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Otago Daily Times, Issue 18928, 31 July 1923, Page 6

“The worst snowstorm I have known ip my 51 years’ residence in Central Otago,” said a prominent runholder to a Daily Times reporter. The runholder went on to explain that three snowstorms stood out in bold relief during that period. One was in 1895, the other in 1918, and the 1923 visitation. The fall of snow on this occasion was unusually heavy, bait it was the severe frosts which accompanied and succeeded it that accentuated the evil. In Arrowtown, for example, snow was still 12in in depth, and the frost recorded on at le->st two occasions was from one to three points below zero. Animal life suffered- severely as a consequence, and hundreds of fowls succumbed. This was more particularly the case on the Crown Terrace. To give an idea of the intensity of the frost, it may be mentioned that milk was frozen into a solid block within an hour or two after having been' drawn from the cow. As regards sheep losses it is difficult even yet to arrive at anything like a definite idea of what they will* total. One man whose losses in 1918 totalled £IO,OOO, estimates that, he will bo quite satisfied it he escapes with a loss of £15,000 ot) this occasion. A manager of a large property in the Lakes district states that ho has 4000 hoggets snowed in, and he does not expect to rescue one of that number. He has been 23 years on this property and ho considers it the worst winter ho has ever experienced. What has made the position even worse is the absence of water. Many shoepowners have gone to considerable expense in the matter of securing hay for the stock, but the shortage of drinking water has been responsible for a heavy mortality. As far as can be ascertained some innholders have been partially successful in rescue operations, but notwithstanding this the losses are bound to be heavy. The Makura, with an Australian mail on board, is due to arrive to-day at Auckland from Sydney. The Duftedin portion, consisting of 31 bags, should reach here on Thursday night Mails which left Wellington on June 26, via San Francisco, arrived in London on July 28.

Fifty-three members of Parliament have accepted the invitation to witness the opening of the Otira tunnel, but it is not likely that all of them will go on account of sickness (states a Wellington Press Association message) Among those asked was Mrs 11. J. Sedclon, but the state of her health prevented her from accepting the offer.

Tho Otago Education Board has made the following appointments:—Miss Nesta Tyndall, sole teacher, Otekaikc; Miss P. E. Hutton, assistant, Arthur Street. Under the will of the late Michael M'Key, retired draper, of South Dunedin, there are bequests of £ICOO to the South Dunedin Roman Catholic Orphanage. £SOO for the Roman Catholic Dominican Convent at Camara, £SOO to the Roman Catholic Bishop at Dunedin, for the time being, to bo applicable for the general purposes of the Roman Catholic parochial school at South Dunedin, and £IOOO to the Bishop, to be applicable for tho general purposes of the Holy Grose College, Moagiei Mr Walter Blaokie, Mosgiel, had an un fortunate experience with some of his shesp on Sunday. Three stray dogs got amongst the wethers, and worried about 30 of them. Nine had to be skinned immediately, and several others are now more dead than alive. Two of tho dogs were shot and one was followed to its homo. More is likely to bo heard of tho matter.

Major-General Sir C. W. G. Chaytor, General Officer commanding New Zealand Military Forces, has consented to perform the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Fallen Soldiers’ monument to bo erected in Mosgiel. It is anticipated that the ceremony will be held about August 20. General Chaytor was in command oi the New Zealand Division in Palestine.

