LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 137, 22 March 1935, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There being no objections to the Ashburton Borough valuation roll, the Magistrate (Mr C. , R : s of who presided over a brief sitting the Assessment Court this morning, certified it to be correct.

Thr. hraverv that the maternal instinct evokes m the most unlikely creatures Is proverbial. A tiny bantam hen at FrfnWey Road New Plymouth recently was challenged by a wcase while she was parading chickens (reports the iaianaKi News”). The mother showed more annoyance than alarm, however, and turned to face the enemy. Luckily, her owner arrived to rescue lior befoie conclusions were tried.

;Due to a tree felled by a workman, engaged on the approach to- the new railway bridge, falling across two electric power lines and breaking one, there was an interruption to. the power service at about 10 o’clock to-day. In the Willow by district and in part of Tinwald it was half an hour before the power could be restored, but in Ashburton the hold-up was for only 2* minutes, due to the bloivmg-out of fuses.

Because of the exceptionally laige amount of freight on the Mount Som-ers-Springburn branch railway line, it was necessary to employ an extra engine oil the section between Ashburton and Valetta this morning. There were over 70 wagons on the train, and of them a large number were used in the conveying of stock bought at recent lamb and ewe fairs. It is several years since an extra engine has had to be commissioned on this line. The engine which was taken off the train at Valetta will bring back a consignment of goods to Ashburton.

A tribute to the value of advertising was paid by the chairman, Mr O. T. Evans, at the annual meeting of the Corriedale She4p Society at Christchurch. last evening. In mentioning that the council of the society intended continuing the expenditure in advertising Mr Evans said that a remarkable feature had been the number of applications for Conicdales from North Island sheep owners. In fact there bad l>een more applications from New Zealand than from outside countries, although nearly every sheep country in the world had been represented.

Comment on the criticism of governments was made by Mr G. R. Macdonald at the annual meeting of the Corrieda.le Sheep Society at Cliristclmicn last evening. During a discussion on a proposed' compulsory Sheep Inspection Act members had complained that if the Government were to control the administration of the act, then it would lie another example of Goveinment interference. Mr Macdonald said that every few years the country was put to the enormous expense of a general election. Then as soon as a Government was elected it was denounced as untrustworthy. Such denunciations were really a criticism of the voters themselves* and the position must he accepted as one of the consequences of the parliamentary system.

An ornamental apple tree growing in a garden in Hampstead has produced a second display of blossom while it is yet hearing fruit. Combined with this unusual occurence is the fact that part of the foliage of the tree has already turned colour and taken on an autumn tint.

There are approximately 2500 dogs in Christchurch. Tins figure, of course, includes only those" which might be called dogs ‘‘of good standing,” which are duly licensed by the City Council. Last year 2491 license fees were paid to the council, but only 1135 have been paid this year since January 1. It is expected that most of the remaining fees will be paid at the end of this month, as many people are under the impression that their dogs must be registered at the same time as rates are paid.

A debate occurred recently during a round golf in. Wanganui between two men as whether there were more sheep in New Zealand than in the British Isles. A small wager was made, and the man who put his faith in New Zealand won. The figures which decided the bet came from Whitaker’s Almanack of 1935, and were as follow:—New Zealand 28,550,000 and British Isles 28,355,700 (England and Wales 16,517,700; Scotland 7,673,000; Irish Free State 3,404,000, and Northern Ireland 761,000).

The fact that the Public Works Department was having the greatest difficulty in keeping the camps on the Taupiri' drainage scheme up to full strength was mentioned by tfte chairman (Mr L. R. W. Reid), at a meeting of the Taupiri Drainage and River Board recently. Several drainage works on private farms had been held up on account of lack of labour, and men had made up to £1 a day in this work. Mr Reid was of the opinion that relief conditions in town were such that work in the country was no longer attractive to them.

That the institution of the mobile dental clinic to serve the interests of pupils in schools in the Wanganui district has been followed with been mterest in many parts of the Dominion is shown by the many enquiries which have been received. The secretary of the Wanganui Mobile Dental Clime (Mr F. Pritchard, Kaitoke) reports that school committees in Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Cheviot districts have sought information regarding the installation and operation of the travelling clinic.

Damp and fire have cost a- Whan<rarei farmer most of his hay crop this year, so that from 40 acres reserved for winter fodder only one stack remains. The heavy rains early m the season caught the first crop, and although hoping for the best, the wet grass was stacked, it soon rotted. Thanks to the phenomenal season a second crop was cut, but this was stacked while on the green side in the face, of further rain approaching. A few days ago a very large stack commenced to smoulder, and has been burning ever since, the smoko piesenting a peculiar sight as it rises from the moist surroundings. Spontaneous combustion, attributed to the unseasoned grass, is the cause of the outbreak.

“Empires are not built by traders,” said the Rev. Dr. Charles W. Gordon (“Ralph Connor”), of Winnipeg, the other day, addressing a luncheon arranged in' his honour by the Auckland Presbytery. “Empires are not held together by navies. Our Empire was built out of goodwill, and is still held together by those deep bonds that come out of the hearts of men and not from their trading hands.” Dr. Gordon explained that his purpose xn visiting Australia and New Zealand was that he might know more about these countries, and, on returning to Canada, might do a little to deepen and strengthen those rivers ot goodwill that should more and more encircle the British Emipre.

