THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16360, 4 November 1918, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES. ASHBUHTON A. AND PASSOCIATION. A meeting of the General Committee of the Ashburton A. and P. Association was held on Saturday afternoon, Mr J • Cow presiding. . . A vote of condolence" v,-as passea witn the relatives of the la to ilr William lieid, who was a member of tlio Association. Tlio chairman referred to the surrender of Turkey. lie would like, he said, to see the war ended as soon as possible, but ho hoped it would not end until the Germans had been given a little of their own medicine. The Association had members who had gone to tlio front, tea of whom had made the supremo sacrifice. The chairman added that Mr J. Kerrigan, M.R.C.V.S., the Government Veterinary Supervisor, had offered to give a gold medal to the Association, and he had agreed with the Association's suggestion' that the modal should be given for the best essay on increasing the E-copo and usefulness of the Association. It was dccidcd that this suggestion bo adopted, and a committee was appointed to arrange the details. The following new members were elected: —Messrs E, Goss, C. D. Fraser J. A. Hannand, Thomas Lilley, and SV. Stephens. The chairman slatvd that tho special effort to pay off the overdraft of AJIOOO had resulted in £981 being raised, including subscriptions and the sale of a section of land at Tinwald, which realised £438 10>. This was a very happy stato of affairs, and tho balanco of tho £1000 would, he felt, be easily raised. This would enablo the Association to increase its usefulness by means of agricultural education out of profits the Association would make after tho overdraft was paid off. > .The chairman brought up the question of making the next autumn show a patriotic one. He moved in that direction. The patriotic fund would have to be increased to assist those men who would be returning from the war, and he thought the Associa- I , tion could well afford to mako its next show a patriotic one. Tho motion was carried unanimously. JOTTINGS rOli FARMERS. Mr W. P. Storicker, Sutton Farm, Timaru, writes:—The rainfall for October was 1.21 in, and for tfie corresponding month of last year 1.-12 in, Tho average for October over a period- of thirty years is 1.98 in. Some severe frosts were experienced in October—an exceptionally hard one on the 25th, when t> degrees were recorded. At a meeting of the Tiiuaru branch of the Farmers' Union, held on Saturday, the ■wool commandeer was discussed. and it was decided:—"That the Timaru branch of the Union agrees to tho proposal to extend the wool commandeer for twelve months sifter the .war." In the course of tho discussion it was said that, there was no justification for tlio ■ way the public were being exploitod through woollen goods, as during tho past three years there had been no advance in price to the growers for their wool, yet the price of the manufactured article had gone up 100 per cont. HANMER SPRINGS. Dr. Hendry has resigned his position of P.M.O. Nt "Queen Mary Hospital," after threb years' servico. Dr. and Mrs Hendry" leave about the end of tho month, and will have a holiday trip before settling down in Dunedin; The weather during tlio month ofOctober was-very wet and cold. Rain •fell on seventeen days, tho total fall being 4.65 in. The heaviest was on tho 31st, wh<?n .98in fell. There were ten davs with "frost, 8 degrees being record-- • cd' on tho 20th, -thirteen days windy, and three days without stih, while 167hrs;10min sunlight was. recorded. There-wero several falls of snow on the high country, hut none lay on the plains. Fine weather ,is very much needed. SEDGEMERE. Private E. F. Haimaford, who recently returned from tho front, was accorded a publio welcome at a Bocial held in his honour on Thursday evening, in the Sedgemero Hall. Owing to the prevalenco of influenza, the attendance was rather smaller than is usual at these functions, but the social proved very enjoyable. On > behalf of tho residents 1 , Mr I. McGill presented the guest- with a gold medal, suitably inscribed, as a mark of esteem and appreciation. The gueat made a suitable reply. A hearty welcome was also extended to soveral other returned soldiers who were*present. S'OUTHBRIDOE. Mr It A. Maw has been elected unopposed to fill the vacancy on the Southbridge Town Board.

