TUAPEKA NEWS
[From Our Own Correspondent.]
The monthly meeting of the Tuapeka County Council was held here on Friday afternoon, when a good deal of routine business was dealt with. An application was received from tho Tuapeka Mouth puntman for an increase of salary, when it was resolved to raise tho amount to 48s per week, subject to tho consent of tho Clutha County Council, which bears half the cost. The clerk of the Taieri County Council forwarded -a resolution passed by that body ro limiting the power of municipal bodies to erect toll gates, and asking for the co-operation of the Tuapeka County Council. It was resolved to support the resolution and assist the Taieri County in every possible way. Chas. Mitchell, of Deep Stream, asked that the road to his property be formed, and offered to assistby clearing the snow-tussocks and any stones that are in the way, provided the work was done boiore the winter sets in. It was resolved that the road be ploughed as soon as possible. The District.Engineer of the Public Works Department requested to be supplied with a list of bridges in course of construction for which the council was receiving Government grants, and also a list of bridge requirements for the next two years. The county engineer was instructed to supply the information. Chas. Fleming, of Crookston, proffered to cart gravel free for the repair of the road to his property provided tho council did the filling and spreading. It was agreed to accept the offer. J. B. Roberts, of Waitahuna, asked, oh behalf of Mount Stuart settlers, for permission to' erect a telephone wire from tho creamery to the read gate at the upper end of Mrs Bateman's property. Permission granted. The Under-Secretary of tho Mines Department, Wellington, forwarded an extract from the Government ' Gazette' re an increase of subsidy from 20s to 30s per week per man for prospecting in tho Dominion. Some time was spent in discussing the wandering cattle nuisance on county roads, the outcome being that a sub-committee was appointed to arrange for the appointment of a ranger for the Tapanui, Crookston, and Beaumont Ridings, and another sub-committee for the appointment of a ranger for the eastern or lower ridings. The engineer was authorised to have sour improvements made on the road leading U M'Kinlay's and Gordon's, at Miller's Flat, and aUo to place longitudinal planks on tl. Waitahuna traffic bridge. A return wa laid on the table from the Otago Hospitand Charitable Aid Board showing that 11 persons within the county were in receipt of charitable aid.
The county engineer, in his monthly report, brought under the council's notice the urgent necessity of immediate repairs to the Falconer's Valley road, and asked for permission to engage four or five men for the work. Ho prepared two applications for Government votes for the coming parliamentary session, and had sent them forward to the Public Works Department. Ho strongly recommended the council to purchaso another road grader. The eettlers had gratuitously offered teams to grade the Moa Flat road and scoop off two or three sharp pinches, and the offer had been accepted. Authority had been received to expend £SO (£ for £) cm Harris road at Bellamy Settlement. The expenditure .on day labor, etc., in the various ridings for the past month was as follows : Teviot riding, £101; Benger, £76; Tapanui, £108; Crooks ton, £114; Beaumont, £80; Gabriels, £22; Browns, £122; W.iitahuna, £SB; Waipori, £22. The council resolved that the engineer apply to the Government for the transfer of the Government voto of £SOO for tho deviation of that road at Moa Flat to the present road, the amount to be expended in reducing pinches and metalling. The engineer was authorised to employ some men for the quarrying of metal foi the improvement of the Falconer's Valley road. The local branch "of -the New Zealand Farmers' Union held its annual meeting in Lawrence on Saturday evening, when there was & wj good attendance of members. The balance-sheet presented by the secretary shewed a. credit balance of £4 6s 6d. The president (Mr Alex. Eraser) gave a lengthy and very interesting report of the year's transactions of the Provincial Executive, which meets monthly in Dunedin. A great number of subjects of vital interest to the farming community were deliberated upon by the executive, and these were 1 touched upon in an interesting manner by Mr Fraser. The proposals of the Otago and Southland Rural Employees' Industrial Union of Workers were read, and it was agreed that they bo taken into consideration at the next meeting of tho branch. The workers are seeking Is 6d per hour and found for grass-sectl threshing, and also for wheat and other cereals; they ask to be provided with sood, healthy sleeping accommodation, ana with good, wholesome food, such as the working man supplies for his own family, or such as is supplied by a working man's first-class boarding-house. The meal hours which the workers ask are: Breakfast before starting work, morning lunch