In reply to a deputation yesterday from tho Seamen’s Federation, who asked for the installation of proper heating facilities in the living quarters on ships, tho Hon. G. J. Anderson, Minister of Labour (says a Wellington Press Association message), suggested that he and tho Health Department officials should inspect typical vessels in conjunction with the representatives of the Federation. ’Phis offer was agreed to. At mid-day to-morrow community singing will bo resumed at the Empire Theatre, when Mr H. P. Desmoulins will load. Miss Rita Holmes will preside at tho piano, and associated with these two will be Mr Kellett, of the Savoy Cabaret Orchestra, who will play cornet solas, and assist in leading the songs. Sitting in Chambers yesterday Ins Honor Mr Justice Sim has granted probate in the following deceased estates; —Neil Bain (Hakanui), Mary Story (Evansdale), John Angus Macdonald, Godfrey. Cornelius Jeffory, Angus M'Douald (Kelso), Martha Brood, Alexander Major Young, Donald Grant (Waikouaiti), Thomas Douglas, Mario Davison (Oamaru), Rachel Jardino (Oamaru), William Lindsay (Mosgiel), Isabella Goldsmith, Wilhelmine Catherine Stuart, John Oliver, Elizabeth Walker Campbell (Wingatui), Michael M'Key, and James Carson. Letters of administration have been granted in re tho estates of Robert Rutherford (Poolburn), Michael Heaffy (Dunback), Walter Aitcbison (Herbert), Mary Burns (Oamaru), Agnes Telford (Kaitangata), Mary Ann Taylor (Milburn), Violet Malloch. Mr Justice Adams has granted probate in the estates of William Barclay Ewing (Sutton), Jessie Gunn (Waikouaiti), Arthur Littlejohn (Milton), Andrew Fulton (Maori Hill), Lady Isabella M'Lonn, Thomas Baxter, and James Miller (Maungatua); and letters of administration in the estates of John Wood Paulin, Richard Rowe (Chatham, England), and Clementina Stewart (Waihola). In re the estate of Sarah M'Namara (Balelutha) his Honor grunted a prayer for leave to sell lands, costs to he taxed by the Registrar and paid out of the proceeds of the land. A summons fixing tho remuneration of the liquidator in the matter of the Roxburgh Amalgamated Mining and Sluicing Company was dealt with, tho remuneration being fixed at a sum equal to 10 per cent, on the first £250 and 5 per cent, on the balance of the assets realised.

The Prime Minister's statement regarding the canard published by the New Zealand Times was terse. It consisted of only two words: “Absolute nonsense.”

At the last meeting of the Balclutha Borough Council some impatience was manifested by at the delay in proceeding with the erection of the South Otago Hospital Board’s proposed base hospital at Balclutha. It was oven insinuated that the original plans had been so altered that the hospital, when erected, would be nothing but a cottage hospital, on the same lines os those under construction at Owaka and Milton. Tliis statement has been given an emphatic denial by Mr Wm. Roy, the Hospital Board secretary, in an interview with a Balclutha Free Press reporter. Hr Roy says that the building proposed to W erected at Balclutha will cost something like £40,000, whereas a cottage hospital can bo built at the present time for under £IO,OOO. There have been delays no doubt in the revision of the plans, but that was unavoidable. Probably a special meeting of the board yill be held to-morrow to finally consider these plans, and after that no doubt tenders will be called.

Tire return of infectious diseases (excluding influenza) for the Dunedin and Fever Hospitals for the week ended noon yesterday is as follows: —Diphtheria, remaining three; scarlet fever, discharged two, remaining two; pulmonary tuberculosis, remaining six; corobro-spinal meningitis, remaining one; acute primary pneumonia, discharged one, remaining one; total remaining, 47. The Ashburton Power Board proposed tc develop 700 h.p. by damming the north branch of the Ashburton River, thus reducing the peak load from Lake Coleridge (states a Press Association telegram). The cost is estimated at about £30,000. A reply was received yesterday from the department, disapproving of the scheme, because the power would bo insufficient to be a valuable standby, and causing a loss to Lake Coleridge of approximately £3OOO yearly, and saving the board only £IOOO or perhaps nothing if the estimate were much exceeded. The proposal to submit the Rangitata scheme, wliieh had much greater dimensions, was rejected. A committee w»* finally appointed to secure departmental sanction or some alternative scheme.

