LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 40, 27 November 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Lorries owned by this Ashburton Borough Council wore busy again to-day collecting scrap metals that were offered by residents in tho drive made by the schoolboys of tho Borough last week.

The State Placement Officer in Ashburton reports that last week six men mere placed with the Public IVorks Department as labourers. A rabbiter and tractor-driver were found permanent positions, and 1 temporary work was found for a gorse-cutting contractor.

There was a good attendance at a meeting of the Hampstead sub-centre of the Red Cross Society last evening, It was decided to put off am entertainment until January. The final meeting for the year was arranged for Tuesday, December 10, to take the form of a social evening.

An, amount equal to that available last- financial year may be expanded by education boards to covey the cost of teaching school children to swim, according to* advice from the Education Department- read at a meeting of tho W/ellingtoni Education Board. The letter added that the Department trusted that boards would give their* continued assistance in the planning of lessens during the coming season.

The nepd for placing the claims oi the ministry in: a definite way before suitable hoys at the stage when they are leaving secondary schools was urged bp fore the General Assembly of tlie Presbyterian Church in Palmerston North when presbyteries were asked to pursue the idea. It was stated that the majority of theological students had felt the call after school age, but now such men will be conscripted.

Although the Rakaia River was perfectly clear for fishing over the King’s Birthday week-end and many rods were out at the mouth, only about 20 fish were taken. The reason for the lack of fish is given in the fact that tho south-jvest wind prevented food from coming into the river. The best of these fish caught weighed up to eight pounds.

A party, of children from the Ashburton Convent School left Ashburton by train this morning foy Timaru, where they held a picnic. Four carriages were reserved for the picnickers. The picnic had originally been arranged for last Wednesday but owing to wet weather had to be postponed. The wpather to-day, although dull, was mild and should have been most favourable for the outing.

Reporting on the Shops and Offices Amendment Bill on behalf of the Labour Bills Committee to the House of Representatives yesterday, Mr C. H. Chapman said that the committee had heard evidence on the Bill and had come .to the conclusion that in view oi the strong divergence of opinion on the measure- it would recommend that the Bill be not proceeded with, but it was suggested that the Government give consideration to a general consolidation of the Shops and Offices Act, 1921, and its amendments. The report was laid on the table.

Twelve members, of the Ashburton Tramping Club made -am excursion to the Lake Coleridge district during the week-end. The party travelled to the Harper River by bus and after visiting the river intake at Lake Coleridge spent Saturday night at Murchison’s Hut. Mount Ida was climbed on Sunday and the party returned to Lake Seif by bus. The hikers them walked to Monk’s Hut, on the shores of Lake Catherine, where some of the party enjoyed a, swim, while others constructed a raft. The district was explored on Monday! and Lake Lyndon was viewed.

The senior girls’ Bible classes of the Baring Square Methodist Church successfully conducted a bazaar in the Sunday Schoolroom yesterday afternoon and evening. Six stalls were arranged and the proceeds of the effort, amounting to £33 16s tsd, are to be devoted to mission funds. The bazaar was officially opened by Mrs F. Frampton, of Wakanni. Tfye stall-holders were:—Apron, Misses R. Watts and 1 S. Penrose; stationery, Misses L. Gordon and V. McNicol; cakes, Misses J. Dolphin and J. Tulloch; sweets., Misses H. Penman and Z. Kerr; produce. Misses D. Rooke and D. Watts; work, Misses L. Dellow, L. McNicol, and V. Olliver; afternoon tea, the Ladies’ Guild, with Mesdames W. Corbett and Krusb as conveners.

*' At noon to-day There were 21 names of Ashburton Borough soldiers on the list of men to whom presentations will be made at thie civic function, to be held in the Radiant Hall this evening in conjunction with, the patriotic community sing. The function will start at 7.30 o’clock, and the speakers will be the Mayor (Dr. J. Connor) and Mrs A. N. "Griggs Orders for gifts for the men, provided by funds raised through Ashburton Entertainments, will be presented and there will lie gifts from the Red Cross Society. At 8 o’clock tho community sing will start and the programme that has been arranged leaves no doubt as to the bright evening that is in store for patrons. It is believed that, the* hall will bo packed to-night.

