COUNTRY NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 16358, 30 September 1913, Page 9

COUNTRY NEWS.

TAI TAPU. '. Th'o ! Recreation Ground Committee' has at length, effected the purchase fend entered into possession of tho sito chosen for a recreation ground for the district. The fences hare been trimmed and repaired and tho ground ploughed ant] made ready for drilling in a crop of oate, the teams , having" been provided and all labour supplied freo of cost by the residents. The thanks of tho residents are duo to the committee for its energy and foresight in securing what must prove a valuable asset to tho district. TAWERA. The past winter in the TaweraCounty was the mildest experienced for many years. There were no heavy snowstorms and the frost was not nearly so severe as it usually is. Stock has come through remarkably well and there has been little loss either on the hills or tho farms. Lambing is in full swing on the low country; the percentage appears to be satisfactory and the lambs.are thriving well. On tho hill country lambing has scarcely begun. The agricultural land in the district, i- limited, but on what there is work is well advanced, there being scarcely any stoppage through the winter. Wheat is looking remarkably well, and a good deal of it has been stocked with sheep. Some" farmers put all their ewes with twins on this land, thus giving them a supply of green feed at a critical time. Grass is coming on nicely, and the supply of turnips having been abundant it was not necessary .to stock it so soon.

On Russell's Flat dairying is being carried on extensively. Some of the larger farms are fitted up with milking machines and separators, and are sending the cream direct to Christchurch. Those with smaller herds take the milk to the Anuat creamery. This portion of the district has improved vastly during the last few years. Gorse has.been cleared, fences straightened up, drains opened, and the soil much better worked. Land is now too valuable to allowany of it to lie idle, some of it having nearly trebled in value in tho last twelve years. AKAROA. Tailing has now commenced on the Peninsula- and results hear out previous statements as to the number of lambs being considerably under that of last season. Besides the very few pairs to bo seen, a great-many of the younger ewes were not- in lamb, due perhaps to the abundance of feed during the autumn. Owing to tho good spsll of fine weather, the mortality amongst tho owes has been much lighter. Dairy farmers report that the cows have come'in" well, and the factories report an increase in the number of suppliers-. Tbo warm -weather.-, has brought- on the spring feed rapidly,, and a good day's ruin would now be. beneficial. HINDS. The Hinds Loyal Lodge of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, held its annual church parade on Sunday, when forty members of the Order, headed, by the Asliburton ' Pipe Band, -marched from the hall to the Methodist Church. The service was- conducted by -the Rev B. J. James, who presched an appropriate'sermon. 'Representatives'or the Order were also present from several lodges in the Ashburton County. TINWALD. At the monthly meeting of the. x»p--wald Domain. Board, held oil Saturday, a close' day was granted t,lie .Tinwald Sports Club on October 27 (Labour Day). Four applications were received for the position of caretaker of the Domain, and that of' Mr Thomas Carter was accepted. The tender of Messrs Cram Bros, and Dyhrberg was accepted for constructing a concrete wall at tho southern end of the swimming baths. I Accounts amounting , to £5 19s Wero pnssed-for payment.--,- ■•.■-•-• - RANGIORA. i For the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association's annual parade of stallions, to be held- in the Rangiora Show Grounds, fifteen entries have been received,, made up of eight draughts, one thoroughbred, four,-hackneys and two ponies. The entries.total:, the-samo number aSjlast.year. j v -«^-..-»yj|s. balcairin: A social in aid of the school prize fund, was held in the Balcairn Schoolroom on Friday night, Mr J. -Fleming presiding over a large attendance. Songs were contributed by Mrs Dermotti Miss Cooper and' Mr J. Noble, and Master G. R6l>ertson gave a humorous;' recitation- .The,'music for' the. dancing "was supplied by,Miss Eder and Mr Noble. Mr O. Smith was.master of ceremonies, SPRINGSTON. . The Springston Cricket and Tennis Clubs opened the season at the Springston Domain on Saturday, when thero was a , large attendance. A , cricket match, . Married v. . Single, . i resulted in a win for-the married members. The tennis courts "were continually in use during the afternoon. Afternoon tea was provided by the ladies. A deputation waited on the Hon R. H. Rhodes, Postmaster-General, at the Springston railway station yesterday, to bring under his notice the necessity of a public telephone being placed at the railway station, which is considered to bo the centre of the district and in close proximity to both saleyards. The'deputation, was introduced, by Mr M. F. Ryan, chairman of the Springs County Council, and Mr W fc J. Macintosh was the chief Mr Rhodes said that he was in sympathy with the proposal, hut the difficulty would ho to make arrangements with the Railway Department to staff the station during the busy season, when the stationmaster would not be able to cope with the extra work; Ho promised, however, that he would 6enously consider the proposal. , . ASHBURTON. The splendid growing weather of late has brought on. the rape with vigorous growth, and several farmers in the county have lost ewes through overfeedinn;. Crops' of rape have done remarkably well in the county this year. At the Ashburton Magistrate's Court vesterdav, before Mr W. H. Bundle, J.P., aiid Mr R. Clark, J.P., Milner Buchanan was charged with being drunk and with having used obscene language. Accused was convicted and discharged on the charge- of drunkenness, and on the charge of using obscene language was fined £2 or seven days' imprisonment. A week was allowed to pay tho fine. James Todd, alias Scotty Thompson, pleaded guilty to two charges of drunkenness, and was fined 10s on each charge, in default fortyeight hours' imprisonment. A first offender for drunkenness was fined 10s, in default forty-eight hours', imprisonment. . , '...'•

