Clutha News Items.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 56, 18 June 1908, Page 2

Clutha News Items.

(From the Clutha Leader*) On Saturday, Corpl. _ ol Puerua, won the C.M.B. Championship Skooting Cug. for, : Tn'succes'sidn. \fild pigeons are reported to be very scarce in the Catlins bush.; it is - feared the stoats and weafcels' art playing havoc with them as with other bird life In the bush. The Ahuriri Valley is looking very well at the present time. Owing to the mildness of the season the land is very dry, and the paddocks green. There are several large fields of turnips, which are a oapital orop, in the valley., The advantages .of liming is quite apparent, and has had a .wonderful tffect on the appearance and productiveness of the locality. Anyone driving through the Glenomaru, Ahuriri, and " Owaka districts cannot help noticing the absence ol rabbits. In places that used to ba "alive with them," only a stray, cne is now to be seen. The spread ol the natural enemy is said to bo the cause of the improved condition of affair*. The Catlins flistrict haß, up till the last year or so, been a very successful place for bee-farming, ond iargt quantities of honey used to be~' sent away. The past season has ten* a failure, however, and the yield will not be much more than a tenth vhat it should be. Foul brood getting into the hives has been the wrief : cause of the trouble. For some considerable time the Publie Library in connection with the Eaitahgatja Athenaeum has what handicapped owing to the' iaQJ* being altogether inadequate fox the display of the large number of' books belonging to the institution. ' Tor some time this difficulty has beea trader consideration by the management but nothing definite was arrived at until some two months ago when it was decided to make some alterations to the building. A tender has becoi accepted for the work and it is rxpeeted that in the course of a few weeki the work will be completed. The prosperity of New Zealand has been very great certainly, but, M an Exchange puts it, nothing mora remarkable than what Australia has experienced. But Australian treasurers haVe taken advantage of buoyant revenues to curtail ' borrowing, while in New Zealand the more prosperous we are the more we borrow. Betweea 1906 and 1907 our Publio Debt went up by £1,606,071, and notwithstanding the increase in population, the Public Exchequer draws £9 16/ from every head of the population as compared with £6 10/10 in 1896, There can be no question about the country being it were not it would not stand it.

Dr Howell, agricultural adviser in Victoria, spentyiiiree clays in this district last - week. He is making a tour of New Zealand in the interests of his State, enquiring into the methods of agriculture and dairying here. During his visit to this district he was shown round by Mr Gilmoiir, of the Stock Department. He spent the best part of a day on Mr Gilroy's model farm at Stirling, and saw tb« L.K.G. milking machine at wort at Mr Weir's, where 95 cows are being milked, the - Hartnett machine r at work at Mr Wm. Smith's, and the Austral at Mr A. H. Anderson'», He found that each of these partite had faith in the machines, and that, though not faultless, they were'on the whole giving satisfaction. The general conclusion was that milking machines had come to stay. Dr HowtlJ also visited Stirling Dairy Factory, and made a tour of various putts of the district. 'He was greatly impreaj sed with the capabilities of the disI trict, and soirle of the turnip crop# I were an eye-opener to him. | The monthly, meeting o! the Ka4tangata "Band o! Hope," -was held in the Church Hall on Friday evening, ! the Rev. W. T. Ciirrie presiding. During the last winter, meeting^ l Wire held ' every month, the evenings entertain- ' ment proving so attractive, that as the meetings became better known the ' seating! capacity, of the large hall was | taxed 'iTriday'evening'# meeting wasi the second held this wm-, • ter, and was/quite up to , the standard!of ..the/ previous ones.; The 'fcnte&sin-! mfent; : takes ! the foriA' of recitations, dialogues, etc., by the children, in'terpersed here .and. there with songs, etc., from a few of matu* rer years. The meetings are thoroughly enjoyed by all and if the . enthusiasm displayed is any criterion of what is too follow, we may see Kaii tanjgata well up with the three-fifth 'majority on election day. The-man- . 1 agement of the entertainments iS-in the l capable hands of the Christian Endeai vour Society whose several" 1 members Spare no pains to bring out the 'talent, I which otherwise might lie dormant within the bosoms of the juv&iiles. The. steamer. Cly de, , while coming : down from ClydevaW Upper Station lon Saturday, met with a mishap at 1 the Balclutha traffic bridge that might have been attended with more serious [ consequences than occurred.. It was between. 5. and 6' o'olock ahd>- jtbt 4 get- | ting dark, there was a bags "of grain and eh'kff* *'... fashion on-deck,-there"was "a'titfbf a flood in the river, and, as is usual in order to keep way; onj j v the' boat" swepi round tie bend above the bridge at the rate of 18 or 20 knots an .hour, . The current?BWiMg her stern over to the norifi side, and before the captaijd " had to get he* , straightened up to, negotiate the pass- , age way between' "the"cylinders, she crashed* heavily against' the cylinder , on the port side amidships. / From that she recoiled and struck the lower- ; cylinder with her bow on the starboard side. She 1 was then ran ashore • oh the south side below* the-bridge, when an examination showed that she was making a little water, but with a readjustment of the Cargo she was able to proceed rouM to her moorings. AYith the first : impact a quantity of chaff toppled overbbard. Several plates are cracked, and there arc sundry dents and bulges, but four . men from McGregor's foundry arrived yesterday, and two more are coming to-day, and in a week's time it is expected she will be able to resumft work.