SOUTH CANTERBURY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18095, 10 June 1924, Page 4

SOUTH CANTERBURY.

TIMARU. Social and Personal. Mrs W. Johnson (Wai-iti road) is expected back from Dunedin to-day. Miss Chalmers left for Dunedin yesterday, after a visit to Mrs W. Burns (Church street). Mrs Snow, (Wellington) is visiting Mrs A. Roberts (Park lano). Mr and Mrs 11. H. Joyce havo returned from a visit to Dunedin. Mr and Mrs W. H. "Walton (Timaru) are on a visit to Christchurch. On the occasion of his approaching marriage, Mr J. Crerar was the guest of honour at. a very pleasant and wellattended function at Stafford House on Saturday evening. In presenting Mr "Crerar, on behalf of thoso present, with a handsome dinner servico, Mr F. Ryan referred to the sterling qualities possessed, by tho guest, and extended to h'ini,.on behalf of his many friends in the house, wishes for future happiness and prosperity. Special reference was made by other speakers to the manner in which their guest's vocal accomplishments \v;crc always available for any deserving cause. Mr Crerar suitably responded. A progrnmmo of musical items completed a very enjoyable gathering. General News. At last night's meeting of the Timaru Borough Council, the park curator reported that the rainfall for May was l.&'in, rain falling 011 1G days, and the maximum being ,72in on May 20th. He had been in Dunedin during the month, and irhilo there Mr Hart (of Messrs Hart and Daston) had given him ,30 plants of some of the rarer species of veronicas, which would be an interesting addition to tho native garden. Mr Hurt would bo pleased to supply the Council with the complete collection if they wojild endeavour to perpetuate the collection as a Whole. It was decided to thank Messrs Tannock and Hart for their courtesy, and to accept Mr Hart's offer. The revenue of tho Timaru omnibus service for April and May, 1924, was £1384 15s lOd, as against £1287 6s 5(1 for tho same mpnths last year, an increase of £97 9s sd: Coleridge Power.

Mr G. T. Wilson, electrical engineer, reported as follows to last night's meeting of the Timaru Borough Council: — Tho Coleridge supply has been very unsatisfactory during the month of May, no less than 26 interruptions }>oing experienced, and necessitating the running of the borough plant for 56 hours and 35 minutes during the month. This does not include peak load reducing, but to avoid long interruptions. The total time Coleridge supply has been off during the month is 80 hours 30 minutes, 32 hours of which was by arrangement to enable alterations to be made to switch gear, therefore deducting the 32 hours from 80 hours, the supply was off through line troubles hours for 29 days. I must emphatically protest against the Department's charge for current. They make no allowance for these annoying interruptions other than the 10 per cent, for stand-by. This does not pay even stand-by charges. However, assuming it does, we should be recompensed for having to actually run the plant for 56 hours 35 minutes in one month owing to the supply failing and being cut off when the Public Works Department ask for only 100 hours during the year. We have been off over 200 hours in six months, and if this state of affairs continues it will not only be more reliable to generate our own requirements, but be more economical. I have had the power-house plant stand-by ready every night last week (end May 31st), part of it coupled up with the Coleridge supply, a'nd when tho latter failed it bumped our own plant out, and to avoid this I ran our own plant on Friday, the late night, 30th inst., from 4.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. independent of Coleridge, so. as to avoid any interruption whatsoever. ' I will run our' own plant during the month of June for the business area, and only take Coleridge for the outskirts and residential supply. This will guarantee a continuous supply in the main street, and be as economical, or even more so, than the supply has been lately. I also request the Council to urge the Public Works Department to reconstruct the line from Coleridge to Timaru, using only suspension type insulators. This will be much safer and more reliable and cost a great deal less than a duplicate line built as the present one is constructed. If the Public Works Department will do this a reliable supply may be assured. Further, I respectfully request that any proposed battery stand-by will receive careful consideration, as this scheme will undoubtedly more than pay for itself and insure Us against any minor stoppage. The Electric Light and Power Committee reported that a letter had been received from Mr Evans, managing director of the Atlas, Flourmillmg Company, pointing out that he had installed the necessary motors to run the mill, and that unless the Lake Coleridge supply was made more reliable, he would have to revert to steam. It was recommended that Mr Evans should be informed that his complaint, together with the Council's representations, had been' forwarded to the Minister of Public Works. A letter was received from Mr W. O. Long, chairman of a meeting of business people lield on 30th ult., protesting against numerous stoppages in light and power supply, and forwurding a resolution asking the Council to havte a stand-by plant ready from 4 p.m. each afternoon during the winter mouths. It was recommended that Mr Long should be informed that the powerhouse stand-by plant had been funning every day from ,4 p.m. since ilbth ult., and'that the representations of his. meeting had been forwarded to the Minister of Public Works. A letter was received from the Minister of- Public Works acknowledging receipt of- the Council's resolution ru the failure of Coleridge supply, and also asking for a duplicate line from Windwhistle Point, and that he had noted Ihe representations made, and would be .pleased to give the matter careful consideration.

