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Otago Daily Times, Issue 19269, 5 September 1924, Page 6

Members of the Waimate branch of the Farmers' Union are unanimously of opinion that, last year's field day was most successful, and it was agreed (writes our correspondent) to hold a similar function this year, but it has been decided to make this year's function a whole-day event. Last year the field day waa held at Mr Isaac". Andrew's estate at Waihao Downs, but this year it is to be held on the Waimate Show Ground. A sub-oommitteo has been set up to make arrangements for the function, which will be held towards the ond of this month. Seven tenders were received for the construction of the South Otago Hospital building at Balclutha, the lc-wast, that of the Fletcher Construction Company, for £35,930, being accepted. The buildings, which are to be constructed of Dunedin-rnade bricks, will be commenced in a fortnight. The unskilled labour will be procured locally and skilled, tradesmen will bo engaged in Dunedin. Two accommodation houses are t<> ba erected on the job for the use of the workmen. During the past month a number of eases of pneumonia has occurred in the Waimate district, with five deaths. The medical superintendent of the hospital states (says a Press Asociation telegram) that fcho illness commences as a severe, infectious oold, in all probability a type of influenza. He Urges that every precaution be taken, and to romember the lessons learnt during the 1918 influenza epidemic. A petition to include the Arrow district—the land lying between Lake Wakatipu and the Arrow Junction—in an irrigation area has been signed by 95 per cent, of the ratepayers within the area, the re. maining five per cent, being absentee landlords. This means that all who were able to sign have responded to the invitation of the Otago Expansion League to do so. The water from this scheme is to be taken from the Arrow River, The Minister of Public Works has promised thai, if the petition is signed before the preparation of the Publio Works Statement he will see that the nocessary works are immediately proceeded with. .Mr S. B. Macdonald (president of the Otago Expansion League), who has been on a visit to the district, says that this irrigation scheme is going to scare an enormous area that is now mostly used as sheep country, but is well suited for the growing of barley and wheat. He has been told by landholders that as soon as the Government starts to irrigate they will subdivide their land, and that will make provision for a large number of additional settlers, in what is admitted to be a rioJt agricultural district.

The arrangements for the official opening of the Opolio tramway extension to-mor-row are now complete. A large and enthusiastic meeting of residents was held in the Opoho Hall on Wednesday at, which Mr H. P. Harvey presided. Mr Harvey stated that an executive committee, chosen, from the various committees, had been formed to control the functions connected with the celebration. Mr Geo. Morrison bad been elected chairman and Mr G. S. Thomson secretary. It was reported that the Catering Committee had collected £ls in cash, in addition to donations from the following business firms—Reilly’s Central Produce Mart, J. Hounsom, Mitchell, Roberts, Rigby, Legg. Bennett, and Houston, Wm Wright and Co., and Mrs Mackisack. The Decorations Committee, under Mr D. Tannock, also the Sports and Dance Committees, had their work well in hand. The Executive Committee reported having suggested to the town clerk that, after officially declaring the line opened at the Gardens corner, at 2 p.m., the Mayor and official party should immediately proceed to the Opoho sports pavilion, where speeches would be made and that Mr H. P. Harvey would be the spokesman for the district. The town clerk had replied that the official party from the council would gladly fail in with the desired arrangements.

