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Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14702, 1 June 1920, Page 3

The jumble sale-to lie held in t|e Totara Hall on June 10th so far has every prospect of proving a great success. The district having been frell canvassed, liberal donations of fowl' wheat, oats, chaff, potatoes, flour, butter, etc.. have been promised. The plain and fancy work stalls will. Have »a fine selection of goods for sale. The refreshment stall will be open afternoon and evening:, the charges being adults 9d, children 6d. A large number of competitions, including baking, cake-guessing, weight-guessing,- shooting., etc. j will be held, handsome prizes to be awarded ■to winners. A variety of amusements will be provided for the children. • \- : Mrs E." H. Bligh will hold a dancing class in Oamaru: on Fridays, at the Druids' Hall, from 8 to 9.30 p;m.

r « Mr G. H. Gifford, whose place Mr C. L. Fraser has taken at Kiverton, has been transferred on promotion to management of the -Bank of New Zealand at Wyndham. The Phoenix Bowling Club will close the season 'on Thursday* with a Progressive Doubles "Tournament, play commencing at 9.30 a.m. A cordial invitation is extended to.. Meadow bank members and- visiting bowlers. A general meeting of the- Home Service League of New Zealand is called, for to-morrow, at 8 p;in., .in the Oddfellows' Hall, Coquet street. Important business is.to be-brought forward, and all members and intending members are asked to be presents At the conclusion of the afternoon service in Kurow Presbyterian Church on Sunday the Rev. John Craig, on behalf of the congregation, made a handsome presentation, to Air and Mrs A: Waugh, on the eve of , their departure from the district; and, on Behalf of the Sunday School scholars, Miss Belle Cairns handed to Mr Waugh a valuable token of their regard. During their ten years' stay in the dis triet Mr and Mrs Waugh have taken a practical interest in all the affairs of- • . the congregation, and for the last- two - years Mr.Wn.ugh has been Superintendent of- the Central Sunday School.lri making the presentation, Mr yCraig referred specially to the great regularity with which.they had attended the services of the Church. In thanking' the congregation and scholars for the valuable presents they had ' given to Mrs Waugh and. himself, Mr Waugh said that anything .they had done, for, the. Church during their stay in Ivurow had been done willingly and gladly ." He believed there were still better days in the future for Kurow parish. Mr and Mrs* Waugh leave next week for their new home at Kakanui. It was ladies' night at- the Columba Men's Club meeting last evening, when, in spite of the unfavorable weather conditions, there was a. fair attendance. The President (Mr Andrew Hamilton,) welcomed the visitors, and a very pleasant-time was sjjent, amusement being provided for everyone. Supper was handed round,' and instrumental selections by Miss Tonkin (piano), Mr Tonkin (cornet), and Mr Cameron (violin) were greatly appreciated and added considerably to the evening's enjoy--ment. At the Club's, next meeting on June 14th Mr Milner will give a. lecture. From a. chat with Mr. C. Avson, of the Haka Hatcheries,. we learnt this morning that the run of salmon, though late, assumed considerable proportions this season. With Mr W. Condon, he recently visited the upper tributaries of the Waitaki, each taking a. stream in turn. Both found large numbers of dead salmon and several large spawning beds. The trout-stripping season has only just begun, but promises well. There are orders to hand already, however, for more eyed ova and fry than are likely to be obtained from this source. "One large order has been received from the North Island. Mr George Gardiner, manager of Messrs Price and Bulleid, of Invercargill -well known in Oamaru, is in town upon his return from a recuperating tour of North Auckland and the major portion of both islands. General Birdwood —that rare instance of an Imperial officer becoming the idol of the hearts of Australasian soldiers—will arrive in Oamaru on Friday week, with Lady Birdwood and their daughter, and will stay some six hours in our'town. At the Committee meeting of the Oamaru Borough Council last night it was decided to tender the distinguished soldier a hearty welcome _ at a luncheon, .at which, of course, the .Returned Soldiers' Association will lie welli represented. The following Athletic players are requested' to turn out_for practice on Takaro Park on Thursday, at 2.30 p.m. :—-Stewart, Rusbatch, Strathspey, Hamill, Maddigan, Patterson (2), Montgomery, Smith," Collett, Sparks, Gilchrist. (2), Cross, Harrison (2), Smart, Keay, Lapslie, Chilcott, Kelk. Campbell, Ward, Hodgkinson, Wilson, Cullen, Luxon (2), Donovan, Dwyer, Oullen, Hubard, Piercy, Oats, Johnson, Murray, Nichol, Bissett, Grenville.

