LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 85, 21 January 1942, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Members of the North Canterbury, South • Canterbury, and Ashburton Hospital Boards will meet in Ashburton to-morrow. Their business is net disclosed. Mr L. B. Evans (chairman) and Mr A. Prentice (secretary) will represent the North Canterbury Board.

A two-tooth Romney ewe on Salisbury station at Maraekakaho. Hawke’s Bay, gave birth to qyiintuplets and successfully reared them. To-day these Jambs are almost fit to kill. With sheep, triplets are not altogether ‘uncommon. but quadruplets are not frequently found, and quintuplets are only very rarely born.

Two well-known Wairoa men, Messrs Mann and G. McLachlan, provided townspeople with a considerable amount of amusement last week when they staged a contest on a “high bike, ' or penny-farthing, to see who could ride the greatest distance. There was a wager of 10s 3 and the contest, as far as is known, was a no-decision bout.

Lorries, loaded high with wool bales, are frequently seen coming into Asbburtton. According tc a railway official, wool is coming in steadily, but slowly this year compared with other years, and so far there has, been no rush to get the wool away. | This is probably due to the shortage of labour and the fact that shearing has been extended ever a much longer period than usual.

The slaughtering season is now at its peak, and thousands cf fat lambs are being handled daily at freezing works in the Auckland province. One works alone is dealing with about 9000 lambs every full working day. Managements have had great difficulty in securing and retaining competent labour, as many experienced slaughtermen are now serving overseas. The peak season, will taper off toward the end of this month, but substantial killings will continue for some time.

Satisfaction with conditions in the German prison camp in which he is detained, is reported by a chaplain to the forces, the Rev. John Riddlestone, formerly a Baptist minister in Auckland. He remained with the wounded in Crete. “I am in a very fine camp,’’ he stated. “The grounds are laid out with beautiful beds of dahlias and zinnias. After seeing very little grass or trees for so long the sight of them is a great joy. I have been well treated since being taken prisoner. The Red Cross parcels are wonderful. Last week I received' a new battledress, underwear and warm pyjamas.”

Merf with 60 years’ experience of liill country say they have never seen anything like the vast landslide which occurred four miles up the Makirikin Valley, in Wanganui County, as the result of the recent heavy rains, a lake, ten acres in extent, has boon formed, and traffic is effectively barred. At a point 400 ft above the valley floor the crown of a spur has been cleft lengthwise for a quarter of a mile, and wliat was formerly a rounded hilltop appears from the road as a stark cliif 80ft high. Below it, shaped like an hour glass and spread in indescribable confusion, are the remains of the former hillside. At least 30 acres of land.is covered by the slip.

During the slump period of 1930 a number of men who had been employed in relief work were selected to carry out prospecting for gold and making a survey of minerals, at the head of the Wilberfoiee River. The organising of the work was carried out under the Ashburton County Council. Certain huts were erected, and considerable time was spent, under a. qualified mining engineer, making a full report of the possibilities of the district as a resource of minerals. The huts were left intact, including the Harquoit Hut, and inquiries have been made recently to the County Council, by persons proposing to carry out further prospecting, as to the availability of the huts for these parties.

“Rhythm has a necessary function in physical training, a truth well known to the Maoris,” said Mr J. W. Heenan at a conference of physical welfare officers. “If there is one thing that the Maori has pre-eminently it is a sense of rhythm—helpful rhythm in work as well as in play,” he said. Mr ‘Heenan mentioned that the communal system of the Maoris was based on a policy v.hich 'made men and women physically fit for all tasks of peace and war, and in various exercises and ordinary activities rhythm played a strong part. The speaker did not advocate an exfcct copying of Maori methods, but. suggested suitable. adaptations of rhythm to modern needs. As a case in point, he referred to old-time chanties which helped sailors to make light work of their hauling and heaving. The rhythm ensured perfect team-work which eased the strain on each man.

Mention of the short bayonet with •which the '-British Army is now being equipped has brought tc- the mind of a soldier who was on Gallipoli in 1915 the fact that on one occasion a New Zealand officer who was at death grips with a Turk in a trench during an attack settled the argument in. his own favour by the effective use of a sheath knife which he happened, to have in his belt. General Russell, who heard of the incident, was so impressed by it that next time the New Zealand Mounted Rifles were resting at Lemnos ho issued a sheath knife tc- every officer and man for use in any future emergency. The quality of the steel was lioty all that could he desired, but some of the members of the regiment still find the knives useful addenda to tiro fishing outfit. It is not on record that any large number of Turks were seriously incommoded by the knives.

Since the Japanese attack on Hong Kong, and the renewal of fighting in central China, much anxiety has been felt for the safety of Presbyterian missionaries, states the “Outlook.” Four missionaries—Mrs Davies, Miss Ogilvic, Dr. J. A. Loan, and the Rev. J. D. .Johnston—wiere all in Hong Kong itself when the Japanese declared war. The >Rev. H. Davies was in Canton, and the Rev. E. G. Jansen, Dr. and Mrs G. Gratzer, Sisters Robertson and Lilburne, and Miss Wilson were in Kong Chuen. An attempt is being made tc get nows of Kong Chuen through a neutral consular agency. Miss James, who is in free China, will probably not have had her difficulties increased. The returning missionaries, Sister Eileqn Reid, Miss A. M. Cook and Miss A. N. Yansen, are remaining in Sydney, and will take up nursing, teaching or deaconess work in the meantime. News is awaited of Miss Sutherland, whose route hack to India would take her through Singapore.

The necessity to avoid chimney fires during the black-out was mentioned in the Police Court at Auckland by Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M., when a householder was charged' with permitting his chimney to catch fire. The magistrate said tills was normally a. technical offence, but it was of importance during the black-out that householders should keep their chimneys free from excessive soot that would feed such fires.

Because of the shortage of newsprint and the difficulties of transport, the publication of the New Zealand Returned Services Association for members of New Zealand’s fighting forces overseas, “Reo Mihi,” has ceased. Four numbers of the newsheet were published during the- past year, and it is with regret that the association has decided to cease this activity. In future men in the Middle East will be kept in touch with R..S.A. activities through the “N.Z.E'.F. Times,” and servicemen in other theatres of war will have access to copies of the ‘‘R.S.A. Review” forwarded to Y.M.C.A. and camp reading rooms.

The fact that the Homo Guard is an armed force for the purposes of the National Service Emergency Regulations is madte clear in an amending regulation, which states that the military ‘obligations of any member of an armed force shall prevail over any civil obligations, even when the person is in one, of the “essential” industries. Explaining the difference between essential and reserved occupations, the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Eraser) did not mention the Home Guard, and perplexity was aroused among some of its members.

Tlie number of people attending church, in Russia has increased considerably since the great struggle against Germany began, according to a. report quoted in the Presbyterian journal “Outlook.” News of a remarkable revival of religion in the Soviet Union was in part exaggerated, it was stated, but the churches were now enjoying greater liberty than before. The Russians, especially those of the older generation, remained attached to religion. Twenty-eight archbishops and bishops were at present directing 30,000 praishes throughout the Union, and on July 1 last there were 4225 Catholic and Protestant churches open in Russia, Poland and the Baltic countries. There were also 1302 mosques, the great Armenian Church and more than 1000 synagogues.