TOWN AND COUNTRY NEWS

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 34, 3 November 1933, Page 8

TOWN AND COUNTRY NEWS

Items of Interest From All Quarters

A Greymoutli . tradesman has adopted a novel scheme to stop his emnloyees Wasting their'tlme on morning’and afternoon tea. In his workshop he has put up the following printed notice, headed, “The staff and visitors: This ib a workshop, not a restaurant. * In future eat sufficient at home, and work like while you are heer. I pay you wages for your work, so that you can go home and eat:/not pay you to eat, and then go home and Sleep. Failure to observe This request m£pns Instant dismissal.

With outstanding rates totalling over £7000,-the Blenheim Borough, Council, on the recommendation of the finance committee, has decided to institute drastic action to effect collection. The. position was regarded as extremely serious, and with the heavy demands now being made . on. tlfe borpugh s ilnanclal" resources by. the prosecution of the sewerage undertaking, it was recognised that every means must be, utilised to, , get in the ; arrears of revenue. ' . -

Preparations to increase' the. butput are being made by, the Coal Company (says the Grey Star ). Tenders have been called for a stone drive,whiph will open out a new lease secured by the company. It is expected that the quantity of coal in the new lease will approximate 3,000,000 tons, and that the • producing stage will be '’cached about tbe end of Match nextThere is . every likelihood that the number of employees pt the mine wu then be increased.

Dr, C. C./Caldenius, geologist, of Stockholm University, is progressing satisfactorily with his investigations of the glacial slip deposits in the Rakaia Valley. His alm is to examine the layers of deposits and correlate, if possible, geological time scales between New Zealand, South America and Europe. The geologist and his wife are camped in the Rakaia Valley. 'Already he has, witli; the aid. of a labourer lent him by Mr. George Gerrard, cut stgps into the cliff at Plpeclav Gully so that the varves or annual lines in the stratification may. be counted. Samples of the clay dre sent to Stockholm for further examination.

The record of not missing- a parade or other divisional function since the inception by the St.< John Ambulance Association of its cadet ambulance division three years ago-is held by Cadet A. J. Miller, who is the holder ,'of the largest number, of cadet proficiency certificates and other awards of the St. John Ambulance Association ■in the Auckland district Cadet Miller hu s now reached the age, for joining the senior, unit of .the. brigade, and at a social evening of his division, Mr. C. J. Tunks, commissioner, made him a special presentation in recognition of his interest and enthusiasm in the cadet work.

Two fine Instances of. generosity in the service of the Anglican Maori Mission were cited by the Bishop of Aoteafroa (the Right Rev. F. A. Bennett), in the course of his sermon, at St: Mary S Church at Hawera. He said that at a settlement, Wainuij'in the Waikato, an elderly Maori woman gave a site for a church ami the sum of £l5O. The site was accepted with thanks, and later she returned and added the sum of £l5O to the gift. In another locality in the far north, the Maoris felled kauri trees sufficient to build a church and carted it by bullock teams to the sawmill, where it was prepared for use, and the whole building was erected .and finished free of debt.

After spending a week-end on a farm in the country, a resident returned to Dunedin on Monday wondering whether the objections put forward by the farm'lng community against the extension of the period of daylight saving are based on altogether sound logic. During his visit'he became involved with the head of the house in several heated debates on the subject of daylight saving, but no argument he could advance carried the slightest weight with his host, whose principal contention was that the extra hour compelled the folk in the country to rise too early. Desiring to get back to town, about mid-day, he looked at the homestead clock to find that he could just manage it comfortably if he left immediately, and ho mentioned this to his friend; “Oh,” was the airy reply, “there’s no need to hurry! we always keep that clock an hour fast —it’s fine for getting up in the morning.”.

Imbued with the spirit of spring a lamb made a nuisance of itself in the Ricciu'ton district this week. Several men on their way to the racing track made the acquaintance of the lamb, which, was apparently a pet. Ono of the men going in a taxi to the track found the animal following at a gallop, not with the sedate trot expected from a young sheep. Another man making his way Riccarton-wards on a bicycle found the lamb a positive embarrassment. for it made a habit of running almost under his front wheel, and to avoid a spill the cyclist had to dismount. He put the animal over a fence, but before he had reached his machine again found it back “on the job” as friendly as evert and when the cycle began to prove It adopted the tactics of shouldering the front wheel. After some more of this the cyclist put in a determined effort and jvas just able to speed on his way without further molestation.

