LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 55, 14 December 1946, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Best Individual Carcase The exhibitor of the best individual carcase at the Mid-Canterbury district competition in export lambs on Thursday was .1. Girvan, and not Davidson, as stated yesterday. National Savings in Ashburton Investments in national savings in Ashburton this week totalled £538. Last, week’s deposits amounted to £462. The district quota of £705 will be filled by drawing on the reserve fund. Found Hanging Sydney Arthur Chadwick, a middleaged man, employed as a cowman gardener at the Otekaike Station, Kurow, was found hanging in a shed at the back of the station at 6.45 a.m. yesterday by the manager, Mr P. L. Pol lock. Coupon Savings Fall Off Only 259 coupons (255 meat- and four butter) were surrendered to the Ashburton Post Office this week to help the campaign for food for Britain.' The reason for the marked falling off in the number of coupons saved is due to the fact that no schools forwarded coupons this week. Erewhon Mountaineers Two small parties from the Erewhon branch of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club left yesterday on peditions. Messrs A. White, A. Dixon and T. James intend to be away a week, with the climbing of the Armoury range as their objective. They will go up the Clyde River, and the McCoy and Sinclair streams. The other party of three are making a week-end trip up the Cameron River to attempt an ascent of Tent Peak. Enrolments For Kindergarten On account of the limited accommodation, the' Council of the Ashburton Free Kindergarten Association has set 45 as the maximum number of children to be enrolled for next year. Enrolments are reported by the secretary (Mrs N. E. H. Fulton) to be satisfactory, and it is expected that all children on the waiting list will he able to be accommodated. The age limit for the next term is from three to five years..

Ashburton Seat Final Figures . Final figures for the Ashburton seat, at the recent General Election, including both civilian and service votes, are as follow:—R .G. Gerard 7386, M. A. Newlancls 5933, informal 64; majority for Gerard 1453. Of the civilian voters, a total of 13,865 on the roll, 13,299 visited the polling booths on election, day. Service votes numbered 84 and Avere distributed as folloavs : Mr Gerard 31, Mrs Newlands 52, informal 1.

Eight-Hour Day for Tramwaymen The Wellington tramwaymen will restrict their hours to eight a day and refuse all overtime from Monday. This decision follows the failure of negoti ations with the City Council concerned principally with extra shift work payments. The tramwaymen, in a union statement issued to-day, declared that they will make every attempt to carry, all. passengers, but cannot accept responsibility for running the trams to timetable. —P.A.

Fine Singing by Pupils ' Good singing has always been associated with the annual break-up ceremony of the Ashburton High School, and last evening a still higher level of excellence was reached, the singing by the.whole school and by the various choirs being very highly appreciated by the large attendance. With the new curriculum in secondary schools more time is now allotted to singing and musical appreciation, but the results of the training at Ashburton have far exceeded expectations for the first year. Great praise,. indeed, is due to the teachers responsible, and their enthusiasm was mirrored in the efforts of the pupils. Besides the many choir items last evening, solos- were sung by Beverley Martin and R. Coldicott.

School Magazines Published We have to acknowledge receipt of “The Ashburtonian,” the magazine of the Ashburton High School, and “Kau-angarA-Hakatere,” the inaugural issue of a magazine by the Ashburton Technical High School. Both magazines are well illustrated and give detailed information of the activities of the schools during 1946. The High School magazine is appearing again after a lanse of a few years during the war. A feature of the Technical High School magazine is the inclusion of a roll of honour of old pupils who gave their lives in World War 11, and lists of decorations and awards to old pupils and of all those who served in in the armed forces. These lists were prepared by the Old Pupils’ Association. The school is to be congratulated on the quality of its first publication.

Draining of Clay Pit Recently the Barber Greene digger, which was on loan to the Borough Council from the Public Works Department constructed a drain for Messrs Crum Bros, from their clay pit down to West Street, across the street and along the east side of the street to connect up with the Wakanui creek. This ditch, with straight sides, was a failure, as it fell in in many places. Yesterday a dragline was scooping out the drain and giving it a width of 10 feet at the top and sloping sides. An official of the firm said that it was hoped to have water running down the new drain on Monday. A concrete culvert was recently put across the road, and the drain along West Street has been fenced off for safety reasons. The high level of water in the pit has been a serious problem for the firm, as the clay for brick-making is taken from it.

Bradman as Amateur Fireman The Australian Test captain (Don Bradman) helped to check a fire at the factory of Slazengers (Australia) Pty., Ltd., in Bowden Street, Alexandria, on December S. Bradman was inspecting cricket bats in the factory when, it is believed, an electric spark ignited sawdust. Bradman and employees kept the flames in check until firemen from three city and suburban stations arrived. The damage was not serious. “There must be something in the electric personality of Don Bradman that causes things to happen when he gets among cricketing gear,” said the manager .of the factory. “Soon after Bradman arrived sparks began to fly from the dust extracting machine. For a few minutes, Bradman turned from being the world’s leading batsman to a fire fighter. Firemen finished the job before the damage was serious enough to interfere with the production work of the fac tory.”