There was a very good attendance at tlie fortnightly meeting of the Loyal Ashburton Lodge, A1.U.1.0.0.F.. last evening, when the N.G. (Bro. A : Dellow) presided. Sick pay amounting to £lB 8s 4d was passed in favour of 14 members. One onndidate was initiated and three proposed. The agenda for the biennial movable conference to be held at Christchurch at Easter was discussed for the guidance, of the lodge delegates to the district '(conference tomorrow night. IP.G. Bro. E. _H. Childs reported on the annual meeting of the United Friendly Societies’ Dispensary Committee. IP.G. Bro. J. H. Stevens gave an instructive address on “How to improve our meetings.”

At a recent meeting of the Wanganui Harbour Board’s leases and finance committee, a letter was received from the secretary of the Wanganui Development League, asking the co-opera-tion and help of the Board to have all the driftwood on the South Beach south of the mouth of the Kaitoki stream kept exclusively for the use of the Youths’ Afforestation Camp, and suggesting that perhaps it may be in the power of the Board to issue a proclamation to that effect. The Board resolved that a reply be sent stating that after giving the matter its careful consideration, the Board felt that it would be impossible for it to take any action which would prove effective in the matter.

Criticism of what he termed “extravagant handshaking during boxing contests” w T as expressed by Air H. R. McElrea, at the annual meeting of the Ashburton Boxing Association last evening. He said that boxers in Ashburton were too prone to shake hands during a bout, and that the habit might prove costly to them at some time. If an Ashburton boxer were fighting in another town he might be knocked-out while extending the hand of friendship. If this were to happen complications might arise, but the boxer who had delivered the knock-out would have won the fight fairly. It was decided to instruct Ashburton trainers to warn their boys not to shake hands during the contest. The suggestion that, before a bout, referees should give similar advice to both contestants was also made.

There is no real mystery about the monoliths of Easter Island, according to Dr. Peter Buck, the distinguished Maori anthropologist, who visited New Plymouth the other day. The carving on the stones is definitely established to he the work of Polynesian craftsmen who, in all probability, developed their own designs and craft under the stimulus of local conditions, just as did the Ala oris. Another popular fallacy was that the images were wrought in a stone foreign to the island, whereas in reality there were plentiful supplies of that particular volcanic tufa on the island itself. Alore interesting and mysterious, however, were the inscriptions carved in a peculiar sequence on wooden plaques, a recent parallel to which had been discovered in a remote part of the world with no Polynesian association whatsoever.

Driven indoors by the recent rain, flies have caused great annoyance to Ashburton householders during the last week. There lias l>een a veritable plague of them in several areas and some homes have been invaded by swarms.

Completing a journey of 23,000 miles, an Aberdeen terrier arrived at Auckland by the Monowai from 3ydney recently. Accompanying its owner, ft commenced its globe-trotting from Victoria, British Columbia, and crossed Canada and the Atlantic to England. From there it travelled via Suez to Australia and then to New Zealand. It is understood it will not have to undergo more than an observational period in quarantine.

An activity of the Wheat Research Institute at Christchurch which has become increasingly popular lately is the training that future bakers or flourmillers are able to receive in the Institute’s laboratory. There are four young men in the laboratory, all without pay, more than willing to give up some months of their time for the technical information they are able to pick up. Reporting on the work of these learners, Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf at the meeting of the Institute yesterday said they had enabled a good "deal more work than usual to be gone through. There was a waiting list of nine more young men who would eventually take their place in some branch of the industry.

A striking example of knitting craft was shown to a “News” reporter by Mr W J. Paul, of Winton. While he was in hospital recently, Mr Paul took up knitting as a means of filling In time and, instead of following conventional lines, he developed several new ideas. Many of them were incorporated in a man’s pullover, which he made in 18 different wools, introducing more than a score of colours. The wool used was all small lengths left over from other pullovers knitted last year. Even more remarkable than the range of colours is the fact that 10 designs all in Fair Isle knitting are incorpor ated and yet more striking is the fact that there are no sewn seams in the whole garment, the sleeves, neck-band and the ribbing round the waist all being knitted into place.

Appreciation of the offers made by Mr W. Burton (general manager of the Fuller-Hay ward Theatre Coi'poration) to assist the Ashburton Boxing Association in its staging of contests was expressed at the annual meeting of the association last evening. The retiring president (Mr H. D. Johnston) said that Mr Burton had gone out of his way to meet every wish of the Association. He had made arrangements whereby an elaborate platform to accommodate the ring, could be erected in front of the stage at His Majesty’s Theatre, when a boxing contest was to be held, and had even offered to transfer the talknig picture programme from the Majestic Theatre to His Majesty’s Theatre on any evening but Saturday evening, and allow the association to stage a bout at the Majestic, should it so desire.