from Auckland states that a gift of 48 acres of land at Waitakere lias been made to the city of Auckland by Mr John Alexander, O.M.G. The land is bushclad, and h port of the area which was much admired ‘by Sir Arthur Hill, Director of Kew Gardens. He recommended that as much as possible oi it should be preserved for all time.

The St. Stephen’s Girls’ Club, under the president (Mrs A. J. Petrie), raised over £l4 at the garden party held at the vicarage on Saturday afternoon 'i.o assist the Rev. C. W. fonnei]y of Ashburton, in his missionary work in India. The clock golf and croquet competioions. conducted by Mesdames R. B. Lambert and E. B. Condel!', were won by Miss F. Saville and Mrs E. Parkinson, respectively.

By the pollution of a pond in which stocks of ova and fry were held, the Tokoroa hatchery of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society has suffered a considerable loss in trout fry. More than 25,000 ova were placed in the pond, about 75 per cent, of the eggs proving fertile, and it is believed that of these more than 50 per cent, are clench When the dead frv were noticed the remainder were placed in another pond, and from present iiulieavions tliev should be strong. The secretary of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society (Mr C. M. Gordon) stated that the loss was a serious one to the society, which had intended stocking streams in tne district. Trout ova were worth 5s a 1000 and fry 10s a 1090.

It is rcnorted that a revival of interest in reefing has occurred among those who are seeking to exploit the gold producing possibilities of Otago. A “Daily Times” reporter was informed yesterday that an endeavour is being made by certain interests to trace ncartz reefs that are believed to extend through the mountains of Otago, the investigating parties working on the assumption that the quartz deposits that have alreadv been developed are offshoots of a chain of reefs which have been the source of all. the «oki that has already been obtained. It is said that several large areas have already been pegged out.

With 'the tarring of the edges of the roadway to-day, the asphalting of the full width of Victoria. Street from just below Cass Street to William , Street has been completed.

The decking of the new bridge leading from the Winter Street entrance on to the Oval in the Ashburton Domain lias been completed., and a start lias been made to "construct the rustic side rails. The structure is a .very solid one.

Six 5 men from the Ashburton Tramping Club climbed Mount Somers from the StaveJey Ridge during the week-end. The excursion was an enjoyable one but a heavy mist near the top prevented the Hampers from obtaining any view. They found an interesting snow ridge after the recent fall of snow.

A nrotest against the action of the Police Department in renting a house for one of its employees and applying to have the name of the Crown entered as the occupier, thus freeing it from rates was made at a meeting of the Gisborne Borough Council, it bieing contended that the Crown was utilising provisions of the lav/ in an endeavour to obtain a reduction in rent at the expense of the borough. ffhe council de-cided.-to place the facts, before the member of Parliament for the' district with the object of bringing the matter before Parliament.

Many farmers in the north, from Iverikeri to Waiivaka, sire making arrangements this season for the supply of artesian water on their properties (reports the “Northern Advocate”). One expert engaged in this work comments upon the difficulties of boring in this district, where it often takes over a week to tap the subterranean streams many feet deep, whereas in the Waikato such jobs can be accomplished within the day. He attributes the hard boring to the prevalence of volcanic rock. So great lias been the demand upon their services that borers are having difficulty in maintaining full competent staffs. One man has seven employees engaged regularly, and is contemplating shirt work to push the orders through.

Erinaceus Europacus came in for considerable criticism at a. meeting of the council of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society. Known more famdiary as the European hedgehog, the little prickly, inhabitant of hedges and shrubbery has lately, according to Mr R. A. Falla, ornithologist at the v War Memorial Museum and a member of the society’s council, became , very much in evidence, “it is only m the past 10 years that he, has-been established in Auckland,” said Mr Falla, “and there is reason to believe that he is increasing enormously. ’ Mr Harold Schmidt, of Mount Eden, m a letter, mentioned that lately four small -chickens were destroyed by Hedgehogs on his premises, and he disturbed another in the midst of a grand feast ol e o-a S . Mr H. C. Savage said the hedgehog was one of the worst enemies of native birds which nest on the ground, and lie . urged that the society vise propaganda anionf the public in an _ temot to get rid of the pest. One member caused laughter when he complained that the hedgehogs regiilaily raided the cat’s nnlk in his backyaid.

