MAPUA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 11 June 1926, Page 3

MAPUA

The silence of "your own" for a eon- , gtderable tiling past is owing to haying I been along with many others in this' neighbourhood,, 'buried under an ava- r lanofae of apples and yet more apples, J. iroin whieli we arc only now beginning'l to eriierge. k ßut during Hie enforced. holiday 'trbrn tHe /pen, of those Corres-,'• pondeiits who gu-ow apjiles, our esteem-'] ed Editor has given due prominence to and worthy descriptions of the wonder- \ fill crop with which our district has been blessed, and for which our hearts : i go out in gratitude to Him, "Who gives! all." Only fhose who actually! saw the orchards with their own eyes can possibly realise the beauty and the, wonder of the harvest upon the trees ; | and the incessant labour involved dur- j ing the weeks of picking and packing 1 the fruit for export. But to many of I the busy throng the work was a joy and delight," the beauty of the fruit, to be handled, and tbe perfect harvest weat<h-1 er, as well as, in most cases, the: { cheerful good fellowship of working alongside of others, made the harvest j' time to resemble a kind of prolonged picnic. "Tell it not in Gath," especially tq the men folk, but we have heard rumours that some of the women who temporarily forsook cook-stove, broom and cluster, do not relish going ibacki to their indoor servitude again. How- , ever, we must see to it that all insub-; ordination is immediately suppressed,: as the idea of a revolution in our j households cannot for a moment bo entertained.' j One thing that has not yet been adequately described in connection with the ! "Green Apple Harvest" (but they were j not all green) is the traffic. Oh the lor-1 ries and the lorries, and the lorries !| Talk about "gwine to run all night, j 'gwine to run all day," surely they did do so indeed. And when they ! ceased, the uncanny silence almost got | on our nerves. But the funniest day, was when it was suddenly announced j that export would close down, and I everybody was anxious to get away all that they possibly could. The lorries I could not nearly cope with the quantity j of fruit to be carted, and it was quite < entertaining to watch the road crowded ' with vehicles of all descriptions. Surely every ancient horse that existed in i the district was resurrected for the oc- i lasion ; and everything on wheels (bar wheelbarrows and perambulators) was commandeered for service. Homo of these crept along at a snail's pace, while the lorries passed and repassed them. Amateur photographers found oceupa- i tifiii taking snaps of (he queue waiting ' all day at the cool store. , We are glad to see that our wharfnig- ' er, .Mr Blanche, is pressing the need of further shed and wharf extensions at j Mapua; as the recent welcome additions! were found all too small when export I commenced in earnest; and with the prospect of annually increasing crops for some years to come, our port will need extended facilities for the handling of the shipping. Our township seems to be threatened with a house shortage before long. The few empty houses in the place are all i being tenanted by families,* and those who have any kind of a. cottage available are receiving enquiries from various quarters. Mr E. Senior is buildi-ig a residence on the cliff overlooking i!,c Bay, which ho intends to o?cupv ts soon as completed. On Sunday, May 16th, the Presbyterian Church held its Harvest Thanksgiving in the school, which was prettilv dpcoratecl for the occasion with fruit, vegetables and' lycopodium. The service was conducted by Rev. Geo. Ma.--donald, who preached an appropriate sermon from the words, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat;- and' summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Genesis VIII 22. On (lie Idlowing Friday evening a sale of gills was held, and in addition contributions of apples were made by a nunibv r.f local orchardists,- to be* forwarded to Wellington and sold by Messrs Thompson Bros., on behalf of the local church funds, which will benefit materially as a result of the suggestion. Last Sunday Rev. Mr King, of Motueka, officiated here in the afternoon and took for his text Psalm XC 1. "This was Mr King's first visit to Mapua, but those who heard him will not soon forget his earnest, helpful, and inspiring address, wan its very practical application to daily life • and he may be assured of a warm welcome if he comes again. The postponed election of the re!'»ol Committee was held hist, week, and though there was not. a large a (lea lance considerable interest was manifested in the working of the school. A very excellent inspector's report was read to the meeting; the remarks on the be haviour and general high tone of I*l e school being especially good to hear. The finance was in a satisfactory condition: and a good shelter shed, with coal aid wood shed attached, had recently been erected, and concrete floor laid cown. The same committee was re-slected unopposed.