SOUTH OTAGO. BALCLUTHA DISTRICT NEWS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20867, 6 November 1929, Page 7

SOUTH OTAGO. BALCLUTHA DISTRICT NEWS.

(From Odb Own Correspondent.; BALCLUTHA, November 5. VISITOR FROM THE NORTH, W. 6. Stewart, railway station master at Otahuhu, Auckland, and formerly of Balclutha, is revisiting here after mi absence of 18 months. Since the establishment of the railway workshops, Mr Stewart states, Otahuhu has experienced t ij' j T 5 though formerly regarded chiefly as a summer retreat for Auckland city people, it is now a bustling town of great solidity. There are 1000 employees at the railway workshops, and with the development of the artificial manure works (two in number) and the nearby freezing works, the station has become a very busy one, 100 trains being despatched daily on an average. The place, Mr Stewart added, in conversation with the Daily Times representative, is famous for ita mild climate, although situated as it is on the narrowest' part of New Zealand,, between the head of Manukau Harbour and Tamaki Salt River, and exposed to the sea breezes. Nine days ago Mr Stewart dined off this season's peas, beans, and potatoes from his own garden, and tomatoes growing in the open air are already the size of small potatoes.' MUSIC IN KAITANQATA. "

Some of the Kaitangata musical organisations, for which the mining town was famous, are finding it hard to carry on, owing to the mine shifts and other causes. The male choir disbanded a few weeks ago, and now the municipal brass band has decided to disband. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The South Clutha Presbyterian Churches, comprising Warepa, Puerua, Romahapa, ana Kaka Point, celebrated the seventy-fifth annivergayr of the establishment of the church in the district by services at Warepa, Romahapa, and Kaka Point on Sunday. The church establishment is presumed to date from the first service conducted at the house of the late Mr William Hay, Romahapa, by the late Rev. William Bannerman, on March 19, 1854, Mr Bannerman was inducted into the Toko-Clutha charge on June 17, 1854. At the anniversary services Dr E. N. Herrington,- of Knox College, Dunedin, was the principal speaker. In the morning he addressed a good congregation at Warepa, and in the afternoon the Romaic apa_ Hall was crowded, while in the evening the church at Kaka Point was well filled. His addresses contained many apt references to the spirit of the “ pilgrim fathers ” who had settled the backblocks of Otago in the face of great difficulties, and in the doing had endured many hardships and privations. Incidentally he paid a great tribute to the work of the late Rev. Dr Bannerman, whose name was a household word in the district in the early days, and was still mentioned by the early settlers now surviving with veneration and respect. Those assisting in the services were the Revs. W. R. Hume, James Farlane, and A. M'Neur. The celebration closed last night with a social and reunion in the Puerua Church.