A Wellington Press Association message states that inquiries made from Mr J. A. Hurley, Government bacteriologist, who is ih charge of the Government Hospital Board laboratories, show that the insulin treatment of diabetes has already started in Wellington. Only very severe cases are being treated at present, as the supply is very small. Further supplies are expected to arrive shortly. So far the treatment, in Wellington has been successful. In connection with an outbreak of diphtheria at Morton a resident there wrote to the Wanganui Education Board protesting strongly against the school being used “for cheap dances of a cosmopolitan nature, attended by men and Maoris who could not do without spitting about the premises.” He contended (says the Chronicle) that the school should be for the use of the children. It was decided to forward a copy of the letter to the Marion committee. The Health Department has investigated the outbreak—which in the case of one school child had had fatal results —on<J is satisfied with the sanitary arrangements at school. That a good excuse is a justification for ignoring a good law is evidently the opinion of a drover who recently took a largo flock of sheep through the Kiwitea County (remarks the Feilding Stax). The county overseer reported to the council recently that a drovor had a flock of about 1700 lambs camped on the road in the Waituna district for several days. On being spoken to the drover admitted that the sheep had been there for a considerable time, but ho explained that the sheep needed it. They had been on turnips, and ha thought the grass would freshen them up.- The overseer advised the man to get his flock cut of the Kiwitea County as soon as possible, and further that be would be reported to the council. Tlie overseer also reported that a herd of cows had been grazing on the road, which cows were to be sold by auction that day. The Chairman: Freshening up for the sale, I suppose, A good story is going the. rounds' of Cambridge (says a correspondent of the Auckland Star). Some weeks ago a gentleman (a scientist, much interested in insects) and his wife (a lady who was passionately fond of music) were enjoying an evening walk, when the gentleman stopped to listen to a cricket which was chirping away as though its little heart—if insects have hearts—would burst. The Cambridge Choral Society waa practising in the vicinity at the time, and the lady, listening enthralled to the inspiriting and harmonious strains of “The Soldiers’ Chorus,” mellowed by the little distance away, exclaimed : “Isn’t it perfectly lovely !” “Yes.” acquiesced her husband, thinking of the cricket’s chirping. “Do you know they make that beautiful music by rubbing their hind legs together J” A Dominion representative has been informed by two rangers in the employ of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society that despite the wet weather very satisfactory results had been obtained by experienced trappers since the opossum season opened on July 2. Two. hundred and forty-six licenses had been issued, and the number of opossums taken by individual trappers varied from 400 to 60 or 60. The skins already sent in were in excellent condition, and showed that the trappers were making a better job of the stretching process than in previous seasons. Recognising that better prices were to be obtained locally than elsewhere, the majority of the trappers were selling the skins in Wellington. The price paid for skins went as high as five or six shillings, free of royalties or commission, and a good trapper could make from £3 to £4 a day. It was impossible to say how many opossums had been killed, as many of the trappers were keeping then skins until the close of the season on August 11.

A good story is told from the Auckland Automobile Association’s stand for oars at Victoria street West (says the New Zealand Herald). One evening recently the association’s watchman arrived at his scene of duties and. as it commenced to rain heavily, he' started to turn over the cushions of the front seat of a oar. which had its hood down, so as they might bo kept dry. While doing so he was gripped firmly by the scruff of the neck and forthwith accused by the irate owner of the car of attempting to steal some tools from the floor of the oar. Protestations wore of no avail, and he was held in bond for a quarter of an hour, until a policeman arrived on the scene, and informed the wrathful owner of the true state of affairs. The watchman is now provided With a suitable badge. The rank is being largely patronised by motorists, and the watchman i s doing his work. No cases of theft from oars on the rank have been reported since there hag been someone in charge.

At a meeting of the shippers and buyers of bananas at Suva recently, an important discussion took place on the question of trying to put the Fiji banana back into the high place it used to hold in tho dominion The reports from the fruit inspectors, both in Auckland and in Suva, were none too flattering, and in each case strong comment was made on the continued presence of small fruit, described as “rubbish,” in the recent shipments. Some shipments’ were reported as of excellent quality, s o that the presence of “rubbish” can only be due to carelessness and not necessarily because of any all-round poorness of quality. It is true that there is not too much fruit of any kind available just now, but there is no excuse for this continual complaint of “rubbish” being shipped in among betterclass fruit (says the correspondent of the New Zealand Herald). Tho association took action on Wednesday by appointing two sub-oommittees, both of which may materially • affect the future of the industry. The members decided that it would be much to tho advantage of buyers if, instead of six or seven launches and outfits going up each river to buy, these buyers agree that only one man go up and buy, that the fruit so bought be divided among the buyers on tho basis of their average shipments for. 1925. This would effect a saving of some 2s per case, and make all the difference between a doubtful venture and a profitable one. • It was also decided to have a conference with a view of considering all the aspects of the business, to see If some drastic improvements cannot be made in the quality all round of the fir u sent out of the colony.

