SOUTH CANTERBURY NEWS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22017, 15 February 1937, Page 7

SOUTH CANTERBURY NEWS

SERVICE IN TIME OF PEACE

RETURNED SOLDIERS' ASSOCIATION

ADDRESS BY DOMINION VICEPRESIDENT

Cfa. Appealing to members to uphold the —aims of the Returned Soldiers' Association, Mr B. J. Jacobs, a Dominion vicepresident of the association, in an address given in the Caroline Bay tearooms on Saturday evening, said that he could visualise a historian of the future recording that the association had done mqre for New Zealand in peace than during the war. The meeting, which was attended by members of the Timaru, Temuka, and Geraldine associations, was presided over by the Rev. J. Milburn Stewart, president of the Timaru association, who, with Mr W. McClure, vice-president of the CanterburyJWestland district, welcomed Mr Jacobs. In traversing the history of the association since its establishment 21 years ago, Mr Jacobs said that had, not wiser counsels prevailed, the association" would ' probably have entered the field of politics, a move which, in Ins opinion, would have meant disintegration. To-day the association occupied a good position in the community, and its headquarters stood high in the opinion of the Government. It was the duty of members to see that it did not forfeit that esteem and respect. He believed that never again would members see those dark days when the strength of the association dwindled down to a mere -6000, but that if it continued to be administered as at present, it was assured of a bright future. Mr Jacobs answered questions, and en the motion of Mr A. R. Beck, president of the Temuka association, was accorded a vote of thanks for his address.

ARTS AND CRAFTS CIRCLE

SUCCESSFUL YEAR REPORTED

A very successful year was reported at the annual meeting of the Temuka Women's Arts and Crafts Circle. The meeting was held in the Fire Brigade rooms, with Mrs W. J. Keys presiding. Mrs D. C. Clark, was elected-presi-dent for the coming year, and Mrs T. N. Scott secretary. Four new members were elected.

In appreciation of her services as president for the last four years. Mrs W..JJ. Keys was presented with a bouquet. Miss May Brown, who has resigned from the circle because of her approaching marriage, was presented with a small gift. Miss Brown also received the prize she had won for the mojjt points in competitions during the year. <

COMBATING RIVER EROSION

CONTROL BY GOVERNMENT s FAVOURED

"TOO BIG A JOB FOR SMALL I- BOARDS"

Riv&r boards were inadequate to cope with river erosion and there was need for a system of centralised control, though the costs might be excessive, said the Mayor of Temuka (Mr A. W. Buzan) and the Geraldine County engineer (Mr C. E. Bremner), in whose hands lies much of the river control work in South Canterbury, yesterday. They, expressed their satisfaction with the intention of the Minister tot Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) : toVsupplant "tinkering" with a national scheme.for fighting erosion problems. . . ■ , . ■ "Riven boards have never had the funds to do the job properly,'' Mr Bremner said.; "We have been' advo? eating for years, through our member (Mr T.D. Burnett), that the Government should take over control. The money involved: in ..combating river problems ib* far beyond the rating capacity of any one section of, the and 1 local river : boards have no menns of copmg Witlva tithe of the work necessary. It is far too big a job for small river boards to tackle, and the trouble is growing worse every year. I hope the Government does take- over river control, but, as the Minister says, the cost will be staggering. It will cost hundreds and thousands of pounds.". ■'"■". Unified central control was favoured by the majority of the Borough council, Mr Buzan said. Councillors, who had discussed the matter fully would probably favour the Government taking full charge and placing its engineers in control as seemed .to be indicated by. Mr Semple's statements. The Geraldine County Council acted as the river board for the borough and did its work. The borough had not been represented in the past, and now if the borough wanted something done it had to apply to the county. This piecemeal work—protective work here and protective work there — was not satisfactory, Mr Buzan said. The position was becoming worse rather than better. There was no regular system, and it was just "good money, being thrown after bad." The river beds were full of gorse and rubbish, and in many of the shinglebottomed rivers, where a drift was occurririg, the beds were building up. Willow, gorse, and rubbish were adding to the effect, and it was his opinion, he said, that it would be only a matter of time before the rivers became silted up or dammed and the water would find new courses. Something would have to be done., The Minister had suggested national control. That would projably mean a cost of millions of pounds.