A South Canterbury remit to the Dominion Executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, asked the executive to make inquiries as to the methods of selling wool> iff other countries, with a view to having improvements made in the manner of selling wool in New Zealand. Mr L. Hammond (Wellington) expressed the view that until there was a responsible body, similar to- the Moat and Dairy Boards, to handle the equally important wool question, and the Farmers’ Union insisted upon it, they would ret nowhere. He thought it was quite time they woke up .to the fact that someone should be made responsible for the whole position. It was useless discussing the wool question unless they were going to be united and there was some authoritative body to handle it. Mr J. D. Revie (Otago) said he thought there was a feeling in New Zealand that there were too many boards. . His view was that it was possible tor the scheme to be taken up without the existence of a board..

Attention to detail,: and more attention to. detail, is the secret of the success of the tourist trade in Switzerland. This was emphasised in an address given in Auckland recently by Dr A. C. Biau, Consul' for Switzerland. (Dr. Blau gave instances_of Hie way in which the Swiss looked aitei small • things, from the comfort of the visitor in magnificently appointed hotels to- the comfort of the traveller in trains, 'in the 'hotels the visitor found freshly-cut flowers in Ins room. He felt himself immediately to be- at home, and he knew that efficient service would be at his beck and call. His life for the time was easy and agreeable. Customs officials did thenbest to add to this impression. There was ho wearisome fihmg in of forms, no being awakened at odd times m the morning when travelling. Officials were trained to distinguish between the business man and the holiday maker, and difficulties were- removed from the latter, and not placed in his wav. Another instance of detail was shown in the fact that 011 the trains there was at least one official able t sneak four languages. In normal times Switzerland drew £16,000 000 irom tourists. ‘ ‘We cannot nossiblv do without tourists,” Dr. Blau added. ' have invested three. millions of francs in tourist attractions of different sorts.”

The third annual Sunday School festival was held at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church yesterday, the fat. Stephen’s, Hampstead, Altenton and Fairton schools being represented, there were large congregations, there being over 400 at the morning service. In the morning the Fair.ton children sang “He saw the wheat fields waiting, the Allcnton children “Help me find inv place,” and children from St. Stephen’s and Hampstead kindergartens “Robrn’s Song.” The lesson was read bv Mr E. C. Bathurst (superintendent of St. Stephen’s School) and the Rev. A J. Petrie gave an address to the children. Several choruses were also sung by the children, while 14 girls a ml” boys selected from the three schools in Ashburton rendered “My Task.” In the evening the Hampstead, children sang “Beneath the. Cross of Jesus,” the St. Stephen’s boys and girls “I come to the Garden alone,” and three choruses by all the children. <! Mv Task” was rendered again and tlie St. Stephen’s boys’ choir sang the chorus “Fishers of Men,” Master L. Lees taking the solo part. The lessons were rend by Messrs L. Arnst (superintendent of the Hnmpsteal 'School) and H. Patterson, and Mr Petrie gave short addresses to both the parents and the children. A service was held in .the women’s wiard at the Ashburton Public Hospital in the afternoon. The festivnl will conclude with a concert in the parish hall to-morrow evening.

' When some petrol accidentally exploded oil Saturday afternoon, Mr C. Johnson, of Eiffelton, aged 23, was burned about the neck and left hand. He was admitted to the Ashburton .Public Hospital where his condition was reported to-day. to bo satisfactory.

A notification that the Unemployment .Board, has sanctioned the-des-truction of rabbits by unemployed men. under the Scheme No.’ll has been received by -the Ashburton County Council from the Crown Lands Department. The council has decided to advise farmers requiring men to rid their properties of the pest to apply for them under Scheme No. 4a.

Excellent work is being clone by the life-saving clubs throughout Neiv' Zealand, and at the present time the details of the numbers of rescues that have been made are being .collated. They have not yet been issued In full, blit the figures gathered so far indicate the truly humane service that is being given to t-he bathing public. Of the 43 clubs in operation in New Zealand during the 1932-33 season, full information has been received at the national headquarters in Wellington from only 12 clubs, which give the following figures:—Rescues with belt- and line, 10; fescues without belt and line, 25. The total number of fescues performed by these twelve clubs since their foundation is 800.

“The size of the flax fishing nets of the Maoris is likely to startle people who looked upon them as a care-free and easy-going race,” said Dr. J. S. Yeates, speaking to a recent meeting of the Palmerston North Citizens’ Lunch Club on New Zealand flax, !Hb said that in 1880 one net had been recorded as having been threequarters of a. mile long, and that it had required two large sea-going canoes to carry it. The strength of the net and of the ropes must have been really first-class, he continued. In that respect it was interesting to see -that the ropes had been made, from the leaves of the cabbage tree. The cabbage tree, was a first cousin to flax. Both, belonged to the lily family, and both were distinctly New Zealand plants.