ASHBURTON.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14344, 2 May 1912, Page 4

ASHBURTON.

At the meeting of the Hamp&tead Town Board, the chairman (Mr W. JSilcock) rcjwrted a debit balance of j £2/ 10s. A letter was received from the Municipal Association's solicitor. stating that the Board could legally contribute towards the payment of a section of ground purchased by the • Hampstead School Committee. ' The j secretary reported that all the general j rates had been paid, excepting £18 10s, i and that there were only four water ' rates owing. The overdraft had been j reduced from £500 to £27 10s. Notice j of motion was given to strike a general Tt iH ?£__• in th ? £1 aD( * a tigging rate of 3rl6th pt a penny in the £1. "A meeting of delegates from local bodies in the Ashburton district has been convened for the purpose of selecting a delegate for tho Wellington Conference regarding local government. During the sou-west storm on Monday night there was „ heavy fall of i enow away on the back ranges, and j there was a depth of over two inches on the flats in the vicinity of Mount ■Somers. The rainfall at Ashburton from nine o clock on Monday morning

till nine o'clock yestordav morning was 0-43 inch. The weather, which had been bitterly cold during the day. cleared towards evening. At a meeting of the Board of Governors of tiie Ashburton HM, .--School yesterday. Mr Joshua fucker was unanimously re-elected chairman Mr Tucker wa.s accorded a hearty vote of thanks for the valuable services he had rendered m the past as chairman. b ive applications were con.sidt.reil for the position of second headmaster at the school, and tin* chairman finally reported that Mr J. A. Gordon, of Cliristcluirch. hnd been appointed Air Gordon will take up his duties on May 21st. A few evenings ago an Ashburton poultry breeder, hearing a noise in hi* back-yard, went out and caught two iiersons in the act of chasing a Wyandotte hen. ami on closer investigation he saw they had caught a number of others, and had them with their legs tied uml lying under a hedge. TJu* bird.; were speedily returned to their rightful owner. At a meeting of th-> committee of tho Ashburton Poultry Society the schedule for the forthcoming show was considered and revised, and the following 1 judges were appointed :—Utilitv classe-s, Mr Brown (Government Poultry ExDi'it); Leghorns, pigeons and canaries, Mr A. S. Palmer (Timaru,; selling and juvenile classes, Mr W. JI. Robii_,ou (Ashburton); all other classes. Mr F. Daen*. (Christchurch); Messrs W. H. Robinson. T. Breeze,aud the chairman were appointed a special prize committee. "... The chairman reported that Mr Henry Davis had offered a valuable cup for competition, and it was decided to allocate the cup to the best bird in classes 1 to 7,*-*. Mr A. 1.. Zouch's cup was allotted to tiio be<*t bird in classes 7!) to 136. The vital statistics for Ashburton for the month of April arc:—Births 33, deaths 13, marriages 10. For the corresponding mouth last year tho figures were:—Births *_."", 'deaths o, marriages P. Tho Ashburton High School Board has received from Air Hugo Friedlander tho sum of -£'!*(), as a first instalment of the £60 he has generously offered towards a scholarship to assist those High School pupils who may havo passed examinations with credit, but who may not succeed in gaining scholarship.**, and who are desirous of continuing their studies and taking the university course. | The total rainfall for the year, as registered at Ashburton up to*the end of April, is 11.47 inches. j Tho third annual meeting of tho ; Ashburton Loan and Investment SoI ciety and Bank of Deposit was held on | Tuesday evening, the chairman of 'director*-. Mr Win. Bryant, presiding. , The report stated that the year's operaj tions had been of a satisfactory nature, [and that a profit of £312 13s 8d had | been made. This the directors recommended to bo allotted as follows: —6J per cent .on' all shares (£lßl lis lOd), ' the balance (£l3l Is lOd) to be carried forward. The chairman epngratnWteJ the shareholders on the progress whicTi was being made. The deposits and loans for last year were double those of the previous year, a dividend of 6J per cent, being paid this year, while the future prospect-; of tho" Society were most encouraging. The following were re-elected directors:—Messrs IV. .7. Silcock, C. Reid. T. H. Undrill, R. Curtis. Mr H. Davis was also elected a director. Mr Bryant was re-elected chairman. Votes of thanks wero accorded tiie directors and the secretary.