SPORTS POSTPONED AT TIMARU

Heavy rain which fell on Friday night and again on Saturday made the grounds so heavy that ir~was decided to postpone the South Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association's matches at Maori Park, and also the visit to Ashburton of the representative team. Fraser Park was also in a heavy state, the South Canterbury Amateur Athletic • Association's sports meeting being postponed.

(WET WEATHER DELAYS HARVESTING

The weather was wintry in South Canterbury over the week-end, tad-har-vesting was set back. Early on Friday evening rain began to fall, and later it increased to a downpour, causing the countryside to be thoroughly drenched. Cold showers fell at .intervals on Saturday, more than three-quarters of an inch being recorded by 9.30 a.m. at the Gardens. The foothills presented a midwinter appearance, being heavily coated with snow,

GERALDINE

BATHS WATER SUPPLY FUND

OBJECTIVE NEARLY REACHED

: The Geraldine Swimming Club's fund for a pure water supply is now only £25 from its objective of £282 14s 6d. To date £257 12s 3d has been promised, or is in hand.

On Saturday, the president (Mr J. D. McKechnie) received a letter from Mrs J. M. H. Tripp, "Silverton," enclosing £5, and wishing the scheme success.

Plans for the scheme will be submitted to a general meeting to be held soon, and it is hoped that the work will be completed in the first half of this year.

MR SAVAGE TO CALL AT GERALDINE

The Prime Minister (the'Rt. Hon. M. 3". Savage), accompanied by the Minister for Labour (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong), will pass through Geraldine by car on Saturday, February 27, en route from Timaru to Christchurch.

The Mayor (Mr B. R. Macdonald) said that no official advice of a visit had yet been received. When this came to hand an official reception at Geraldine would no doubt be arranged.

SCHOOL CARETAKERS' , WAGES

COMPLAINTS NOT APPLICABLE TO GERALDINE

When a circular letter was received by the Geraldine School Committee from the Canterbury Education Board advising that there had been-"com-plaints that few school caretakers had received increased wages, although grants to school committees had been increased, the chairman (Mr A. M. Fyfe) said that the complaint did not apply to. Geraldine, where the work was done by contract. The letter from the secretary of the Canterbury Education Board said that in some cases the 1931 rate of pay had not even been restored, although the provisions of the Finance Act, 1936, were clear on the point. The department said that the Government was anxious to improve the conditions of employment of those persons engaged in maintaining 'Cleanliness in and around the schools, and it expected the committees to use some of the increased funds toward this end. Where a caretaker was required to perform extra work for social gatherings or other functions held in the school buildings, he should receive extra remuneration from the proceeds of the function.

The appointment of a married couple as permanent caretakers was discussed, but was held over as beyond the financial means of the committee. » , The chairman remarked that the Government might* take some action. The present contract price, added to the cost of keeping a man on sustenance, would pay a full-time caretaker.

SOCIAL AFTERNOON AT GERALDINE

FUNDS FOR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

To aid their coming sale qf work for funds for building a new' church at Geraldine the members.of the Geraldine Presbyterian Ladies' Association held a social afternoon in the Presbyterian Hall. The hall was converted into a drawing room by the use of carpets and flowers. Admission was by a piece of material which will be made into saleable goods by the members. The president (Mrs A. L. Brenton) welcomed members and visitors. Piano duets were given by Misses Doris Paterson .and Joyce Hewson; piano solos by Miss Doris Paterson, and recitations by Misses Joyce Hewson and Annie Kelmari. Mrs 1 Archie Barton gave an interesting talk on B:ebridean folk songs, and also sang several numbers.

