LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 42, 29 November 1937, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Ashburton .'Police carried cut a raid on premises in Ashburton on Saturday evening and it is understood a large, quantity of liquor was seized to be used as evidence in Court proceedings that are to follow.

In the Magistrate’s Court at Christchurch on Saturday, John McCullough Forsyth, charged with obtaining £7 9s by false pretences at Ashburton, was remanded to appear next Friday. Detective N. Thompson said that several other charges were pending. Bail was allowed.

The works staff of the Ashburton Borough Council made a start this morning with the laying down of an asphalt footpath on tne north side of the North-East Belt, from Chalmers Avenue to East Street, a distance of 33 chains. The work is being carried out as a result of a petition recently sent to the Council by residents on the street. •

Mention of the practice of all theatre patrons standing up when the National Anthem was played in a theatre was made at the’monthly meeting of the Putaruru Town Board. It was stated that when a patron did not rise to his feet it was the usher’s duty to advise him that such was the practice in the theatre, and that if he did not care to conform to it his entrance money would be refunded.

The final touches are being put to the grounds of the mew Courthouse in Ashburton in preparation for the opening of the building in about three weeks’ time. A concrete fence, with pipe railing, has been put up and the concrete paths will be put down in the course of a day or so. No steps have yet bean taken in regard to the removal of trees from the old Courthouse site, though it is expected this work will be put in hand at an early date.

Some of the lesser-known incidents in the life of Robert Burns, the Scots poet, were related by Mrs (I. Dyson at a meeting of the' People’s University in Auckland. Burns’s father was a well-educated farmer, who saw to the inclusion of French, 'Latin, and Geometry as compulsory subjects in the education of his son, whose first poem was written at the age of 16, while he was haymaking. Ten years later he published his first book. He died at the age of 37.

Though representations were made some time ago to the Local Government Loans Board for permission to proceed with the raising of two loans by the Ashburton Borough Council, no further advice has been received as to the progress of the applications, the Loans Board not having held a meeting since the application was sent in. One of the loans is for the paving of a number of streets in the Borough, and the other is for the purchase of land to form a park for Ashburton East.

“Beth men were slightly under the influence of liquor, and because of the heat of the day the liquor was perhaps a little more potent than usual,” said Sergeant J. I . Cleary in reference to Harry Lawrence Kercher and Augustine "L. Godwin when they were brought before Mr E. C. Bathurst, J.P., and Mr E. H. Orr, J.P., in the Ashburton Magistrate’s Court this morning charged, with fighting on racecourse road on Saturday afternoon. Both defendants pleaded guilty. Sergeant Cleary said that a constable saw tne men in a clinch, rolling in the dust at the gateway to the racecourse. Kercher was bailed out at 9 p.m. on Saturday, but Godwin, who was a stranger to the district, was in the cells over the week-end. Keacher was fined 10s, and Godwin was convicted and discharged..

In. a setting that was ideal for the purpose, the Baring Square Methodist Sunday School held its annual picnic at “Hyeland Grange,” Mr H. 0- B. Witbell’s property at Ealing, on Saturday. The weather was gloriously fine, and was ample compensation for the postponement of one week that had been occasioned by uncertain weather. There was much for the children to see a.nd do, and the officers of the Sunday School, under the direction of the Rev. A. Mcßean and, Mr T. Wakelin (Superintendent), had a full programme of sports and games for the day. The swimming pool was in big demand. Five large buses were, needed to convey the children, while a number of private cars carried other picnickers. The outing was one of the most enjoyable held by the Sunday School for some years.

The starboard anchor and' 60 fathoms of cable, which were lost from the British Phosphate Commission’s steamer Tymeric when she berthed at Castlecliff, Wanganui, recently, were recovered when the vessel sailed for Westport. The anchor, which weighed approximately 31 tons, and the cable, of which the weight was about 13 tons, were lost during berthing operations. The anchor was located by the Harbour Board’s staff and was attached to a winch on the vessel by a length of 2000 feet of steel cable. Each link of the anchor cable had been tested to withstand a Toad of 120 tons. When the Tymeric commenced to leave the wharf, states the “Wanganui Chronicle,” the steel cable was wound in until the broken length of cable was on board. This was connected to the length of chain on board the ship and the lost anchor and chain wt und m. This task only necessitated a slight delay in the departure of the Tymeric, and was carried out without difficulty.

The disclosure that 661 children from 11 schools in the Hamilton district are unable to swim, and that facilities for instruction were generally inadequate, was made by Mr F. H. Groeott (secretary of the Hamilton branch of the National Committee of Swimming and Life Saving, in an interview (says the “Auckland Star”). Mr Groeott said preliminary investigations for the learn-to-swim week had revealed a very unsatisfactory position in the' schools regarding swimming ability. The 661 children unable to swim were from Standard 111 upwards. Despite use of the municipal baths and four school baths, lie said, the number of lessons per child would lie insufficient, as the committee’s objective was to be able to boast- that in Hamilton at least 90 per cent, of the children from Standard 111 upwards could swim 26 yards. Much of the trouble-, considered Mr Groeott, was due to the short swimming season of only two months, and pointed to the urgent need for tepid baths in the town.