Miniature Rifle Shooting. ■The official opening of the Timaru Miniature Rifle Club's new range marked an epoch in the history of the club. The Mayor performed the ceremony, and the function took tho form of a social evening, members of tho Defence Department and of outsido clubs being among the guests. _ A telegram was received from Major Rowc expressing regret at his inability tc be present, and wishing the club a successful future. The president, Mr Jones, gave an outline of the club's activities since its inception, about nine years ago. The club had had many difficulties to contend with from tho start, he said, having no permanent range. They had been compelled to make many shifts, and consequently had been forced to make a range of their own, The club now had one • of the finest ranges in the Dominion. Mr Jones

mado referenco to tho excellent support the public had given in fostering the movement. He went on to speak of tho advantages gained by rifle shootin? as a national pastimo, stating that this was fully demonstrated in the iate war. Captain MoHugli, Captain Lewi;?, and Messrs Thomson, Duncan, and Smvthe also spoke. In opening the range, the Mayor stated that he looked on rifle shooting as a pastime to be encouraged. A young man, to be efficient, must lead a clean life, and be modoratc in all things. Success with the rifle depended n great deal upon clean living. Ho was glad that the club had had difficulties to contend with, as their success showed that the British Bpirit was dominant in overcoming obstacles. Ho stressed tho ' importance of aiming straight in life, as well the range, in order to mako good citizens. The V Mayor then fired tho first shot, and declared the range open. Refreshments were dispensed, and a diort entertainment was given by Mr T:iit. During tho evening a triangular match was fired between the Defence, outside clubs, and Timaru. > The range is built 011 up-to-dato lines, being composed of corrugated iron. The targets arc electrical!/ lit, the system being carefully thought out to give the best results. The range is 105 feet long by 18 feet wide, and will accommodate six men at a time. _ This has filled a long-felt want in Timaru, and the Timaru Club is to be congratulated on its achievement.

Swimming. The Timaru Swimming Centre is giving £25 towards tho expenses of Miss Gwitha Shand, and Mr C. Herd, of Christchurch, who are competing "n the Olympic and British Empire Games. The nioney will be sent to the Now Zealand Council of the N.Z.A.S.A. This year the Timaru Centre will issue 3.19 swimming certificates to school children, a very largo increase_ or the number issued last year. This indicates that swimming in the schools is becoming a matter of increasing importance, and gratification is felt that such increased interest has been aroused.

Moro Burglary. The ''second-storey" mail had up till a few weeks ago left Timaru out of his hunting grounds for quite a. long period. About a fortnight ago or so a Timaru tailor, Mr I l *. S. Cave, liad a back window of his Stafford street shop smashed open and about £6O worth of material stolen. The local police were notified, but no trace of the missing goods was found. However, on Sunday morning the police informed Mr Cavo that a sack full of goods, including several rolls of cloth and a couple of overcoats, had been found at the back of thy shop, behind a fence. Mr Cavo examined tho goods and was struck dumb with astonishment when he discovered that the same articled had been in his shop tho previous day. A visit to the shop showed that this was a second burglary. This time the goods were valued at £BO. "After the first burglary Mr Cave screwed the window to the wall. It was Fount? that in the second entry the thieves had broken a small piece of glass in tho upper s:ish in order to give them access to the catch. This would not work, of course, so tho bottom pane was smashed i;nd ingress made that way. The thief, or thieves, made a big haul in their second operation, including every in the shop, with, the exception of a couplo in the window. The valno of the goods found in the sack was £4O. Thus the loss sustained in the recent burglary was reduced by half. One of the many footprints outside the broken window looked remarkably like a woman's. Nothing else in the shop was stolen, although a writing desk was opened. Defence Activities.