- A pleasant social was hgld in Holmes Hall, St. Paul's, last night to farewell Miss A. Budd, M.A., now the Lady Principal of Queen Margaret College, Wellington. "-Miss Budd's presence in Oa.maru during her holidays was seized upon by the ladies of the P.W.M.U. and the teachers of St.. Paul's Sunday School to present her with a. mark of their appreciation. Be v. S. F. Hunter spoke of the work of Miss Budd in the church institutions named. , She had organised and carried, on, as superintendent, the primary department of the school, and to her zeal and skill was due its success: She had also organised the children's mission band, called "The Busy Bees.'.' Tn the "Women's Missionary Union she was a devoted worker and had helped as a mission study leader. Mrs Mclntyre and Messrs J. Miller and. J. H. Milligan also spoke in the highest terms of Miss Budd's work, and wished her a.ll success in her . future work. Mrs Hunter made the presentation. Miss Budd, in reply, spoke of the important work of Church I schools. A musical programme was enjoyed, consisting of solos by Misses -Gray, Ironside, and Allan and Mr G. A. Naylor, and a pianofore duet by Mr and Mrs C. W. Naylor. Refreshments were provided, and the hymn "God be with you till we meet again" concluded the proceedings. . j The inadequacy of the school cap at J present in vogue, as a protection to the head, was the subject of comment at'last meeting of the Auckland Grammar f-jchool Board (states the Star). One member, said that these "oyster shells" left the nerve centre at the back of the head exposed v thus .risking meningitis. It was suggested that some form of slouch hat, protecting the neck should -be worn. The wearing of "shorts" during the winter time was also dealt with. The resulting exposure of the knees through this fovm of dress, it was urged, might be sowing the seeds of rheumatism or other diseases. The adoption of "knickerbockers"' during the winter months was suggested as a. -remedy. It was decided that tlus_ matter, as well as that of the .wearing of_ caps, be left in the hands of the chairman,' Professor A. P. W. Thomas, who will confer with the headmaster. "It would be a good idea-," said Mr V. G. Day, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court, Christchurch, "if football clubs refused to play* members who had not fulfilled their obligations under, the Defence Amendment Act." The Magistrate's remarks were induced by the plea put forward by t>ne defaulter, who stated as his reasoirt for non-attendance at a half-day parade that he liad been playing football. Many cricket clubs and social clubs, concluded Mr Day. had carried out a. plan of this kind during the war in respect of eligible people who had not enlisted, and it would help considerably if all sports clubs would look at the present position regarding defaulters from- the same point of view. . ; Although the scarcity of houses is still pronounced, says the Star's Christchurch correspondent, inquiries made go to show that there is much less property chaiiging hands. -Naturally, the fact that- further '-applications for grants under the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act are being entertained by the Government has had its effect on the property market, but even apart .from this, land agents say that the demand for the purchase; of both house and farm property has eased considerably. "There is not now the frenzied buying that there : has been, and values are . becoming more stable," said one man. He added that he had found that a. certain percentage of those who had acquired'homes recently at high prices were evidently finding it a struggle to keep up their payment of principal and interest. In a. number of such instances the properties are hack on the- market for resale. A delegate nt the sitting of the Fruitgrowers' Conference said it had been stated that the New Zealand , public consumed 1,000,000 cases of locally-, grown fruit. This could easily be increased fmirfo-ld, if the growers eliminated the retailers and dealt.direct with the consumers. 'So lone: as the public had to pay fictitious prices their appetite for fruit would not be stimulated. The Government should be approached i for assitance in the formation . of coI operative fruit-selling agencies in the | different centres. The Government was I associated with the production of fruit, iand there was no reason why it should |not be equally concerned' with, its distribution.

The rough-weather of last week was experienced very keenly at Ngapara, where thunder, lightning, hail, and the lull iorce of the gale were received. The gale continued intermittently until yesterday. -. _ " *■ A circuit was apparently the cause of the. partial. loss of Mr A. Hood's car by fire recently. The party ran out of petrol on a run from the country, and when petrol was secured in the morning and the car started up a blaze was the immediate result. Little but the chassis is left.

