LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 86, 21 January 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Through men taking up seasonal work, mainly harvesting, the Ashburton unemployment register has shown a considerable decrease in the last week. Sustenance payments will be made to 164 men next week.

The new classroom at the Ashburton East School is ready for occupation, except for the provision of desks. The room, set in tne south-eastern corner pf the school-grounds, is of the latest design, and is built so that the children may receive the maximum sunlight and fresh air. It can accommodate 20 ana will be used for a special class when the school resumes on February 1/

Eleven cf the survivors of the 314 passengers who arrived at Lyttelton in the. clipper ship Waitangi on January 15, 1884, attended the annual reunion which was held at Lyttelton yesterday. There were also present, relatives and descendants of some of the passengers. They were welcomed by Mr C. R. Forbes (president of the Waitangi Shiprmates’ Association. Among the passengers present was Mr A. Small, of Ashburton.

While walking along the street in Hastings, a business man noticed an outsize in caterpillers calmly wriggling its way over the path. The caterpillar was captured, and when it- was measured it was found to be just on four inches in length. Subsequent inquiries revealed that it a caterpillar of a species belonging to Fiji. One or two have previously been found in the district, but they are by no means common. They are at least six times the size cf the variety of caterpillar. The caterpillar is being kept to see what happens,it being stated that it eventually turns into a moth of great size. ' * Sweden was the only country in the world where the increase in forests exceeded the output ot timber, said Mr C. M. Malfroy, timber milling expert, formerly in the State Forest Service, who returned by the Wanganella today from a tour of many European countries. Sweden’s increasing forest areas were obtained by natural regeneration and by the ot silvicultural methods, he said. In England, Mr Malfroy visited the Princess liisbo rough Research Station, where extensive research into various forestry problems was being conducted? ELs tour included also Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and France.

Preparations for the furbishing of the new Courthouse in Ashburton have been put in hand. Some of the chairs that have been in use at the old Courthouse have been, revarnislied,. The Magistrate’s chair, which has been in use since the Courthouse was built in 1888, has been re-upholstered in brown leather. . Prior to this work being carried out the chair was in a somewhat dilapidated condition. The leather, originally, was a deep red, but the passage of years had changed the colour to a light brown, while the surface had become badly rubbed. It was only by pulling the deep folds of the leather apart that one was able to view the original shade.

Assumed to have been bitten by a rat, 18 young pheasants about six weeks old were killed on Sunday night on the game farm of Mrs N. Millington, at Maunu, near Whangarei (states a correspondent). The birds were found on Monday morning lying dead in their pen nipped behind the neck, but not otherwise injured as far as could be seen. On the same farm a cat killed 12 young birds on Christmas Eve, while during the past week a stoat killed all hut 16 out of 60 young birds before they coukl be penned up. Birds have been found with their necks broken by the wire-netting of the pens in attempting to escape the attacks of vermin.

Record sales' of tents and general camping equipment, jvhich are reported by retailers and manufacturers in Auckland confirm the inference from the figures recorded at the motor camps throughout the country that an unprecedented number cf people spent their Christmas holidays under canvas. According to our special correspondent, one wholesale firm stated that it had been inundated with a spate of orders from all parts of the A somewhat unusual feature this season is that though the Christmas holidays are finished there is still a heavy demand for tents. Large numbers who have planned to take their vacation during January and February are apparently confident that this summer is not going to" break its sunny promise.

At present heading the Plunket Shield cricket average for this season is P. Whitelaw, of Auckland, whose performances both in interprovincial and club cricket, have been phenomenal. But the story of his tailure in his first cricket match, in Wellington this season was related to the Management Committee of the Wellington Cricket Association at a recent meeting by the chairman (Mr J. Phillipps) It so happened that recently Whitelaw was visiting Raumati at the same time as Mr Phillipps. Another visitor was the well-known Wellington and New Zealand representative, C. K. Parsloe. With such an array of talent, a match was arranged. The cricket apparently was not of high class although t’arsloe' bowled at his fastest, but the sensation of the game was the dismissal of Whitelaw, clean bowled first ball in the second innings by a full toss from a lad of 14 summers. Whitelaw remarked that that would be his only “duck” in Wellington this season.

. The passage of a brilliant tailed meteor across the sky irom east to north for the space ot about 30 degrees was witnessed by two Hamilton people fishing in the vicinity of Karamu about 9 o’clock on Sunday (states a coriespondent). There was brilliant moonlight at the time, but tne meteor when first seen was blazing with a greatei brightness than Venus and carried a taif about 12 times the length of the bright head. The phenomenon was not actually seen when it first made its appearance, but from the moment of observation until it disappeared or burned out it travelled about 30 degrees at about the same angle above the eye-level and in approximately a northerly direction. It seemed to be very close to the earth’s surface and was under Observation for almost two seconds. Another brightly, tailed meteor was seen in practically the same quarter of the sky two nights ago. Exact details of this, however, are not known. Astronomical experts in Hamilton are disappointed that both meteors were missed, more particularly as observations are icyularly carried out.

Preparations for the erection of the new rooms for the infant classes at the Ashburton Borough School have been started by workmen. The plans of the new building are awaiting the approval of the Department of Education in Wellington, but it is expected that construction will be started at an early date. The only work done so far is tiie levelling of the ground, and it will be some time before the rooms are ready for use.

Probably the Attorney-General (the Hon. H. G. It. Mason) was reminded of the old saying that the world is a small place .during his recent southern tour for, as he was motoring away from Queenstown one morning,, he passed the Speaker of the House of Representatives (the Hon. W. E. Barnard) cycling along the road. However, Mr Barnard did not recognise his motoring colleague and pedalled steadily ahead, although Mr Mason endeavoured to attract his attention.

There is a great shortage of houses in Gisborne. The number of houses and flats becoming vacant is almost negligible, and land agents rarely have one on their books tor more than a day or two at the most. A serious feature is that the position is growing steadily more actute. Land agents are faced with constant inquiries, but the reply their prospective clients receive gives them very little hope. In some cases there are* large waiting lists of persons seeking a roof over their heads.

Advice was received yesterday by Mr H. E. Herring, M.P., from the Minister of Labour (the. Hon. H. T. Armstrong) that an increased grant of £74 will be made to the Ashburton County Council by way of subsidy on the wages of men employed by the Council in clearing work in the Ashburton riverbed. Under the recent award for labourers employed by local bodies, an increase in wages was made, and the Council made representations for an increased grant to cover the extra cost involved,.

The Minister of Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) has approved the classification in Class 111. of that portion of the Christchurch-Dunedin main highway from the north-eastern boundary of the Ashburton County to Hinds. This road is now available for the use thereon of any heavy motor vehicle (other than a multi-axled heavy motor vehicle) which with the load it is carrying weighs not more than seven tons, or any multi-axled heavy motor vehicle, which when carrying a load has an axle weight of not more than tons on any one axle.

Packed in tins, each of which contained from 61b to 101 b of fruit, frozen strawberries have been brought to Auckland in small quantities from Vancouver this season. It was stated in the Auckland markets recently that several hundred tins had been shipped to New' Zealand, the fruit being purchased at prices competitive with the rates for locally-grown produce and used to a large extent fr jam making. The opinion w'as expressed by one wholesaler that it was unlikely that the imported frozen strawberries would challenge fresh fruit, although bulk supplies were valuable in times of a shortage.