CLUTHA NEWS ITEMS.

Bruce Herald, Volume LV, Issue 62, 14 August 1919, Page 4

CLUTHA NEWS ITEMS.

(From Clutfia Leader.) ..Mr John. "Christie has disposed of porHon- -of his Rosebantto property 'to Mr D. Murray, of Clyde;vale. Their© was reversion in 'atmospheric coiTdHtions to midPwinter last "Friday ■morning, wheal' the thermo'iiveter registered fivo dtegi-ees of frost in the ttfwji. At the last .meeting of' the Clutha Presbytery it was agreed, 0.11 the motion of Mr Hume, seconded iby Mr Campbell, to extern!) the Presbytery's very sincere, sympathy to Mr Peter ■Robertson, x>f Puerua, in the death of his son, Private Norman Robertson. The Foresters' Dramatic Company's •presentation! of "The; Marked Marriage" at Kaitangata on. Friday night was highly successfnil from a financial about £3O being token* at the dioor. To-iworrow night the company' play at 'Clinton, and oro Wednesday, August 27, at' Owaka. At Wednesday's meeting of the Clutha Presbytery it was- agreed, on the motion of Mr Currie, seconded ; by Mr Edwards, to ask the Assembly to admit;. Rev. Henry Williams, late of Waiweni and Kaihiku, to the 'benefits of the beneficiary funds as from the (beginning of July, and to grant him the position of emeritus minister, with a seat in Presbytery, Synod, aiwli Assembly.

Three more sawmills in the Catlins district, have been closed down as a result of the curtailed railway sea-vices. These- mills are Campbell and' Leggat's ■at Tahakopa, Wright, Watson and Harrington '"s at Tahakopa, and H. F. Moss' Ltd., at Bouipapa. It is estimated that there is fully 500,000 ft of timber stacked at the three mills waiting to be carried away.

"We understand that the Land Pur- • chase Board purpose inspecting the pro-, pea-ties of Messrs Pan net t and Lucas,_ at Tuapeka Mouth with a view toae» quiring the same, for soldiers' settlement. Mr James Glenn's- farm of 1129 acres, near Georgetown, North Otago, is now definitely purchased 1 for returned soldiers. It will cut up into four suitable for mixed farming. The land ha 9 been very well used-, and is in a good state of cultivation, and' it is arranged that Mr Glenn shall carry on as usual, breaking up more lea land, until the department is ready to take over' in March next. Several other properties' in North; Otago are under offer, and on two of theiin, special valuations have been made, but the purchase is- not yet definitely arranged for. Properties in the vicinity of Otanomomo are also under offer,' and Mr Sadd (the commissioner) proposes to visit them; in convpany with Mr James Smith 1 (the other member of the Landi Purchase Board.), to see if they are suitable for refuge , pasture for the Otanomomo settlers in time of flood-..

At his meeting on Friday night the organise of the New Zealand Labour Party (Mr Cook) said that the 'Government paid the Union Steamship ..'.Company over £70,000 a year to carry coal from the- State, coal mine. If the State had its own freight steamers one-half ■of that would be saved." He thought it a pernicious system to allow the Union •Company to make this out of the people.■Delving into the coal shortage, he considered anyone was'pretty safe ini making the statement that there was not the coal shortage represented. At Nightcaps a few days- previous he saw 50 full trucks. When he asked why they were there the reply was that there Were no trains to -take- them away. The same was the case at Kaitangata. At Wellington! he had spoken to people ■who said there were- thousands of tons of coal on the Coast, ibut there' were no ships to take it away. The Governorgeneral had! taken a trip round the islands to avoid the winter, and the steamer was using coal, and the NewZealand would be here-soon requiring 3000 tons, whilst kiddies were being put to Ibed in Chi-istchurch because they Qiad no eoal for the fires to keep them warm. People could be see-ir waiting all day in Wellington to- get coal. The speaker then went on- to give his opinion of the National Government, which, it ds scarcely necessary to acid, was" not much. If the public .generally were only satisfied with Mr Cook's statement of the coal position "everything in the garden would toe lovely."