LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 134, 18 March 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr A. P- Colder conducted a harvest thanksgiving service at Fairt.br, yesterday.

.The winner of the £4OO prize m “My Lucky Day” art union was Mrs C. H. Bell, of Thompson Street. Ini' wald. «

The warm north-west conditions of last week have completely shorn the foothills of any coating of snow they previously possessed. They wore eleni jv visible yesterday from a considerable distance away.

The fanning lands of the RakaiaMethvon districts are once again desperately dry. Crops of rape and turnips are* withering off and being attacked by blight, and grass is also suffering. Unless rain comes soon and in a good quantity, the prospects for winter feed will not be particularly bright. 1

A pensioner who made a donation to the Fighting Services Welfare Appeal through the “Guardian” office collecting list this morning set- a fine example. He gave 10s and stated thao he would give a similar amount from his pension every month for the delation of the war. .*

About ‘2OO children, of the Allen ton, Tinwald, Flemington and Lagmhor Presbyterian Sunday Schools held a combined picnic at the Tinwald Domain. on Saturday afternoon and spent a very enjoyable time in boating, and swimming, and in games. They were supplied with cordials and sweets.

In the course of their activities aimed at the filling of the &rd Echelon, the recruiting sergeants, who have been allotted to the Canterbury district, will pay a visit to Ashburton on Wednesday, prior to the holding of the recruiting rally in the evening, when the chief 'speaker will be the Leader of the Deposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton).

“I have returned to Ashburton to got into the sunshine, and I am more than ever convinced that the Ashburton people don’t really appreciate the sunny climate they have,” said the Town Clerk (Mr R. C. Major) this morning, when lie resumed duty after an absence on annual leave and attending conferences in Wellington. “Ashburton compares very favourably with any town in the North Island. We are fa;r abend of many of them and I am sure we can show them tilings as fains sunshine is concerned.''

Major Atherfold, of Christchurch, conducted the service at the Salvation Army Citadel in Ashburton yesterday.

A number of young women and young men of the Ashbiia'ton Baptist Church will attend Bible Class camps during Easter at Wadding ton and Oxford, respectively.

The State Placement Officer in Ashburton reports that ten men were placed on Public Works, and two farmhands found positions during the past week.

Members of the Orange Lodge were present at the evening service in the Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. L. P. Bryan. Mr K. Norrish sang a solo.

A Press Association message, from Dunedin states that the estate of the late Robert George Hudson, company director, was sworn at under £55,000.

The Rev. Ronald S’. Watson conducted the harvest thanksgiving services in tire morning and evening at St. Andrew’s (Presbyterian Church, yesterday. The church was decorated with a variety of produce, which will lie forwarded to the Presbyterian Children’s Homes, Christchurch.

It is reported that four salmon weighing up to 241bs were caught in the Rakaia during the week-end. The rivers generally seem to havo been in fair condition, but fishermen did not have much luck. In some rivers salmon have been seen coming down in large numbers lately.

Financial members of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, will be issued with an attachment for tneir badges after April 1, and the statement made recently that badges would be called up for alteration referred to this change. Membcu's will present their badges when the new financial year opens, and the coloured attachment, bearing the date 1940’, will be added.

A representative of the Blind Institute spoke to farmers, for a few minutes at tiie commencement of the open ewe fair at Tinwald to-day., appealing for assistance, for the maintenance of homes for the blind. He said that in Canterbury £l5O was required to balance accounts, at the end of the present financial year which was very soon.

The water in Acton main race, feeding farms in the Doric, Pcndarves, Kyle, and Seafield districts which has been cut off for more than a week, has now been restored. To make this possible, the works staff of the County Council had to take water from the lhain stream of the Rakaia. At the intake of the (race a trap in the form of €OO hags of shingle has been used to raise the level of the water. A bulldozer has also been at work.

A successful day was spent yesterday by members of the Ashburton Tramping Club, at the Sharplin Falls Reserve, Staveley. After following the track to the falls it was found necessary to use a rope to negotiate the series of falls encountered further upstream. Here the party met a flock of blue duck, about 20 in# number, a most unusual sight. The party then climbed to the ridge on the north side, and returned *bv Pony’s Knob track.

Deciding to hold its function oil Saturday, April 27, the Hinds Gymkhana Committee has agreed that the Director of Pageantry, under the Centennial celebrations schemes, should be asked to loan to the committee a number of costumes for the enactment of an early settlers scene at the gymkhana. There was a good attendance at the meeting, and Mr % C. D. Cliisnall presided.

A motion that the executive should investigate the possibility of securing extra sunnlies of petrol for farmers who had their holidays during the winter was carried at a. meeting of the Waikato sub-provineial executive of the Farmers’ Union. It was stated that as the petrol restrictions had been lifted during the summer holidays for the 'benefit of the townspeople, a similar concession should he made to the farmers.

For some weeks Ashburton people have been seeing white butterflies by the thousand alighting on flowers and vegetables, and now they are plagued by the creatures. known as Daddy-Long-Legs, which, also in thousands, are finding their way into houses and fluttering stupidly about the walls and ceilings. Bmall white moths and sandflies have, also been troublesome, and to wind up the list there are earwigs and seed-carrying fluff from thistles, to say nothing of the grubs of the white butterfly which are starting their annual trek from the gardens to high parts cf walls and sometimes go in at open windows.

Mr Patrick Lucas Hamilton, who lives near Pleasant Point, yesterday celebrated liis birthday, which he claims is his one hundred and tenth. He received many congratulatory messages. Mr Hamilton was born at County Donegal, Ireland, on St. Patrick’s Day, in the reign of William IV., and came to New Zealand, landing at Lyttelton in 1870. Shortly, afterwards lie came to South Canterbury where lie has lived ever since. Mr Hamilton is assisted about, but retains his faculties to a surprising degree, and his memory of events of the early days is still good.—Press Association.

A delay of four hours was caused the West Coast express’ on Saturday morning by a derailment at Sandy Knolls. The cause of the derailment of two carriages on a mixed train is at present unknown. No one was injured. One car and the front wheels of another car were derailed. The train was due to arrive in Christchurch from Springfield at 10.7 a.m. Passengers from the train were brought to Christchurch by bus. The front uoition of the train left the derailed carriages and continued the journey. The express, which was due to leave Christchurch at 10 a.m., was delayed until a breakdown train had cleared the track. It left at 2 p.m., arriving at Greymouth at 10.40 p.m. “We are still progressing, hut more slowly in the last year, compared with the progress we made before that,” said the chairman of the Ashburton Electric Power Board (Mr E. F. Nicoll) this morning, when the Board was considejring a roiiort by the Engineer- Secretary (Mr H. G. Kemp) on the trend of the Board’s finances oyer a period of years. “The commercial revenue shows the biggest- difference, all in the last two or three months,” .Mr Nicoll added. “No one need be depressed for it looks as if our year is going to be a good one, though not as good as we had expected. It may be that we will have to watch our expenditure closely in thci next year and cut it down as far as possible consistent with the retention of ■efficiency on the system,”