THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18094, 9 June 1924, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

THE ROYAL SHOW. A MARLBOROUGH COMPLAINT. (SPECIAL TO "the pjysss.") BLENHEIM, June 8. Rererring at the A. and P. Association s meeting to the proposed schedule for- the Royal Show, Mr C. G. Teschemaker drew attention to what he called a serious and absurd omission in the sheep section, there being no class for halfbreds. Seeing that halfbred sheep were of exceedingly great importance to Marlborough and Canterbury, and to a lesser extent to the remainder of New Zealand, it was extraordinary "that they should have been neglected. ' Mr leschemaker said it was the second serious oversight of the Royal .Show Committee, as they had previously disregarded the merinos until reminded by the Marlborough Association. He mo\ ed that the Royal Association bo recommended to include halfbreds in the schedule. „ S - ,T- Richmond remarked that the i\o} al bliow was onlv for purebred stock, and halfbreds did not come under that heading. Mr H. Y. Monro remarked that halfbreds were good enough to be included in the flock Book. The motion was adopted 1 .

JOTTINGS FOR FARMERS. Giow era of cereals m Canterbury and Otago have had a bad time of it during the present year, remarked the Prime Minister at Wellington on Friday. In many cases, he said, their crops were just failures, and anyone could understand that that sort of thing affected business. It was operating against the briskness in trade that one would like to see. There was nothing in the way of a depression in Otajro, but when a very important section "of the producers. found that they had made no profit during the year, and in many cases a loss, that fact alone must affect the whole of the people in the district where it happened. Ine sheep-farmers had done very well indeed. "They liaive had a season that suited, them,'" said Mr Massey. "There was a good lambing, and the lambs and wethers fattened well, and the farmers got a particularly good price for their wool.* They, are all right; and, of course, rvery cheerful and happy." OXFORD. The Oxford W.C.T.U. inet in the Coronation Hall last week, the president, being in the chair. The half-yearly statement of accounts presented by the treasurer was adopted. A letter was received from Mr Caverhill, offering a concert by his Sunbeam Party, • in aid of the piano fund, the concert to be given in September. It was decided to accept the offer with .thanks. Band of Hope matters were discussed and the committee formed at the last meeting was appointed to' take charge of Band of Hope work for this.year. It was decided to .invite, the Rangiora. branch to spend a social evening with the senior members. Mrs Hawke,'"White Ribbon Superintendent, said that seven new subscribers liad been gained this year, and thai 59- copies of the "White _ Ribbon" were now circulated in Oxford district.' A collection was taken up in aid of Maori work. A sacred sofp by Mrs Robertson was much appreciated by thce£ present. ohoka: ' • Mr Sam Craig and family have left the district to take up, their residence in Otago. Mr Craig will be much missed at the annual sports, at which he handled* the Highland events on the programme most' efficiently. ■At a meeting of the Cricket Club it was decided to hold a social and dance .at an. early date to, raise • funds for the improvement of the ground. The Domain Board, which generously helped the Tennis Club by subsidising all funds' raised, has agreed to give the. cement for a new pitch if the club will supply the labour. The Sports CJub is to hold its annual meeting early in July, when the preliminary arrangements for a smoke concert will be made. There being a dearth' of amusements this winter the Hall Committee proposes to run a series of fortnightly dance and euchre parties with the joint obiec-t of raising funds for the improvement of the Hall and promoting sociability.

LOBURN. At the weekly progressive euclne evening, for which prizes were given bv Mr J W. Mocleod, there was fair attendance. Miss White and Miss A Kennedy wore equal for first place, and in "cutting" for the ladie ® . I 1 "*® Miss White was while Mi George Croft. jun., won the men s Se Consolation awards went to llisa S Hodgson and Mr C. May. ' A preliminary Pa'rk^ with the All Black team uas held in the Coronation Hall on Saturday evening. OKAIN'S BAY. hi r Hartley, who has been iu Mr , J ,\, Cr some months, has been poor health for swine )oft for ordered .a complete J", -Hanmer Spnnp iittle daughMrs George Gr Mrs charles ter are on a , vl! f ad Christchurch. Moore, Brett s Ko binson and family aJ I vfsit to' Christchurch. . Heg Hartley and her sister -n'!\«n are spending a few Miss H ead, Edgewnre road, days wiUi Mrs q Graham, are Messrs G. Hall an of inc at Mrs L. vra , t present , st ayKegan of "Belvedere." ing WJth Mrs I. t i n the library The Ladies Guiia Mrs James on Thursday number of orders Boieyn p« s " ' „o o ds. Those present were received toi g j T _ are s . were Mesclam Arnold Ware, Harris, b. ( , A. McKay, P. Cummmgs. and Miss Beth Ware.