A special train taking the Dunedin Sunshine Excursion party back to the southern city went through Ashburton yesterday afternoon. Only about 100 people took part in the trip which was to the West Coast.

The choir of the Baring Square Methodist Church have arranged for a demonstration organ recital on the Hammond organ, now being introduced into New Zealand, The recital will be given in the Baring Square Church on Thursday evening, at 8 o’clock.

Lawns in Ashburton are beginning to show the effects of the heat and dry spell. The rain of two weeks ago apparently did little to revive the parched areas and patches of brown are showmg in many places where watering has not been systematically carried out. The lawn in Baring Square West is an example of the lack of rain.

Carried away by the enthusiasm of the moment, a small boy jumped into the swimming pool at Mr H. C. B. Withell’s property at Ealing on Saturday when the Baring Square Methodist Sunday School picnic was being held. Unfortunately, lie leaped into the deep end and was in difficulties at once, as he could, not swim. One of the adults who was on the spot, pulled the child out before any harm was done.

The East Ashburton Sunday School went to the Tinwald Domain for their annual picnic on Saturday afternoon, Mr A. J. Garriock being in charge of the party, which indulged in various sports, including swimming and boating. The teachers provided the icecream, making 265, which will be donated to the funds of the “Break-of-Day” magazine.

At the gathering on Saturday evening in connection with the Tinwald Rose Show, the Rev. D. D. MacLachla.n expressed sympathy on behalf of the Presbyterian Church with Mr and Mrs Grigg, of Longbeach in the loss of their home, which was a place of historic interest valued for its associations throughout New Zealand,

The case of a man who had been born with a weak heart, and had been such an enigma to doctors for many years that he had given his body after death to the hospital for medical research purposes, was mentioned during the hearing of a case before Mr E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Gisborne Magistrate’s Court. The case was one in which Cornelius Patterson was charged with bookmaking, to which he pleaded guilty. In pleading for leniency, counsel stated that the accused was in straitened circumstances, and then referred to the strange condition of his health. A fine of £25 was imposed.

A mystery hike occupied members of the Ashburton Tramping Club yesterday. By bus they went to Scott’s Gully, north of McLennan’s Bush, and had lunch beside a creek surrounded with beech trees. The party followed the creek to its head and some of the trampers went down the left of the ridge and, others to the right. With its small falls and native bush environs the creek made an ideal tramping area. The creek disappeared under a large slip at its upper end, and from the vicinity, where there is a beautiful natural alpine garden, the party Had an unrestricted view of Mount H.utt the the adjoining peaks.

Members of the Third Canterbury Company of the Boys’ Brigade and the Life Boys’ Team paraded to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church yesterday morning. There was a good muster of the boys, Captain A. G. Horne and Miss M. I. Woods, leader-in-charge, were in command of the units. A special St. Andrew’s D'ay service was conducted at the church last evening by the Rev. R. S. Watson, who used a form and order of Divine Service prepared by the Church of Scotland. The Ashburton Highland Pipe Band and the Council of the Ashburton Scottish Society paraded. Mr Watson spoke about foreign missionary activities of the Church of Scotland through many centuries. The choir sang the anthem, “The Radiant Morn.”

- A Wairarapa farmer says that despite statements to the contrary, labour was walking off farms to take work on Public Works (states a Wairarapa exchange). It was, he said, happening every day. The result was that farmers in many instances were compelled to engage' inexperienced men for skilled labour such as ploughing, and in that connection he mentioned an incident which came before h;s notice ifcently. A man, apparently unused to driving tractors, drove ore over a bank, and the loss m to the farmer concerned was in the vicinity of £350. Horses and implements were too expensive these days to be in 'the hands of any one who came along, he said. Not only would the farmer suffer, but the manufacturers would also be affected, because if suitable labour c udd not be secured to manipulate machinery farmers would not buy it.

The opinion that a good market existed on the Pacific Coast of Canada and the United States for New Zealand butter was expressed by Mr G. H. Neal accountancy officer for the international packing firm of Swift and Company, Chicago, when he arrived in Auckland on the Monterey from Los Angeles. Mr Neal, who is accompanied by Mrs Neal, is going to Sydney. “There is no demand for New Zealand meat in the United States, but there appear to be increasing opportunities for selling the Dominion’s butter,” he stated. “Though it is not apparently identified by consumers as being of particular type or quality, it seems to sell readily. In the United" Kingdom, and, to a less extent, in Canada, the public buys specifically; but in the United States purchasers of household commodities, particularly butter, are not greatly interested in such factors as country of origin.

The inability of tlm Waikato Diocese to support backblook districts from, its home mission funds was the subject of strong comment by the Bishop of Waikato (the lit. Rev. C. A. Cherrington) at a function to mark the formation of the Claudelands parish (states a Hamilton correspondent of the “Evening Post”). “When this diocese was formed I should have demanded from the wealthy diocese of Auckland, and the equally wealthy dioceses of Wellington, Nelson, and Waiapu £50,000 to provide an income to carry on the work.” he said. He added that the clergy were greatly underpaid, and the diocesan offices were maintained only by the superhuman efforts of the secretary. The bishop deplored the fact that the diccese could not provide chaplains at the Waikato Hospital, the Chateau Tongariro, and at Borstal institutions. All it could do was to provide £4OO annually to parishes unable to support themselves.