In common with other districts in the dominion, farmers in Waimato County have suffered severe loss from the depredations of small birds, but. the local branch of the Farmers’ Union this year decided to take steps to abate this evil. Early in the year it was suggested (writes our correspondent) that it would be most advantageous if all farmers would agree to lay poison at the same period of the year, and with the object of carrying out this concerted campaign a sub-oommitteo was set up to make all arrangements necessary for such poisoning. The' committee decided that July and August would be very suitable months in which to carry out this work, and farmers responded to (lie appeal, which is amply demonstrated by the fact that during July and August, 1923, only 761 b of poisoned grain was distributed by the Waimate County Council, while for July and the first two weeks of August this year no less than 12641 b of poisoned grain was used by farmers. It might also be mentioned that' much more grain would have been used during this period had not the council’s supplies run short. Reporting to the recent meeting of the Farmers’ Union on the campaign against the small bird menace, Mr Bailey (a member of the committee' said the results had been most satisfactory, and thousands of small birds had been poisoned. In his district (Morven), the small bird nuisance was now a thing of the past. Members from other districts reported similarly, and it was generally agreed that if a ’similar campaign were car. ried out next year the small bird pest would be ended. One member went so far as to say that £1 spent in poisoned grain meant a saving to a farmer of £2CO. It was resolved to carry on with the campaign during September. Following an agitation for some time past for the extension, to the country, of facilities for university education, there will probably soon be put in operation a scheme submitted by the University Senate to the Minister (reports our Sydney correspondent), whereby lecturers from the chief seat of learning will be sent to country centres. Not a few people, quoting mainly the examples of the Universities of London and Queensland, have advocated as a bigger university scheme the introduction of correspondence classes, but although the system is said to Have worked well in Queensland, for example, the experience of certain other universities has been less encouraging. The university has been reproached in some quarters for not giving those in the country unable to come to Sydney the advantages of its facilities for the higher learning; but the university has to cut its coat according to its cloth; it has turned down some schemes for the definite reason that they might depreciate the standard of its degrees and perhaps cheapen a Sydney degree in the eyes of the world.

The affection of a motorist towards a policeman is about as intense as that of the mouse towards the oat, and, like the cat, the policeman almost invariably has the last’ word. Even though the motorist is only “convicted and discharged,” ho experiences a horrible sensation, as he loaves the court, that the man in blue is endeavouring to convey to him, by means of that steely glint in his eye (possessed by all policemen) that he is merely biding his time and that the next offence will relieve him of a substantial portion of his salary, in default a definite period of his spare time in scrubbing the floor of a cell. But there is one occasion on record in Dunedin, the city where this friendly spirit of rivalry exists between Robert and the motorist to a fairly large degree, on which the man at, the wheel scored an undoubted victory. The policeman wa® once a London traffic “cop,” and what he did not know about traffic control was not worth knowing. There was one particular oar which seemed to.,get on his nerves—the colour or something displeased him—so he determined to bag it for speeding. Waiting his he pounced out into the middle of. the street, held up his hand impressively, and brought the car to a halt “You’ve been speeding,” said he, “I want to look at your speedometer.” The motorist did some rapid thinking. “I don’t think I have,” he said, “but will you be satisfied with my speedometer only? It’s in perfectly good order.” Robert had caught his man and was not loth to accede to such a trivial request. The speedometer, he knew, did not lie. Now, in spite of numerous requests, Robert, the London traffic expert, declines to relate to his fellow policemen how he stopped a oar for speeding at the rate of no miles an hour. The speedometer, of course, registers only the speed at which the oar is travelling, so that when the machine has stopped the instrument registers a blank.

It is announced that final negotiations have been reached between the Taihap© and Feilding Farmers’ Freezing Companies by which the Taihape works will close (says a .Feilding Press Association message), all the stock from that company’s shareholders to bo handled at the Feilding works. This arrangement will continue till the complete recovery of the freezing industry. Mr Reg Harrison, of Elephant Hill, Wathao Downs, had a thrilling experience last Sunday afternoon, when his car dropped ovfer a cliff into a gully 250 feet below. He was proceeding down Elephant Hill road, and endeavoured to change gears. The car became uncontrollable, gained speed, and nose-dived over a bank on the side of the road. The fence stopped its progress momentarily, giving Mr Harrison just enough time to jump clear before the machine turned over the oliff, and landed in the gully 250 feet below. The driver had certainly a miraculous escape from death. The car was completely wrecked.