HINDS. 1 cnldiers of Hinds held The returned evening in their a""",, „.i,en there was a good Hinds Hall, * j w u w as decorated attendance. , reener v. Excellent with flags £ j ied by Mitchell's Ormusic whs , W as served in a large chestra. S ' l^ d c iose to the hall. The marquee erecte e carried out by Mr duties ot n-y- jhirine an interval Mr D. Butterick- J* { £ Hinds Football J. Oook, returned • soldiers, proClub and H> n j jj. im pton with a traeented > lr He spoke-of the valuable veiling rug. b tlie recipient, who services render ■ • i n ' the district. was deserv-edly P?P» Uy rcspori d e d. Mr Mr Han l Pr*; + u« energetic secretary, C. P- K<? ?r t hose who had helped to thanked a success, and the make for the free use Hinda Hah of the hall- ....

marshland. The bazaar lveld recently in aid of tho Hall Improvement Fund provea 'to I>© n. great success. At the meeting of the committee, held on "Wednesday "last., tho treasurer reported the net. proceeds would be about £160; •with the amount already in would make a total of £220 to the credit of the fund. A further meeting of the committee will be held on ruesday, June 17th. . . A local concert party, which is £p v '"S concerts in the surrounding districts, journeyed to Harewo d on Fndaj evening last. The lengthy and varied programme was well received by the large audience, tlie performers having to respond to numerous recalls. In® thanks of the pnrty are due to the "Harewood Social Club fo£ making the preliminary arrangements and providing refreshments for the visitors.

