ASHBURTON ITEMS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17391, 28 February 1922, Page 11

ASHBURTON ITEMS.

Salmon Hahing. A number of Ashburton anglers visited the mouth of the Rakaia river at the week-end and had the pleasure of seeing scores of quinnnt salmon disporting themselves in the stream. As one enthusiast put it, they appeared to'be at play, and tumbling over each other, and were by no means disposed to swallow artificial bait, with a result that only one was caught, Mr E. B. Newton landing a fish three feet in length, and weighing over 201b. Those "Ashburton anglers, however, who journeyed to the mouth of the Rangitata had good sport. The Acclimatisation ranger, Mr J. S. Main, landed two salmon, one scaling 261b and the other 251b. Mr H. P. Hurst landed one weighing 13Jlb, and Mr Davidson caught ona of the same weight. A few trout were caught at Hnketere, but salmon now being so plentiful, both in the Rakaia and Bangitata rivers, the experienced anglers are giving the trout a rest, and devoting their attention to the big fish. In addition to the above a» considerable number of salmon have recently been caught in both of the big rivers, the fish weighing from 141b to 181b. Governor-General's Visit. His Excellency the Governor-General i 9 expected to be In Ashburton on Thursday, when he will be a guest in the evening of _ the committee of the Ashburton Soldiers' Clnb on the occasion of the annual banquet. Boiling. In the two four-rink Pennant bowling green, the home teams scored a dual victory. The Ashburton B team beat Rakaia by 93 points to 62 and Ashburton 0 beat Methven by 123 points to 47. A'sub-centre tournament is being ar* ranged for the Easter holidays between teams representing the Ashburton, Rakaia, and Methven Clubs. A subcentre championship match will be a' feature of the tournament, and each ( club will choose its own representative. Tinwald Town Board. The Tinwald Town Board has decide ed to create a sanitary area, similar to the sanitary areas of Methven and other fairly thickly populated country centres. At the last meeting of the Board considerable discussion took place on the question of the amount of levy by way of rates the Tinwald Town Board district had to pay to the Ash"burton Hospital Board. Although the expenses of patients from the Tinwald district amounted to only £ll7, the Board's share of the levy to the Hospital Board amounted to £324, which was a great tax on the district, and but for having had to pay this amov.ut the Board would now be free of any

?t?JE? "weting- with a view to dfeEE g the 'WMtio", and seeing ?!f ep i a ?'? dterMiou could be madl skedchtnge. 0 « W a »*"- Inquest. ' tJ^r" Wfls Md at tho Ashburton Courthouse yesterday, before Mr James Cow, District Coroner, with reference to the recent finding, on the Ninety Mile beach, near Waterton, of a man s leg, with a boot attached to the . root and which was subsequently iden--7 i M .%* of Arth "r Henry Miller, wiio had been missing"" from Timaru since January 25th last, and who had been a railway employee. Halter David Dawson, a fanner residing at Waterton, stated that on February loth he was walking along the sea beach at Waterton when he noticed something strange in the breakers. On going to have a look at it he found it to be "part of the right leg of man, with a boot on it. He removed the leg to a safe spot, communicated with ahe police, and handed it over to Constable Ebss the following morning. He sawno other part of a body on the beach. Gladys Lillian Miller, of Timaru, said her husband's name was Arthur Henry Miller. He was 22 years of age, and a railway porter by occupation. He had threatened to leave her, and had also threatened to do away with, himself. On the evening of January 25th there was some unpleasantness between them, and she threatened to leave him. He told.her that he would jump into the sea if he had to keep her. Ho left the house about seven o'clock, and went towards the beach near Saltwater creek. Witness did not place much reliance on her husband's statement that . lie would do away with himself if he had to keep her. He was a man of violent temper, and when in a temper he did not know what he was doing. On February 21st witness was shown the boot produced, which she at once identified as that of her husband. The boot was also identified by W. Arnaud as, one he had repaired for her husband. Her husband did not drink to excess. He was in oho of his violent tempers on the night of January 25th, which was the last time she saw him alive. Constable C. Ross said the leg appeared to have been in the water about three weeks. He\ had searched the beach for a considerable distance both north and south, but had not found any other portion of a body. The distance from Timaru to where the leg was found was from thirty to forty miles, and there was always a strong current running from Timaru north. \ Senior-Sergeant Jackson gave evidence as to the identification of the boot. J A verdict was returned to the effect that William Henry Miller committed suicide by drowning while in one of his violent fits of temper, and that thero was no doubt that the remains found on the Ninety Mile beach were part of his body.