The week-end was a busy one in the drill shedj where the artillery section of C Company,. Senior Cadets, ■ underwent special-barracks. Special instruction is being given in gun drill and mechanism on 15 and 18-pounders. Tho work was carried out again last night, and will be continued this evening.

• Association Code. For the purposo of fostering Soccer in Timaru, the South Canterbury Association Football Club has presented each of the primary schools in Timaru with a Soccer ball.

Big Window Smashed; There was a resounding crash in George street some time about half-past eight on Saturday night, .when a big plate-glass window in front of son, Ltd.'a, shop was broken. Bystanders stato that a couple of men, somewhat drunk, lurched up against tho window, which immediately collapsed. In tho rush to find out the trouble the two men got away. They can congratulate themselves on a lucky escape from severe cuts by the falling glass, as tho wooden frame is d ee Pb' scored. The damago is estimated at £2O. Inquest. deorge Green, a six-year-old school-, boy. died on Saturday as result of an accident the previous day. An inquest was held before Mr E. D. Mosley, Coroner, at the Timaru courthouse on Sunday afternoon. Evidence was given by Dr. Unwin, John Green, of Claremont, the boy's father, Roderick Selbie, and E. Hninlyn. Mt Hamlyn waß driving a, motorlorry near the Kennels when three children came along. Mr Hamlyn was pulling up to give them a lift, and while being hauled up into tho vehicle, the boy Green slipped to the ground and a wheel passed over his leg. The Coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.

Port of Timaru. Shipping movements at the Port of Timaru will bo found in. the shipping eoiunius. i W AIM ATE. • A largo amount of business was done at the annual meeting of the Waitaki Licensing Committee, Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M., presiding. In two cases licenses were held up, tho chairman commenting upon the after-hour trading at Glenuvy Hotel, and informing Frederick Peter Mouatt that his license would bo held up till next mooting, when if the report was unsatisfactory it would Ix 3 taken from him. John Boyle's application for a license of the 'l'erminus Hotel, Hakataramea was*held up pending repairs, and regarding the Masonic Hotel, St. Andrew's, the chairman said that lie was dissatisfied with the conduct of the house, and suggested that Wm. Johns, barman, assist the licensee with the management. Comment was made on the state of the Criterion Hotel, Waimate, a very old building. It was reported to be badly affected with borer. The chairman said that repairs must be effected by the licensee, iJenis Coffey, who has just taken over, by the next meeting. The police report referred to after-hour trading at Makikihi Hotel, but counsel for Mrs Leech, licensee, stated that this was a rumour spread by certain people, and the chairman accepted the statement. At the conclusion, Mr Mosley said that the committee was not altogether satisfied with some houses, more especially in the Waimate district, as there was considerable after-hour trading. "This has got to oease," said the chairman. "If the licensees cannot make the businesses pay between 9 a.m. and 6.p.m. they hail better shut up altogether. If any licensees arc

convicted before me after this warning, I will inflict substantial penalties in, addition, to endorsing 'the lioenses. This also applies to houses in more remote districts. On the whole,' however, the police and health reports are fairly satisfactory." The trophy' presented to the Makikihi Rifle Club by the patron, Mr J. Bitchener, M.P., was won by H. Shea, who also won Mr Hudson's trophy for the best score for the season. The half-yearly election of .officers of the Ivv Lodge (Druids) took place recently, and the officers installed by the District President. Bro, J. Allfj-e.v. To select, a local representative Rugby team a' Possible v. Probable matcii will be played on Thursday.. ;