at 9.45 till 10, dinne? at 12 noon till 1 p.m., afternoon lunch at 3.45 till 4, tea on ceasing work for the day. Another stipulation is that the farmer shall pay the men's wages before the threshing-mill leaves his farm, and the men (shall be paid for all time shifting the mill from farm to farm, stack to stack, or place to place when threshing out of the stook, at the rate of Is 6d per hour. Mr A. Fraser was re-elected president of the branch, and Mr A. C. Leary vice-presi-dent. The president was elected delegate to the Provincial Conference, which will be held in Dunedin on tho 31st pros. A story is told at the expense of a farmer who has three or fouT sons, two of whom are regarded by some of their neighbors as eligible for military service, but who have not yet made any sign that they are desirous of enlisting. The individual who is collecting the agricultural statistics called on the farmer the ether day, and with his notebook in hand inquired where tho sons were and what they were doing. "What do you want the boys for?" queried their sire. " Oh, for service abroad to assist in putting down the Germans!" "Then I can't spare them," answered the farmer, " for they're wanted to work the farm, and we must all look after things when big prices are ruling. Can't you let my boys off, and I'll give a little extra to the patriotic funds?" "I'll see," replied the statistical man; "but I must you to fill up this paper" (handing nim an agricultural statistical paper). "I'll give you all the information you want," tho farmer remarked, "but don't say any thing about my sons boing eligible foxwar service, as I can't spare them." The man in search of tho statistics smiled and then went his way, wondering how much extra per month the farmer would give to the patriotic funds if his sons weren't called upon to enlist.
The Rev. Wm, Uphill, vieai* of Queenstown, has been appointed t-o the change of the Tuapeka and Waitahuna parish in succession to the Von. Archdeacon Richards, now of St. John's, Jnvercargill. The Rev. A. C- H. Button, who has been acting vicar here for close on 12 months, takes the Lumsdcn parish, and leaves here towards the end of the current month. There is very deep and genuine and general disappointment throughout this parish over Mr Button's approaching transfer to Lumsden, as the hope was fondly cherished by the church people that he would have received the local appointment. The Nominating Board of the die cese, however, failed to submit his name to the vestry as a candidate for the vacancy, despite the pressure brought to bear by the vestry and a large number of the parishioners. Of course, what is Tuapaka's loss will be Lumsden's gain; but there is not much consolation in that knowledge when the faelinc was so widespread in the parish that the appointment snould have been conferred on Mr Button! who has worked very hard while act, ing vicar and gained the good-will of all classes in this community, whether in or out of the Anglican fold. He will be missed greatly by the young men, in whom he took a real live interest.
The imposition by the Tliapoka County Council of the 10 per cent, penalty on overdue rates is giving a lot of concern to numbers of county ratepayers. Thi> is the first time the council has imposed the penalty, though it threatened to do so for s•—-- *. xctam and a« in the case
of tho cry of "Wolf, wolf!" the farmer heeded not until tho cry was hoard for tho last time, and then—the imposition of tho penalty! The imposition and collection of the penalty will mako a difference on tho right side of at least £6CO. Mr Jno. Smith, of Clark's Flat, who acquired the farm owned by the Walker family, has made an exchange with Mr T. Short, of Soward Downs, coming out handsomely, it is said, in tho deal. Mr Smith, who is a practical farmor, possessed of a lot of natural shrewdness, wa3 only a week or two out from Scotland when ho became tho owner of the farm belonging to the Walker family. He is not afraid of toil, and was not siow in getting into touch with colonial methods in the pursuit of agriculture. The local bakers set their Duncdin brethren an example in the matter of reducing the pries of the 41b loaf to Bd, in which a certain amount of tardiness in following was certainly shown. Here the reduction came into operation on the Ist of the current month, while it was nearly a. fortnight later before the Dunedin bakers teed the line. Our cup of joy would brim to the full if the butcher won id follow tho example of tho baker. The weather for days and days up till yesterday was very mild, though changeable, for this period of the year. Thero was a pretty severe frost yesterday morning, followed by a good deal 01 atmospherical rawness, and then a steady, though not heavy, rain for several hours. Lawrence, April 17.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 16092, 18 April 1916, Page 2
Word Count
1,712TUAPEKA NEWS Evening Star, Issue 16092, 18 April 1916, Page 2
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