The Bruce Herald MILTON, MON., JUNE 4th, 1917.

Bruce Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 43, 4 June 1917, Page 2

The Bruce Herald MILTON, MON., JUNE 4th, 1917.

The fact that little damage resulted locally from the recent flood, in conse* quence of the fortunate season at which it occurred, is unlikely to be ao cepted in extenuation of the conduct of those who might reasonahly be looked to to take the ; r courage in both hands, and initiate a movement to orovide relief from this oft-recurring danger. That the extensive tilting up of the Toko, river bed, through the agency of willow roots, during the past few years, is a serious and increasing menace to town property, as well as large tracts of farm lands adjacent to to the river is admitted by everyone, yet, whenever this subject of such interest to the district, comes before tht local bodies concerned, it is continually shuffled with, and shelved indefK nitely. The attitude of the County Council would seem to be that it is willing, if not anxious, t<> strike a rating area over the land affected, and, in fac, a movement in this direction was instituted by someone after the last flo id. But the Council contends it is powerless to do anything in this direction without a majority of those interested behind it. Of the forty odd landholders affected only a dozen perhaps were willing to submit to a special rate being levied for the purpose of clearing and straightening the river bed The County Council's chief grievance is that they have received no support from the Borough Council in their desire to improve the conditions brought about b> the unsatisfactory state of the river Oi the o'her hand, the contention that the Borough Crunci! is disinclined o support the County in its desire to -emedy the present impossible staN' that develops during any u usuil rainfall, the Mayor indignantly denies, and maintains that the shoe is on the other foot. He states that af'cr the last flood the Bor »ngh Council brought the matter very pointedly before the County, and demanded that a rom raittee be appointed of members from both bodies to go into tbe ma ter This apparently was done when the members for Tokrrmiriro riding, Messrs Scott and Russell, requester tha> the Borough Council draw up a report for presentation to the County. This was done, but up to the present no meeting of the committee has ever been convened for the purposs of considering it, Therefore, tha Mayo? maintains, the County Council is hot sincere in its profession of a desire t«. the am^iom

which obtain. Unfortunately these accounts do not squire, thus indicating, not only a very unsatisfactory state of affairs, but also a desire by one, or both, parties to side track an awkward subject, We do not Wssh to press for judgment at the present mo« ment, or apportion the blame for the continual shelving of this tiresorre questibn that will have to be faced before long, but content ourselves with drawing attention to the trend ot public opinion which may introduce ' the possibility of litigation that might end in an ignominous compliance with the public demands at a not distant date.

Owing to there being no epeoial business to transact, the June monthly meeting of the Toko, Farmers' Club has been allowed to lapse, As the close of the financial year is approaching, the secretary (Mr Alex, Scott) would be pleased to receive all outstanding subscriptions and promised donations.

At the last meeting of the Ocago Land Board Mr Waiter Atkins Kent, Milton, applied to select for cash seci-ioa 9, block.Xl, Woodlands district, contain ing 169 acres. The application was ap*. proved, This is a bush section in the Catlins district, which was thrown open for settlement some years ago, but ow« ibg to there being no railway facilities in those days a number of settlers aban* doned the pr-peaties. The railway now passes the seotion, which is partly fenced, and Mr Kent takes possession immediately.

The fourth monthly paper issued of the John Bull Register has further dis* closures re patent medicines, and says that most of the stuff costing anything up to 5s a bottle contains mixtures that only QOBb farthings, and oould not poaaioly be any remedy for diseases the stuii'is supposed to cure. Costly hair lotions are in tho list, and the exposure is a scoop for the new journal, The same paper refers to a German school in Maroon, where leßbons are still given in the German language, Government, be it noted, issue free passes over our rails ways to pupils the school, At the Government prison camp in Auoki land the Huas bought two pianos, and those of British make were refused. Government allowed the prisoners pianos of German make. What next ?

Jftmeu wioniiy, >vho was recently arrested at Forsyth, near .Lawrence, was charged in Dunedm tfolioe Court on Friday with seriously assaulting a young girl, and was committed ton trial. The girl 'v-aa committed to the Te Oranga iiome,

The absorption of the Union Steam* ship Co. by me ir*. and 0. Company ia anuounoed. The aumla'amacion ia said to bo a good hives meat tor holders of Union Company scrip. Whether it will prove equally advantageous to the producers of the Dominion is a moot pointi A sensational tragedy occurred n,t Mngill, near Adelaide, recently. Shortly after !> o'clock William Nichoiaa Mann, aged 57 years, a gardener, was shot by his son, Alexander Robert Hann aged 10 years. It is stated that deceased became quarrelsome, and threatened to shoot his wii'o and children. Fearful that his father would carry out his threat, Alexander ran into an adjoining room, and returned with a single-barrelled gun. He fired point-blank at his father. The top of Hann's head was partly blown off, and he expired a few minutes later. His wii'o ran screaming from the house, and when people living in the vicinity hastened to the scone young Hann asked them to go for the police, saying that he had shot his father. The Hon. Mr Macdonald has telegraphed to the Farmera' Union ati obriatohurcn stating that the guaranteed price to farmera for next season's wheaD will be 5s 101 per bushel, f.o.b. The Milton Methodist- Church anni* vereary services were conducted yeßter* day morning and evening by Bev, B» liaine. There were good attendances ati UQi/h serviced. The aum versary oeljbraoions will conclude this evening with a social, when a programme uf musical and elocutionary items will be presen* tod,

Scarlet favor and whooping cough have made their appearance in Milton, To-day, being the King's birthday, all business premises in Milton were closed, and a considerable number of residents, uaking advantage of the fine weather, repaired to Wmgatui to enjoy a day's racing. Other* were noticed yesterday wending their way to the coast for a few nours in their sea side cribs, and uuui-» bers of young fellows, with dogs and guns, tn.d > for the adjacent lakes. The manager oil the South. OtagO Freezing Company lias received this week the following letter from aa officer serving in Prance, together with some tags -from the local' works:—' Sir,—l am sendi«g you the .enclosed which J thought might be of interest to you, as they came up with our supplies to one of best known, or at least most written about parts of ths iiriug line. One of ilu! tags is from mutton supplied to tlio 71st Field Ambulance, and tlio ojiier is from that to a battalion of the York and Lancaster Eegiment. ' The mutton when it arrived here was in excellent condition. The New Zealand mutton as supplied to us is all of excellent quality, and none batter than chat from your works.—Yours faithful--o', J. Patrick Shaw, (Capt. 8.A.M.Q.) I'o wJio a roud me, and, perhaps, need me, Treasure every word I say j No wild rumor, hut wi.se humor, In a gay Miltonian wnv. J (Jim't sell you when I tell you That I'm absolutely sure, Laryngitis and bronchitis \ 7 ield to Woods' Great Peppermint Dure. ri . Pia your faith to " N %■)],» Thmsamfo entity tu its w udctftil curative properties or bad cold* and sore Utjt hfj nm