It is stated that wild pigs are creating havoc among this season’s lambs in the country at the back of Clinton (Otago). In the course of conversation with a reporter, Cr. A. T. Harris, a member of the Olutha County Council, stated that it was estimated that on some runs eight and nine lambs a night were being killed by wild boars. On one run 50 lambs had been killed, while in a corner of another practically every lamb born had been taken. Some idea of the size of the killers may be gained from the fact that one which was shot recently was 7ft, Hin. in length from' snot to tail, and another a foot shorter. The blood-stained tusks of one of these measured fully four inches in length. When it is stated that recently 19 boars and 10 sows had been shot in this area some idea may be gained of the menace which the wild pigs represented to farmers. Polson is said to be of little avail as a means of destruction, and the'runholders are forced to rely on their rifles, some of them remaining on the hills all night in order to get a shot at the marauders in the early dawn. One particularly savage boar when attacked charged a-mounted man, but his rush down hill caused the horse to swerve, and the boar passed right across the front of the saddle, to bo quickly despatched with a wellarmed bullet.

“It is downright wicked that a religious organisation such as ours should have t opay* such heavy rates,” said the Rev. L. B. Busfield, secretary of the Auckland Sunday School Union, at the annual meeting. He said the union this year had received in rents from its buildings in Queen Street about £9OO, and had had to pay about £3OO in rates, Attempts to hnve the assessmctn reduced had failed.

The Canterbury Rugby. Union has already received an application for a Ranfurly Shield game next season. At a meeting of the general committee of the union the finance committee reported that a request had been received from the Marlborough Rugby Union' for a match at Blenheim for the Ranfurly Shield early next sea son, the net proceeds qf the match to be. devoted to the Marlborough Union's ground funds. The recommendation of the finaneo committee that the request bo held over for the consideration of the incoming committee was approved'.

'“Englishmen and Australians seem Jess depressed by the depression than New Zealanders,” said Mr, C. F. Cotter,’ on his return to Christchurch from a tour abroad. “They have not ‘got right down to it’ in the same way, and they seem to have more confidence and optimism in working to make things better. -New Zealand is depressed by the outlook of the people on their troubles. Australia is busy and confident, and Britain is enjoying much brighter times —factories are busy, and the people are getting back to employment."

“You know football these days seems to have lost a good deal of its romance, and the Auckland League is going to bring that back again,” said Mr. G. Grey Campbell at the Auckland Rugby League’s trophy presentation gathering. He recalled the time when clubs and teams had their own songs for special occasions. In calling the Avondale schoolboy champions to the stage, Mr. Campbell announced that the lads would have to sing for their prizes. The team lined up, but was a trifle shy in its number to the tune of “Hearts of Oak.” The chairman said tjie boys could do better, anjl, with a piano accompaniment, they certainly responded with gusto, much to the pleasure of the audience.

A visitor to Wanganui remarked on the number of native birds be had seen within the city boundaries. “I don’t think there Is a city in the Dominion," he said, “unless it is New Plymouth, that can beat Wanganui in this respect. I have seen bellblrds. tuis, fantails, grey warblers, white-breasted tits, all within a few minutes' walk of the post office. New Plymouth, with its wonderful Pukekura Park, of course, also has numbers of native birds within easy distance of the main thoroughfares, I often wonder whether the average town dweller takes any interest in these feathered visitors. Probably very few who have not been brought up in a rural atmosphere can tell the difference between a sparrow and a grey warbler. It is a pit, because the ntivq birds of this country are worth caring for. Country people study them to a great extent, but it would help a lot if the townsjieople took an Interest in their welfare, too. If those who live beside the swift-moving traffic of the streets have heard the bollbirds at dawn in the bush as I have heard them, they will understand what I am driving t."

During the expired ten months of the present year there has been an increase of ninety-three in the number of marriage certificates issued in the Christchurch registration district, as compared with the corresponding period of last year, but there were eleven fewer marriages,in the office of the registrar. One explanation of the decline in the proportion of marriages in the registrar's office is that a number of ministers are now solemnising marriages without asking for any fee. The cost of a marriage in the registrar’s office is £2/5/-, but if a marriage is solemnised by a minister without a fee being charged the .cost is only £l/2/6, Some years ago a minister In Wellington was .very .popular with young couples because he adopted the practice of giving half his fee as a present to the bride. The result was that in many instances he was given double the ordinary- fee, because the bridegroom knew that half of it would be received by the bride. The present economic conditions, however, have reacted rather hardly on ministers who solemnise a large number of marriages, as the fees have shown a very pronounced shrinkage, and in many cases no fees at 'all caii be collected.