A committee meeting of \he Ashburton Hakatere Young Men's Glub was held on Saturday evening, when Mr W. G. Hillier presided. Tho procuring of a new piano for tho club rooms was left in the hands of a sub-commit-tee, with power to act. Forty new members were elected, a record in tho club's history. Tho dato of tho opening of the neAv club rooms in Burnett Street was fixed, and tho necessary arrangements were loft in tho hands of a subcommittee. It was decided to hold a- special meeting of members to consider the question of again. holding a sports mooting, and,,a sub-couimittoo was appointed to report as to probable entries.

The Rev G. ,B. : Tnglis, who,for tho past twenty years has been Minister of the. Ashburton Presbyterian -Church, and who has recently resigned, conduct^

ed his final services in the Ashburton St Andrew's Church on. Sunday. The attendances at all the services were exceptionally. large. In the evening Mr ; Ingl is-based liis address on Revelations xxii., 21: "The grace of.. ; our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."' He concluded by saying that in ' ending a twenty years' service he wished to thank the Christian people of Ashburton for the friendly, spirit which they had always demonstrated towards him. Ho had "at all times received every consideration and assistance from .members of his own church, and members of other congregations.'-'There was little, if any, •■ denominationalism in Ashburton. He also thanked the elders aud members of tho Management Committee for their energetic co-operation with him, and stated that the St Andrew's l>and of workers was. second to none. The only personal reference he wished to i'.tako' was ;to. tho fact that he'ivus one of a line of'Scotch Presbyterian parsons. His ' grandfather had been ordained in 1797, nnd his father, too, had been a minister of the church. Ho, himself, had commenced duties as a minister thirty-three years ago, on his arrival in New Zealand, and had spent twenty years of that time in Ashburton. Ho loved tho work, the church and the people, and would continue to do so. In conclusion, he wished the members of the congregation, arid the people, of Ashburton in general the greatest blessing of all, the continuous presence of the grace of God. The service concluded with the singing . of " Abide with Me." AMURI. The weather has been very favourable for the lambing. Already many flocks have been marked, and the percentages have been keeping ■ up well. Several Annan settlers have reached over 100 per cent.„ , KAIAPOI. , After a spell of almost -six months owing to bar difficulties, shipping was resumed in Kaiapoi yesterday, when tho Kairaki came up the river with a light load. It is expected that the Government engineer/s report, on tho cost of erecting a training wall to provide a | permanent channel at the bar will be 'considered at the meeting of the Harbour Board on Monday. A social gathering of representative townspeople was held last night in order to bid farewell to Mr A. F. Mackay, manager of tho local branch of the Bank of New Zealand, who, after fourteen years in Kaiapoi, is leaving for Auckland. Mr R. Wyhe, Mayor, presided, and, in proposing the toast of "Our Guest," referred! in terms of regret to Mr Mackay's departure, and to his worth as a citizen and official and in the world of sport. On behalf of the residents, he presented Mr Mackay with a purse of sovereigns. Mr Pearce, on behalf of tho Kaiapoi Bowling Club, presented. Mr Mackav with a monogram med Kaiapoi rug. Mr Mackay made a- fitting response.- The following toasts wore also honoured: " Kaiapoi Borough Council," proposed by. Mr G. R. Moore, and resDonded to by Councillor Barnard; <r The New Manager," proposed by Mr E. E. Papprill, and responded to by Mr Kissling; "Kaiapoi Bowling Club," proposed by- Mr Pavitt, sen.,, and re-i sponded to by Mr. Pearce; and "The Mayor," proposed by Mr Mackay, and responded to by tho chairman. CULVERDEN. . j The benedicts of Culvorden held their annual ball on Wednesday in tho Drill Hall at Culverden. Over a hundred couples were present and an enjoyable time was spent. The masters of ceremonies were .-Messrs H.: Willis and J. Griinley, and Mr \V. W. Berry was an energetic secretary a- •-, Mr, T. A,, 8., Bailoy, 5.M,;.. held a sitting . of .tho Magistrate's /