DUNSANDEL. I A highjy-respoctcd resident of Dunsandol passed away on Friday in the j person of Mr William Crossan, at the age or 83. Until rocently Mr Crossan, who lived with his son-in-law, Mr W. J. Stephens, enjoyed good health, and was very activo for a man of his years. He had a. severe attack of influenza, which was followed by other complications, causing his death. The funeral took .place. ywiterclav, and was well attended, "thq remains being interred ill Brooksi.de Cfemelpry'.' .... A social,- undcj* the auspices o» the Hall aaid.Library Committee, took place on Friday evening. ■ A card match between teams representing Ellesmere and Selwyn Counties was won by Selwyn by 46 points to 10 points. After supper a danco was held, for which Miss Owors and Mesdames McEwan and Brown played. Dunsandel, like other districts, is having a had timo with influenza, in sonio cases vholo families being down' with the maiadv. Only about half the pupils are attending the public school. j KIRWEE. ' The rainfall for the month of October was 2.18 Rain fell on. twelve days, the heaviest fall being .62 inch on the 23rd. Tho fall for the corresponding montli. of 1917 was 1.31 inches, aiid <)f 1916 1.02 inches. The fall recorded for the ten months ended October 31st was 21.05 inches, and for the corresponding period of 1917 22.60 inches. The early part of the mQnth was marked bv a succession of strong nortli-west winds, which dried the surface of the ground, and prevented tho grass from getting a start. There were also several frosts, which cut most or the early potatoes and other tender garden vegetables. Stone fruits did not appear to suffer, very much damage, there being heavv crops of peaches, apricots, and nectarines. During the last ten days there has been- a fair amounti of rain, and the country is looking much' better. Tho cereal crops have looked well all along, but tho rain was needed to keep them going. . _ The influenza epidemic has been rife in the district during the last few weeks, and has been rather severe in some cases. The attendance at the ■local school has for some time been only about half the avera-ge. RANGIORA. The Homo Mission services in connexion ' with tho Rangiora Methodist Circuit were held yesterday, the Rev. Samuel Lawrv officiating. He preached at Woodend in. the morning, Sefton in the afternoon, and Rangiora at night. KAIAPOI. Special services were held in the Kaiapoi Methodist Church yesterday in connexion with the Sunday school anniversary. The circuit Roll of Honour, containing 117 names, was. unveiled by Mr R. Evans at the afternoon service. Special hymns and anthems were sung by the children, under Mr E. Martin, at all services. AIvAROA. At a meeting-of the directors of the Peninsula Saleyards Company, held at Duvauchelle on Friday, the secret;unreported that {he yard fees for the October sale were £12 1.3s Bd. It was decided to raise the wages of the yardman to 12s per day. Mr Wilkins reported that the two new offices were now completed. ASHBURTON. The C 2 Re-examination Board. which completed its sitting at Ashburton. on Saturday, dealt with 42 First- Division men who were originally clashed C 2. Of. this number only one was classed Fir'A. At present the C 2 Board is not dealing with C 2 Second Division men. It is reported that a big percentago of the men who were re-examined were suffering from goitre, a complaint which appears to be more common in Canterbury than in most parts of Nc-w Zealand. Captain X. C. Jones, vrho lias been in command of C Company, Second Regiment, at Ashburton'for some time, has received advice to proceed to camp to-day (Monday). . The rainfall at Valetta in the Mayfield district for the month of October was 4.44 inches. Bishop Julius paid a visit to, Ashburton on Saturday evening and held a confirmation service in St. Stephens Church yesterday morning, administering tho rite to thirty-three candidates. He preached in the church both morning and evening to ful] congregations.

TEMUKA. A hi ,T hlv successful social, organised by the Maori Soldiers' Entertainment, Committee, ,was held last '.night m tho Arowhenua Hall, in "".aid ■of the Maori Soldiers' Pay Fund.. Songs, dances, and hakas followed each other in rapid succession. Tho fund will benefit as a result to tho extent of £lti life 9d. . Mr J. Kennedy, Temuka, lias received word ihai: bis son, Private S. J. Konnodv. has. lo report at discharge -den-it. England, on November 14th. r.rivaro Kennedy left with tho 15th Re-. infor'-enK'Uts. On I' l idav evening the send-off to tho member-: oi' the 18th. Reinforcements took plr.ee at. the Dominion Theatre. Ilio recruits inarched from Cunnkms corner headed by the Juvenile Brass Band, under Mr Burtenshaw. They were heartily cheered by tho audienco cn entering the theatre. The rhairrflaiii addressed tho men, and the Mayor addressed the audienco on tho unconditional surrender of Turkey. A telegram on the subject, received fi'om Mr Talbot, M.P., was jeacl. A splendid programme was given by Mrs Halley's patriotic orchestra, and musical items were given by Miss Amy Holgato, Annetts, L. Veil sing, Messrs L. G. Bruce, T. J. O'Connor, Wotherspoon, Jim Lynch, and Master Kohn. • The following were the vital statistics for Temuka district for October: —Births, 10, deaths 7, marriages 4.