' The high price of land in certajn parts of the North Island was the 'subject of-comment by Mr J. Boddie, provincial president of the Auckland farmers' Union (states t-lie Herald). .In certain > districts in Auckland province and in Taranaki, he said, prices ranging from £IOO to £250 ail acre had been paid for areas' of from 30 to 60 acres. These priced were held by many world-be advisers of the farmers to be dangerous, and likely to lead to disaster: The whole question, however, resolved itself into what the land would produce. He recently had submitted to him two well-authenticated, returns from land within 30 miles of Auckland.In one case a gross, return of £IOOO, was made from 10 acres,, and in other a gross return of £MO an acre was'obtained. These figures-would appear to justify the highest price quoted for land. It" was also beyond dispute that Taranaki farmers with : liigWy-im-' proved dairy herds and good land had obtained gross returns of from £l7 to £27 an- acre. Such results teiidpd to show what could bo done on small holdings by intensive cultivation. Harrowing stories of, their hard struggle against poverty were told to the New South Wales Minister of Health. (Mr McGirr) by a deputation ofmothers who waited on liim in Sydney recently. 'Dr. Arthur, who introduced the deputatipn, said these women, "'who sported no crepe de chine or two-guinea shoes," had rendered greater service to Australia than any politician oiv prince, and yet they were condemned to a life of suffering so poignant that it Aiade him "see red" and feel as though he would turn Bolshevik. Then came the women, with their heart-breaking tales. Said one, "I'm 29 and I have eight children. My husband earns £3 17s 6 per week, and I have to go out myself to earn a living. I have only the -rags on my hack." Another mother of eight said her children could get no clothes. She had had no clothes for years, and no furniture since she' was married, hecause she tried to buy a house. One woman told the Minister that she had to put her six children into the one bed to keep them warm, because, she ■had so few bed-clothes. Then Mr Davidson, one of 20 members of Parliament present, arose and said: "This has gone far enough.. It would break a man's heart. It is time w&, as a Labor Government, took direct action. Let us strike a graduated wealth tax, so that we can do something for these unhappy women." He then left the . room, with, tears in his eyes., Mr McGirr said that the deputation, though painful, would do good. They gave the lie direct to those 'who denied there was any poverty in the city."We must' do something," he continued," in the nature of a subsidy to mothers." The Minister promised to introduce a Bill to pay so much a week into the Savings Bank for each mother who had more than two children, and whos© husband did not earn over £6 a weelj. Touching on the necessity ol the recent building restrictions, the Minis-' ter of Labor' (Sir Willianf Herries). in a statement covering the Government's housing activities, states "there has not. up to the present, been any great difficulty in obtaining sufficient building trade labor for the dwellings in hand, the chief difficulty—as ijlready stated—being the obtaining of materials. It is obvious, however, that if the Department is to proceed with further dwellings as allocated the difficulty will arise both in obtaining contractors to build the dwellings and also the necessary workmen. A case in point occurred recently at Feilding where a builder was about- to commence a picture theatre, whilst at the inline time the Department was unable ' to secure a builder to erect dwellings in that town. In this case, the builder was most anxious to discontinue work , on the picture theatre and to erect . workers' dwellings instead. He has since" submitted a. satisfactory tender i to erect dwellings in Feilding and Pal- ! merstoii North. This emphasises the necessity to provide restrictions on the ] erection of non-essential buildings such I as picture theatres, biljiard saloons, ' racing course stands, etc. Everything i possible is being clone to speed up the 1 work at present in hand, and' to com- i pleto arrangements for the erection of additional dwellings."

"Why are we always to follow tlie Americans? They took three and a half years to hear the bugle call in the war, and they have not yet ratified the Peace Treaty Why should we follow them? They are always jlate! ' In these terms a delegate at last ■week's,conference of the Fruitgrowers' Federation opposed a proposal to adopt the American standard fruit case throughout New Zealand. "Call it the Canadian case, then," suggested another delegate. "'lhe Canadian and American cases are exactly the same." This suggestion proved a. happy way out of the difficulty, the conference deciding to. adopt the "Canadian standard case." „ xi The bank clerks of Palmerston North and surrounding districts,, of whom there are about 60, have formed a union for mutual improvement under the guidance of men of discretion and experience. . A general meeting of the At-liletic Football "Club, will be held in the clubroom to-morrow night, at 7.30, when all members are requested to .be Present. A progressive euchre social and dance will be held in the Defence Hall, Dun-t-roon, on Thursday evening next, commencing at 8 sharp. The usual'sale will bo held by the South. Canterbury Auctioneers' Association at the Glenavy saleyards on Monday next. . Entries are now being I receivedv ■