HIGHWAYS BOARD VISIT TO GERALDINE

The inclusion of the main highway through Geraldine in the State highway system will be discussed with the members of the Main Highways Board when they visit Geraldine, the Mayor (Mr 'B. R. Macdonald) told a reporter yesterday. The Main Highways Board will visit Geraldine early in March and will meet members of the Geraldine Borough and County Councils.

PERSONAL ITEMS FROM GERALDINE

Mr and Mrs M. Baker (Jollie street) have returned from a holiday at Christchurch. ,

Messrs E. Undrill and G. E. Berry left at the week-end to spend a fishing holiday at Lake Ohau. Mr Norton Watt (Geraldine) has returned from a holiday in the Nelson and Marlborough districts. Mr A. T. Campbell, teacher in charge of the Te Moana school, returned to Geraldine from Christchurch on Saturday. Miss Laura Pratt (Timaru) is spending a holiday at Orari Bridge. Mr and Mrs Foster Barham (Nelson) have been spending a fortnight at Geraldine, where Mr Barham has been fishing. They will leave for the north to-day. Mr and Mrs Maddox (The Downs, Geraldine) will leave to-day to spend a fortnight's holiday at Lake Tekapo. Mrs F. Pratt (Richmond), accompanied by her daughter, Mrs W. Quantock (Anama). has 1 left for Wellington. Mrs Pratt will visit Auckland and Whangarei before returning home.

MID-CANTERBURY

DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS

EFFICIENCY OF ATLACIDE TESTED

RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS SATISFACTORY

The results of two experiments he had conducted with atlacide to 'test its efficiency as a weed killer were most satisfactory, said the Ashburton county inspector (Mr K N. Johnson) on Saturday morning. . The experiments had been made in a patch of Californian thistles at Allenton and powdered atlacide had been placed around the stems of 15 : inch high plants. The thistles had quickly died off. and the experiment had shown that atlacide worked more quickly than sodium chlorate. In the second experiment the chemical had been applied to the cut stem of the weed. The result in this case was also very satisfactory. Mr Johnson remarked that he intended to spray thistles with atlacide this week, and he expected that the result of the test would also prove the efficiency of the chemical. The desire of farmers to extinguish Californian thistles has been shown by the sale of weed-killer by the Ashburton County Council. Five tons of sodium chlorate were bought by the council three months ago, and the whole supply was sold before the shipment arrived. The council has now ordered five tons of atlacide, and already more than four tons have been sold."

SALVATION ARMY ADDRESS BY DAUGHTER OF FOUNDER VISITOR TO ASHBURTON Many instances of her life work in th_: Salvation Army in France and other European countries were related by Mrs Catherine Booth Clibbom, an associate of Interdenominational Church Evangelism, who arrived at Ashburton on Saturday and gave an address at the Salvation Army Citadel yesterday morning. The speaker is the daughter of General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, and sister of the present general, Evangeline Booth. Mrs Booth Clibbom spoke on the great love of God, and illustrated her address with a description of the most noteworthy personal contacts she had made in her work for the army.

There was a large, attendance at the service, which was taken by Major D. B. Du?gan. Mr C. Hopwood, sang a solo, and the Salvation Army Band played a selection. . Last evening Mrs Booth Clibborn spoke at the Baptist Church. She will leave for Dunedin on Wednesday.

MISS D. M. MCEACHEN HONOURED

TWO PRESENTATIONS MADE AT ASHBURTON

Two presentations were made to Miss D. M. McEachen, of .the Ashburton staff of Dalgety and Company, who has been transferred on promotion to Christchurch.

On-Friday afternoon she was met by. the staff and clients of Dalgety and Company, and presented with a gold wristlet watch by the manager-(Mr T. Stringer). A presentation of an alarm' clock was made to Miss McEachen by Archdeacon A. J. Petrie (president), for the St. Stephen's Anglican Church choir, at the home of the organist and choirmaster (Mr J. C. Thompson). Archdeacon Petrie and Mr Thompson expressed appreciation of Miss McEachen's services, both as secretary and as a member of the choir. Mr C. Ives, organiser, thanked Miss McEachen for her worTtf as secretary of the jubilee flower show committee. Supper was served by the choir