LE BON'S BAT. The usual monthly meeting of the directors of the Dairy Company was held last week, there being present Messrs P. Barnett (chairman), •W----liott, W McKay, I>. Barker, and A. fc. Williams (secretary). It was decided to accept tenders for wood for two vears' supply from J. Gurney and >V. The steamer was unable to call here durintr tho bad weather and. to the disappointment of several residents, failed to turn up oil Wednesday. It is three weeks since the steamer called and some people are becoming very sh«rt of ctnres. . ' The Football Hub held its fortnightly darc° last Tuesday. 'The weather was chilly and manv preferred their own firesides, but nevertheless the dancers enjoyed themselves. those present -were: uibb, Truman. •Sharpo. Misses G. M. Crottv. A, Crottv, P. McKay. A. McKay. T. Parker, EIK Gibb, A. Fall, Messrs B. Parker. J. Truman, L Barker, F. Barker. J. Barker. H. Cosser, A. Gibb, C. Crottv, L. Crottv, H. Dalglish, F. Hinds, H. Anderson, H. T'helning, J. Gilbert, R. Gilbert, W - Sharpe, C. Barnett. Mr H. Thelning was M.C. The music was supplied by several of those present. The memories of the older residents arc taken back to the early days, by the presence of a sawmill in the bay. Once there were several here, but they passed many years ago as tho bush became cut out. The rise in the price of current for lighting has caused much unfavourable comment. PREBBLETON. About sixty people attended the All Saints' euchre tournament, which was held in the library on Thursday evening. Tho play resulted as follows: Ladies, Mrs Freeman, Doulton jug, Ist; Mrs W. Hands, 2nd; gentlemen, Mr Joe Nicholas, Ist, clothes brush; Mr Bert "Witt© 2nd. The next party will bo hold on the Saturday wght as usual. The Football Committee met on Wednesday evening, when Mr fe. McNally presided over a good attendance of members. Final arrangements were made for the club's annual smoke concert, given in honour of the vicepresidents and other supporters of tho club. It was reported that there was some difficulty in securing a full team to play in the third grade matches, and members were urged to turn out whenever possible in order that the matches might be more interesting. The following, additional candidates; tor queens in the Queon Carnival have been nominated": —No. 7, Lily Millar, (orange), No. 8, Bertha Thornton (white). ' The monthly meeting of the School Committee was hold on Monday evening, when there were present: Messrsi J. Kingan (chairman), A. Maxey, G. Walker, H. Prebble, and Buckenham /sec-rotary). The headmaster, Mr B. P. Mooclie, wrotestating that lie, liad been granted three months' leave;., on. account ,of ill-health, and the reported .that a . relieving master , wasi in charge. A discussion took place regarding a school ■ Concert to be'held a few weeks hence iii aid of the fund for an, asphalt assembly ..court. Mr Buckenham kindly offered his assistance to the teachers for the prepara/tion of the children for several items. Miss B. Carpenter and Miss Bessie! Carpenter leave An-Tuesday on a holi-day-visit to Westport and Grevmouth. The dismal weather of the past fortnight, has at last given place to a succession of fin© bright days,. with more than a suggestion of frost in the early mornings. PENDARVES. Heavy sou'-west winds, with rain prevailed at the end of last week and the -beginning of the present week, and farm work was of necessity at a standstill. On Tuesday a. change for the better set in, .and frost has since been experienced, followed by bright sunshine. The rainfall for this district for the month of May was 4.37 in, while for the year 1924 to date, it has been 12.02 in. This, so far, is very satisfactory, as the months of July and August can generally be relied) upon to increase the rainfall considerably., . On Tuesday the Pendarves and Chertsey school football teams held;, a match in Mr P. Doig's paddock. The result was a- win for the Pendarves team by the narrow margin of 2_ points. For Pendarves tries were obtained by Ronald Cameron and H. Watson (2). For Chertsey, tries were obtained bv 0. Croy (4), who also kicked a penalty goal. Two tries were, converted by R. Fleet. Mr M. Bruce (Seafield) acted as referee. After the match the hovs were entertained at tea in tl"* Pendarves Hall by some of the ladies of the district. A euchre tournament will be held in the Hall on Friday evening in aid of Hall funds. Mr H. iSprott intends to leave on a trip to the Old Country on June 19th. Miss Bayliss is at present relieving teacher at Pendarves school, in place of Miss K. Penny, who has recently undergone an operation for appendicitis. Miss Penny's many friends will be pleased to know that; she is progressing favourably.

RAKAIA. At a meeting of the Ploughing Match Association held in the Road Board Office, Mr R. Oakley presided over a good attendance. The names of Messrs E. Fox, J. C. Irwin, I. Thompson, Archibald Stewart ana L. Oakley were added to the list of vicepresidents. A special committee of the Association appointed to obtain a paddock for the forthcoming . ploughing match reported that arrangements had been mado with Mr H. Wilkinson for the use of his 50 acre paddock. It was decided that cups and prizes should be won on the points system. It was resolved to offer a cup for the best 3 or 4-horse team and also for the best o or 6-horse team, both district classes. Ihe money prizes are to be allocated the same as last year. It was announced that Mr T. Blackley had promised a cup valued at £5 ss. The following ludges were appointed: Ploughing: Messrs A. J. Hulston (Halkett), P. Hunter (Studholmo), J. Gilmour (Tai Tapu), _J. Turnbull (Tinwald); harness decorations and grooming, Messrs George Withers (Prebbieton), J. Richards (Express Company, Christchurch): .A o H S, _x Messrs Petcr Shearer, j«n. (Ashlmrton) and E. E. Jenkins (Dunsandel). Mr C Featherstone, of the Rakaia branch of the N.Z. Loan and MercanI rl S n n Co.' has been transferred to DnrneM. and his place is being taken by Mr Victor McPhail, of the Christchurch office and formerly' 0 f Rakaia. Mr M. Cunneen, of the National Mortgage and Agency Co., has- received

notice of, his 'promotion .to. the Gb,ns{;church office. Mr Burns, of "Methven,' haa begn appointed to the -. Rakaia agency, •,* ' ' • At the Rakaia Domain the match be-, tween the Aslihurto'n High School and Rakaia B ladies' hockey teams resulted in a win for High' School by 8 goals to nil. Mr M. Baker was referee.