Judging from the reports that arrive from time to time, it would appear that appellants in law courts in America are not much more successful than appellants in Australia, though on the whole, it would seem, they show greater originality and outspokenness in setting forth their grounds of appeal. According to Indiana law reports, which are not exactly modern, an appellant once applied for a new trial on the ground that the court erred in sitting with its eyes closed during the reading of important and lengthy evidence produced on behalf of plaintiff, who lost the case. The Supreme Court appealed to, however, held that the ground of appeal wag “vague and indefinite.” If, the court intimated, the learned judge who tried the case was asleep, counsel for plaintiff should have ceased roach g and awakened him; but it was the reasonable and more probable assumption that the learned judge so sat with his eyes closed for the purpose of concentration, and in order that he might hear more acutely. The appeal failed. 1 Similarly, another Indiana appeal, which was lodged on the ground that smoking in the court by the learned judge, and by the attorneys prevented the appellant from having a fair trial, failed, the appeal court holding that the smoking not having been objected to at the time there was nothing that the Supreme Court of the United States of America could consider in relation to it now.

A Wellingtonian writes in reference >o the opossum: “How many of us axe apt to be misled into talcing notice of the immediate small gain while at the same time overlooking the final groot loss? The returns from the skin of the opossum appear very nice except to the fruitgrower, but we scarcely think of the possibility of these animals becoming the menace they have often been in Australia. They have most voracious appetites, feeding on bush berries (to the detriment of our bush birds), and leaves of many trees. Instances occur of full-grown willow trees being killed by opossums through the young leaves being constantly eaten off in the. spring, whilst .the mortality emongst the kotukutuku, or konini bearing tree, is put down by many to the same cause. The five-finger, or hoho, suffers greatly from onslaughts of these animals, besides many other trees. Their fur is only of commercial value while the animals are producing young, and the question will sooner or later arise as bo whoso job it is to keep opossums under control. No doubt the taxpayer will have to bear the brunt—acclimatisation societies with their small incomes cannot. Pity we had not first taken the trouble to get our Australian friends’ experience in many instances”

Mr H. E. Niven, chairman of the South, land Education Board, stated at the board’s last meeting that there had been a tendency in some quarters to criticise the board or the board’s secretary over the failure to close the schools during the height of the influenza epidemic. He desired to explain that the responsibility for closing the school did not attach to the board at all, but was entirely in the hands of the District Health Officer. The latter had advised the board that, it would be a mistake to dose the schools in the meantime, and he would advise the board if the necessity for such action did arise We are informed that several thousand requests were received by the proprietors of Highlander Milk'for their free cookery book advertised in this journal. Many people, however, omitted to sign their name and address on the doupon, and therefore they have not received the book. Unfortunately, the initial , edition of 20,000 Highlander books has been completely exhausted, _ but a fresh edition of a similar number is now being printed. Those people, therefore, who did not secure a copy of the book previously are requested to watch the newspapers for a further announcement when the new issue is ready for free distribution. Ladies can thank “ No-rubbing ” Laundry Help for shortening the once-dreaded washing day to a brief hour or so to-day. It works wonders, and only Is for seven weeks.' Warden Bros. —Advt. There's nothing like Fairy Wonder for washing, scrubbing, greasy dishes, etc.; 3lh packets, Is lOd.—-Advt. Heinz Peanut Butter. Deliciously appetising, wholesome, economical; saves butter. Splendid for school lunches.—Advt. For influenza, take Woods* Great Peppermint Cure.—Advt. A. E. J. Blako’ey, dentist, Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Battray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1859. Advt. Who is Peter Dick? The most reliable watchmaker, jeweller, and qualified optician. Always the leading firm for repairs. Established 1869. Dunedin.—Advt.