Court in Culverden yesterday. . Lewis Hoff ■ waa charged .on the' information of A. C. Nut-swell, secre-j tary of the North-Canterbury-Branch' of the Educational Institute, -with-! having-unlawfully disturbed the Wai&u school. Air Johnston appeared,for the informant. The evidence was to. the... effect that the defendant's child ; had;. ' been "kept in" in school for failing to bring back a medical card, whereupon the father went to the school-aßd-rated Mr W. E. Juctkins. the schoolmaster, whom he informed ihatthe card had been lost. Hoff was convictedand ordered to pay costs, amounting to £3 19s. The same defendant was charged ■ with having failed to send his child to school, and the case was adjourned until November .24. .-.■•;.'-. '.', • >•: At the. same sitting jof the. Court,,.. Lewis and Rogers (Mr. Mosley) obtained _ judgment against J. Urert for £6 W' lOd, costs *:1 10s 6dv -On judgment summons claims by Lewis and (Mr Mosley), Lewis Hoff .was ordered.to pay £8 14s 3d, including costs at. the ; rate of los per mouth. T. Rowe was , ordered to pay the same plaintiffs "£'4'' los at tho rate of 20s per month, and R. Glendenningt£o 13* 53- K ■■■■ HANMER. - , - ~. Tho bachelors of Hanmer Springs held their annual ball in the hall on Friday night, when a pleasant evening was spent, dancing being kept up till .-in early hour. The hall was tastefully decorated with flags and.evergreens. ; Slight showers of welcome rain fell at intervals at'Hanmer .during Sunday, followed by a heavy downpour towards evening, but it was of short ■ du'ratiort :=".'■ The atmosphere yesterday, morning was..; fresh and springlike,.-and .the .flowers ! and shrubs are'making rapid growth, CHEVIOT. Members' of tho Canterbury 'Land-.: Board are expected to visit Cheviot'On ■ October;B to inspect : the Cheviot graz-. ; . ing runs generally, but.:inpre partieu--larly the (three Domett runs, the leases... nf which expire in a little' oyer twelve months' time. j''• The annual- meeting of tho Cheviot Defence Rifle. Clu'' 'was held on Saturday, Mr J. Puschel (president) hemar in the chair, The balance-sheet, .which was adopted, showed the cash in''hand •to ho £9 2s 2d, outstanding-subscript' * tions ■'■ £l4 and liabilities' £lo'los. OfiV * eers-were elected as follow:—President,-; v Mr S. Pettingill.; vice-president, MrW, Hodgson; secretary and treasurer, Mr Holland; committee, Messrs Harrison, Hiatt, Wilson; Allan, Cottrell and Puschel. Totes of thanks wore pased to Messrs Flaherty and Wilkinson for allowing the use of their land for- the range, to the retiring secretary .'(Mr.; Allan) and to the" honorary handicapper' (Mr E. R'.' Holren): The opening da?was fixed for October 18, the-range?"'' to be fired at being 200, 500 and .6Qf)>: yards. The president donated a trophy- '•" of £1 Is for the day's programme, and Mr Harrison gave 10s 6d. Mr Hiatt offered two -half-guineas for tho first possibles at 200 and 'SOO yards. ' Three new members were elected.