Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLDFIELD GAZETTE Cromwell, Monday, July 3, 1939

Cromwell Argus, Volume LXX, Issue 3627, 3 July 1939, Page 4

Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLDFIELD GAZETTE Cromwell, Monday, July 3, 1939

The ordinary monthly meeting- of the Vincent County Council will be held in the Council Chambers, Clyde, on Ihursday next, 6th inst., at io a.m. The Ardgour Hall committee held a bazaar and dance in the Ardgour hall on -Wednesday evening. The function, which was in aid of the Hall funds, was highly successful and as a result the funds will benefit by quite a substantial sum. The monthly meeting of the Hawea Flat branch of the W.D.F.U. was held last Wednesday, Mrs Watkins presiding. Mrs Allison reported on Conference activities, and a donation was made to Provincial funds. A community sing, led by Mrs Baltrop and Miss P. Allison, with Miss M. Kane at the piano, was enjoyed by all. The afternoon was then given over to games. “Ballroom Game,” “Musical Chairs,” won by Mesdamos Smithy and Gray, and “Poisoned Stick” won by Mrs W. Robertson. Competitions resulted as follows:—Best bloom, Mrs Young; best bar home-made soap, Mrs I’. Gillespie. Hostesses, were: Mr«j Young and Misses E. and M. Kano,

The monthly meeting of the Cromwell branch, W.D.F.U., was held on the 22nd ult., and presided over by Mrs R. Ritchie. Conference reports were given by the President and Secretary and other members who attended. A competition was hold, the winner being- Mrs J. D. Smith. Hostesses for the afternoon were Mesdames Lynn and do Bettoncor. There’s plenty of “go” in the horse yet. Bill Holi-worth, (Billings, Montana), cowboy, wanted to convince himself the old pony express riders could make up to 10 miles an hour in continuous travel. He galloped into town from Glendive, Wyo., 23 hours after he started the 230 mile journey. He used three mounts ridden in relays. A set of dinosaur footprints, probably the most perfect discovered, has been found in the Navajo Indian Reservation adjoining Grand Canyon National Park. H. C. Bryant, acting Park Superintendent, has just reported the discovery, terming it “of unusual interest since it is believed that there is probably no exhibit in the world, exposed at the present time, showing such a long series of perfect dinosaur tracks. “The progress of one large animal can be traced for 75 feet, taking strides which measure 12$ feet. The annual general meeting of the Cromwell branch of the R. S. A., was held in the Council Chambers, Cromwell, on Saturday evening. Mr H. T. Wilkinson was re-elected chairman and Mr F. D. Oldfield was elected secretaiv' in place of Mr L. J. Anderson who is leaving the town. Mr Anderson was warmly thanked for his past services. The following committee was elected: Messrs 11. H. Thomas, E. A. Cowcy, W. Lynn, and A. Bee. It was decided to hold a re-union on the first Satur- , day in November, that being the date of the Returned Soldiers’ Bowling Tournament. ' Ashore at St. John Island, about 130 miles from Rabaul, the Japanese freighter China Maru tarries general cargo that was the last to be shipped 1 from that country under first-period 1 licenses under the New Zealand import restrictions. Now it appears, despite the haste required to obtain shipment , by the vessel, that all cargo will be lost. This is by no means gratifying to importers, as they would rather have the goods to hand than collect insur- | ance, particularly since, as one importer states, his insurance was made payable in Amsterdam ! However, this will give him some overseas funds to come and go on. | After the short spell of broken ' weather at the beginning of last week : there was again a return to exception- ! ally fine and mild conditions. Not foi 1 very many years have such extremely mild conditions obtained in mid-winter as have been experienced locally during the past weeks. In fact for the greater part of last week the weather was reminiscent of the best spring weather, I warm, sunny days and mild nights. It is certainly an usual state of v eathcr for this part of the season and as a result there is a distinctly noticeable growth in much of the vegetation in all parts of the district.

An article on provincial seals in the ‘New Zealand Centennial News’ mentions that the seals of Westland and Southland have been lost. Not even an impression of the Southland seal has been found. In the case of Westland the search for an ? inpcession failed until A member of the,stuff of the Na- j tional Historical Committee conceived the idea of inspecting early Westland deeds in that repository of New' Zealand history, the head office of the Lands and Survey Department. The first deed, incidentally, was the original agreement on the part of the West Coast Maoris to sell the whole of Westland for £ 3OO. One after the othei the faded parchments were scanned without result, until the very last of them yielded a good impression. Expert photography under powerful lights had a good result. The seal had two kiwis on a shield surrounded by fern fronds. One hundred and twelve leroplanes are listeil in the latest copy of the New Zealand register of civil aircraft. Machines owned by the Royal New Zealand Air Force arc not included in this figure. By far the largest owners of aeroplanes in New Zealand are the aero clubs, which account for 06. Next on the list come commercial companies. They own 26 machines among them. The number of aircraft owned by private individuals, 17. is surprisingly high when the small population of the Dominion is considered. The balance of the total is made up by the two aeroplanes owned by the Public Works Department and the Pcrcival Cull owned by the Air Department. Tim machines range in type from the single-seater home-built J.ui and Heath Parasol to the big Lockheed Electras, seating 10 passengers, a pilot, and a co-pilot, All told, there are 32 different types of aircraft registered in the Dominion.

Some idea of the extent to which the rabbitskin industry has grown locally this season can be gained from the fact that a record number was despatched from Cromwell on Wednesday last. As far as can bo ascertained, well over 100,000 skins wont forward by lorries and buses and this must he one of the largest consignments ever forwarded from these parts in one day* Rabbitskin sales are now held fortnightly and the next sale in Dunedin will be held to-morrow, Tuesday. As quite a large number went forward from these parts for the previous sale it will be readily seen that there is at present considerable activity in the pursuit of bunny. Although there was a fairly sharp rise in a verv few select grades such as prime bucks at last sale, the bulk of skins caught during past weeks have not been bringing the prices usual at this time of the .season. This, of course, is no doubt duo to the fact that the quality of many skins is very poor owing to the exceptionally mild weather conditions so far experienced.