Local and General

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LXII, Issue 17, 4 March 1941, Page 3

Local and General

Ellesmere County Council has been informed by the Valuation Department that its application for a revaluation of the county in 1941 was, for a variety of reasons, impossible. The department agreed to consider the application when the question of re-valuation of further districts was under consideration.

Next Thursday a flower show will be held by the pupils of Leeston Consolidated School. Parents and others interested are invited (to see the display which will be made at the school.

At ffche service iat St. John's Church on Sunday, the vicar (the Rev. E. Hanna) presented leatherbound New Testaments to Gunners D. T. Bryce, R. C. Mercer and A. E'. Vince.

For the Southbridge Horticultural Society's annual show, to be held on Thursday of next week, March 13, the special prize list will appear in next Friday's Guardian. Schedules for the show are obtainable from the stores, the Guardian Office or the secretary, Mr L. G. Eade.

Next Saturday evening the Ellesmere Gun Club will entertain two of its members, Privates W. Smellie and W. Campbell, at a social evening in the club rooms. Prior to the social the committee of the club will meet to discuss the programme of matches for the year in view of the conference of Canterbury clubs to be held in Christchurch next week.

The women's day of prayer was observed at Leeston on Friday afternoon by a special service' which was held in the Presbyterian Church, Leeston. There was a large congregation and an order of service prepared for use on such occasions was used. Mrs L. McMaster presided and the address was given by Miss Kate Evans and proved to be a most interesting and topical one.

A fire on his property at Southbridge last Wednesday resulted in Mr W. J. Ludemann losing a valuable stack of hay and two or three acres of red clover. The fire broke out in the stack, which was a large one, the outbreak being, believed to be due to spontaneous combustion, and spread amongst the clover. The alarm was given in the town and many helpers accompanied by some of the brigade and the fire engine turned out. By strenuous efforts the flames were prevented from spreading to another large stack of hay.

Already over a thousand trained officers of the Post and Telegraph Department have been released for military service with the overseas forces, while several hundreds are expected to be called up at ,an early date. In addition, approximately 500 officers are at present undergoing Territorial training, and as these resume service in the department, similar numbers will take their places in the ranks. Many additional .activities arising out of the war have been undertaken by the Post Office during the past few months, and in consequence of the extraordinary demands made upon it at the present time, the department is experiencing increasing difficulty in maintaining fully its services to the public.

I In many homes in Ellesmere on Monday afternoon the cooking of the midday meal was seriously interrupted by a break in the power supply. This was caused earlier in the morning by a serious breakdown to one.of the old generators at the power-house at Lake Coleridge, the turbine casing breaking and flooding the engine-room with water, putting the other generators out of action. The alternative source of supply, from Waitaki was switched over but was unable to take all the load. This district received low power during the rest of the morning but about midday the supply failed and was off for nearly four hours, being restored in time for milking. In consequence of the flooding, all the generators and other electrical plant at Lake Coleridge had to be dried out, a long and slow process. Up to early this afternoon there had been no other interruption in the supply pf power.