“One of the main worries of the New Zealand Meat Board is the future price of our meat,” said Mr G. A. Hamilton, reporting on the recent conference of the Meat Board, to members of the Southland provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union. He said that, with costs rising in. New Zealand, it would soon be impossible for meat to he sold at a satisfactory margin. To increase the price to the British consumer during the war would be unpatriotic. The annual cost of about £;u0,000' for advertising New Zealand meat in Britain was now being saved, as a result of which the board’s finances had increased to £66,000, £30,000 of which had been voted for the purchase of fighter aeroplanes for Britain. A Dunedin cat lost one of its nine lives last week. The eat climbed through a small hole in a third-storey factory window to the outer ledge. After mewing on the sill for some time, and unable to' retreat, the animal lost all sense of reason. Perhaps it became dizzy with the height; perhaps because of a lack of “claw hold” on the concrete; or possibly through a combination of both, it slipped and * fell like a plummet to tho bitumen footway below. There it lay still while a horrified woman spectator walked across the road. As she stooped, the cat bounded up and away, proving that if tin? pavement was hard enough to wind it, it had as much resiliency as a. rubber ball. It vanished round the corner apparently none the worse for the fall.

A start was ma<lo to-day with the first tor spraying of the surface of West Street, between Walnut Avenue and the flourmill. The- reconstruction of this portion of the road was put on the loading programme early in the year. The new surfacing will be welcomed by residents oVthe locality.

A motor-truck driven by Mr Arthur Norton Sim, of Hinds, and a taxi driven by Mr John Jackson, of Ashburton', collided at the corner of Grigg and Oameroni Streets about midi-after-noon yesterday. The truck, which was of an old model, was fairly severely damaged, while the car suffered damage' at the rear. Nobody was injured.

An experimental plot of about 200 plants of lavender had 1 been; established in the nursery at Cornwall iPark to learn whether the flower stems of lavender grown in Hawke’s Bay were suitable, for providing essential oils, reported,the superintendent of reserves (Mr J. G. C. MacKanzie) at a recent meeting of the Hastings Borough Council.

Continued rain throughout the North Island is making for a much later season than usual, stated an Ashburton resident to a “Guardian” reporter to-day. Shearing in the South Island, lie said, was well advanced compared with the woirk in this North Island, from which he recently returned. The fattening of lambs in the north had also been considerably delayed this year.

The young people of the Ashburton Baptist Church entertainted Miss Joan. Blair and Mr J. Gallagher, who ape shortly to be .married at a gift evening last evening. Games occupied the evening, the Rjev. W. N. Flett being master of ceremonies. Mr It. Nourish contributed a solo. Miss Blair received a number of useful gifts which were opented during the evening.

While mowing grass at Ngahape, near Otorohanga, a farmer, Mr H. Murrin, and his team of two horses were attacked by bees. Mr Murrin was severely stung, and the horses were blinded and refused to move. Bystanders started a smoke screen, and eventually got My Murrin and the horses away. It was stated that bees rarely launch such am attack without provocation, and it is thought that the noise of the mowing machine annoyed them.

Carnations up to four inches across the bloom were shown by an exhibitor, Mr B. V. Cooksley, Taita, at the Hutt Valley Horticultural Society’s shpw. The exhibit in which they were shown gained the Cooper Memorial Prize. The carnations were perpetual flowering, the basis of the stock having come from England and the United States. An: outstanding bloom was a scarlet pelargonium, not seen before in New Zealand, with all the petal colourings of a pelargonium, but the characteristics of a carnation. i

The Waitotara. County Council has decided to ask the Government to make available ammunition to cheek the spread of rabbits in its area. Mr G. Palmer said the spread of rabbits was becoming serious, and ammunition was not available for their eradication. He moved that the Government be approached with the request that .22 and other ammunition be made available. Mr T. L. Jones said rabbits, pigs and deer were becoming a menace in the. country. His son had killed 48 rabbits in an hour with as many bullets.

“A big mill on Street burned down, and of course the light from this gave the Jerrys their target every time, but what a good job they can’t aim straight. Hundreds of bombs were dropped, but no one was killed and only a few were slightly injured. It was a miracle, because the town was packed when the bombers came,” writes a man iiu a northern town in. England to his aunt, Mrs A. Wells, Alford Forest Road, Ashburton, in describing a heavy raid 1 on his home town. “Anyway, we are beating him now,” the writer adds. “We are shooting down hundreds of his bombers every week. As regards the invasion, everybody oyer here wishes h<e -would try. We shall never give in and God help any army that tries to land. . . Keep your peckers up, for you can depend on us to see this job through.”

Mr E. Cholerton, of Messrs J. R. Procter, Limited, Christchurch is at present in Ashbujton, and may be consulted on all defects of eyesight at the Somerset Hotel to-morrow and Friday. —(Advt.)