Lake Wakatip Mail QUEENSTOWN, TUESDAY JANUARY 14 1041

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4501, 14 January 1941, Page 2

Lake Wakatip Mail QUEENSTOWN, TUESDAY JANUARY 14 1041

.Very timely rain fell in Queenstown and generally throughout the district on Thursday last. The grass was showing signs of drying up and water was becoming short. The moisture imparted to the ground has done an immense amount of good. On Sunday the temperature was decidedly chilly and there was hj slight fall of snow on the mountains, and some hall on the lower levels. The change in the weather was welcome and proved the greatest good for the greatest number.

A grass fire of considerable proportions appai ently had its origin In Die paddock alongside the Acclimatisation reserve on AYedmesday afternoon last. Columns of smoke coming from this direction alarmed fniany townspeople and the fine brigade was called out. Owing to' the nearest water plug being a good distance away, there was some delay in bringing water on to the conflagration, fn the meantime it spread ,to the Act cliniat'Lsation reserve and eventually down the bank to the road. Several fire-ifilgkters on the scene had some difficulty in preventing the spread ,of the fire, but it was eventually got under control with Die jaid of water drawn from a considerable distance. No appreciable damage was done. Several trees were destroyed ofr badly scorched. > Great credit is. due to those who fought the fire and thus prevented it from doing further damage to the gum and other plantation. Another small grass fire broke out on the western terrace in Alarm St. on Saturday night. The brigade was called out but the fire had 'been extinguished when it arrived. The Borough Council will hold a special meeting on Thursday night to confirm the “Building Line By-law” and appoint the statutory half-holi-holiday for the present year. Several property-owners bordering on the streets involved in the new by-law view with apprehension the passing of what they consider a harsh regulation. This applies particularly to those owning premises on the corners or shallow sections. AVo understand representations are to be made la the council. The death occurred last week of U on. Charles Edward Mac-mi I Ism after 18 months of indifferent health. Born at AH. Croix, in the West Indies, he was the younger .son of Capt. Alacm.’Vian. a commander of the British Navy. Deceased pursued an active political and local body career, and as a Reform candidate ire. defeated Joseph Ward in the by-election caused by the death of Sir William Henries. He held the seat continuously. and in 1922 lie was appointed AI blister for Alines and Agriculture. He was defeated in the 1935 election by the Labor cam! Rate, Air T. D. Burnett.'

The local branch of the heel Cross will resume work this week and its operations will cover the making of bedding. Will anyone who lias old or new blankets or warm materials that could be incorporated in bed covers kindly send same into the committee. Such articles will be gratefully received. The local postofflee. along with other offices in the Dominion expend- / enced a very heavy holiday period | Despite the fact that special pictorial} greeting's were not provided this year. the telegraph traffic was particularly heavy and the telegraphists were kept ] busy until noon on Christmas Day j clearing the traffic lodged on the 24th. I A great number also took advantage ■ of the conceSiSion cable rates to send | greetings to soldier friends and relatives overseas. The letter and parcel ! mails were also heavy and there seemed to be very little evidence that wartime conditions were affecting the residents’ habits of remembering friends and relatives at Christmas time. 281. outward toll cals and 1927 telegrams of alt kinds were handled during Christmas week. These figures show a slight drop as compared with those for the same period last year but the revenue from Die same soucres was 10 per cent, higher. Among visiting anglers who come to the district during the holiday-per-iod. is Mr Jas. Manson of Dunedin. This year he has done a good deal ■of angling in the lake and Kawarau and has met with considerable success. His catches embrace some beautiful 3-4 pounders which have been secured in the Frankton arm of the lake. About 870 persons took advantage of the excursion from Invercargill via Gore on Sunday. The s,s-. Eamslaw was a full ship when she berthed at the wharf at 1.40 p.m. some 40 minutes late. The weather was not altogether favorable for the excursion. It is said that hail fell at Lumsden and at Kingston and although fine overhead while the excursionists were in Queenstown, overcoats were freely worn. The steamer returned at 5 p.m. The Queenstown Municipal Band entertained the visitors with b program in the Park in the afternoon. As some of the men who were, in the Last territorial camps have not completed their full three months of intensive training, the Army authorities have decided that they must reenter camp to complete it. At public sittings of the Southland Man-power Committee it was stated on several occasions that men who entered that camp l would bo deemed to have completed their training for the current military year when the camp disbanded. At the time this was understood to be the arrangement. Now, however, the Army authorities have decided that all men liable for territorial service must do three months’ intensive training, and the Southland men concerned have been notified that they are required to return to camp this week. Of these men, 78 have about three weeks to put in to complete their training and between 50 and (!0 have six weeks.

Emirau. the island on which the German raiders recently landed a number of the passengers and crew of the vic'.iim ships, was a (spot well chosen for the purpose, according to Mr J. AW Faulkner, a former Dunedin resident. whose duties have taken him on more than one occasion to this (region. The island itself Mr Faulkner said to an ‘Otago Daily Times’ reporter recently is merely a coral atoll only a few square miles in extent. It is seldom visited even by the vessels trading in this group, and while people landed on the far side of the island from the main plantali,on would not be likely to starve, it would be several days before they could come into contact with civilisation and so give important tidings of the raiders’ whereabouts. 'The chief plantation 'in Emirau is controlled by Messrs AY. E. Carpenter and Co. Jxla,u Australian firm which runs its pwn trading vessels, and it was on one of these boats that Air Faulkner was employed a.s a radio operator. Comment made recently by the Alinister of Health, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong. on the latest statement by Dr J. P. S. Jamieson, chairman of the National Health Insurance Commit tee of tine New Zealand branch of the British Aledical _ Association about the general practitioner service contract was brief and sharp. Dr Jamieson advised tine Government not to make commitments at present for the engagement of staff and the provision of premises and so on as doctors were not undertaking any change in the system of medical practice for at least the of the war and until after demobilisation. When Iris attention was. drawn to Dr Jamieson's statement the Alinister said: “It is only what we expected him tq say and what he has been saying all the time. But we intend to’ go on with everything connected with the scheme.;’ Air Armstrong.said. The Alinister for Education (Hon. H. G. R. Mason), accompanied by the chairman of the Southland Education Board (Air S ; . Rice). Air J. J. Gough, architect and Mr Thompson, secretary of the Board.- visited Queenstown Hast week and made an inspection of the local schools and manual training school. The Alinister also visited Arrow town and AVanaka.