“A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together,” is the way, wo are told, to achieve any desired object. Some members of the Otago Harbour Board eyidently do not believe in this saying, judging by what took place at the adjourned meeting yesterday afternoon. A communication waa received from the Mayor asking that a subcommittee from the board should meet delegates from the City Council and the Education Board the following day .to discuss further the question of endeavouring to arrange to give the Education Board another site for the new Albany Street School, instead of the one already granted at Logan Park by the Harbour Board. Some of the members of the board strongly opposed meeting the delegates from the Education Board—they maintained it was useless—although they wore prepared to meet the delegates from the City Council What the attitude of these members of the Harbour Board to the Education Board really is was not made clear, as the Harbour Board has already granted eight acres to the Education Board, and all the conferences which have been held up to now have been with the purpose of endeavouring to secure a site elsewhere for the school and give the park wholly to the city. The voting on the question whether the Harbour Board delegates should meet the Education Board delegates was equal, and the chairman (Mr D. Larnach) gave his easting vote in favour of meeting the Education Board delegates. A motion brought up sub* sequently by Mr Roberts that the business passed should be suspended owing to some members of the board being absent from the meeting was quickly ruled out of order by the chairman. The conference between delegates from the Harbour Board, the City Council, and the Education Board will therefore take place to-day.

Of two brothers named Flynn, who were involved in a motor smash (reports our Sydney correspondent) one was killed in Sydney a little time back. The other wcs unconscious when admitted to hospital. The latter’s ca-e is a remarkable one. His mine went back to the state in wriich it was in in his early childhood. A doctor told the coroner that the young man’s evidence would not be reliable, at least for the present, and that when ho became conscious he thought he was only five or six years old, and had no recollection of events for six months prior to the smash. When the doctor last saw him his demeanour wao that of a boy of nine or ten years of ago. “He is gradually living his life over again.” the doctor told the coroner. Flynn, according to the doctor, is not likely to regain his normal mental condition for some months, perhaps years. The City Fire Brigade received a call at 3.18 n m. yesterday to Kempthorne’s garage in Anzac square, where a Buick motor oar belonging to Mr Simpson, a wool buyer, had caught fire. The car, which was very badly damaged, was valued at £450, and was insured in Phoenix office for £3OO. The building was only very slightly damaged. It is stated that the fire was caused through an employee smoking while he was engaged filling the petrol tank. For the synchronous condenser (6000 K.V.A.) for Lake Coleridge tenders were received by the Public Works Department from nine firms, two of which quoted alternatives, making in all 11 offers. The Hou. Mr Coates announces (reports our Par. liamentary correspondent) that the prices ranged from £6361 to £10,234. The tender accepted was that of the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company (Ltd.) for a total of £8964 13s.

A proposal to divert the R&ngitata. River so that all the water in the main stream will flow into . the north branch at the point near the railway line where the river forks off into a south and a norm branch is at present receiving the consideration of the Rangitota River Board (says the Lyttelton Times). The south branch formerly served largely as an overflow outlet for the main stream, but trouble is now being experienced owing to this branch taking too much of the flow. Mr F. Langbein, district engineer of the Public Works Department, left Christchurch on Wednesday for Timaru, to confer with members of the board regarding the proposal. Mr W. R. Lowry, chairman of the Tatu» Dairy Company, issued a note of warning to tarmers to work their farms on the basis of a lower income than was realised last season (says the Morrinsville correspondent of the New Zealand Herald). The condition of the markets bad been unsatisfactory. There was a time . when they thought the markets were becoming stabilised, but without any apparent reason there have bean unaccountable fluctuations. They, were told that some of the New Zealand cheese was equal to the finest English, yet there had been a difference in preference for English of 30s per cwt. Why there should be that difference was hard to understand. No doubt the control board would deal with the matte* and suggest a satisfactory remedy. All wore looking for prices to stabilise, but from information obtainable a fall in values from those obtainable during the past two years was imminent, and they should be prepared to meet the fall.

The programme for the “grand carnival and bazaar ” in aid of the Leith Bowling and Croquet Club promises competitions, music, frolic, and fun, and as it includes a dance, a euchre tournament, baking competition, etc., with tlie prospect of good pmes to the successful ones, the probabilities are that the funds of the club will be substantially augmented. A. B. J. Blakeley, dentist, Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1859. Advt.

Save your eyes.—Consult Peter G. Dick, D.8.0.A., F. 1.0., London, consulting and oculists’ optician.—“ Peter Dick,” jeweller# and opticians, Moray place, Dunedin.— Advt.