LAKE WANAKA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2106, 5 July 1894, Page 22

LAKE WANAKA.

Albertown, July 2 —We have had Ja rapid thaw during the past week, and a lot of snow has melted off the hills. The weather is quite mild, though a little dull sometimes.

Social Reunion.— l forgot to record that Mr Andrew M'Kay treated his friends to a birthday party in Mrs Russell's hall in Pembroke. Although the night was wet and the weather threatening, a goodly number put in an appearance and had a very enjoyable time, six sets being on the floor at once.

Long v. Shout Chaff.— l notice that my brother scribe, " Agripola," has a note on the above, in which he decided in favour of long chaff for horses. I beg to differ with him on that point, and would vote in favour of short chaff, say in Jin lengths, and I would say 3-16 in chaff if I could get it. The long chaff is never chewed up by the horses to anything like the extent it should be, as a cursory examination of their droppings will show. This is especially so in the case of old horses. Long chaff causes a large amount of extra wear and tear on a horse's teeth, and in consequence shortens his life of usefulness by two or three years, which is a serious item. Then with long chaff old horses will generally scour badly if they get a drink after a feed. Once I was one -of a quartet of contractors, and when we were supplied with long chaff we noted that the horses took a long time to feed and they fagged sooner. In feeding on short chaff, a horse that gets his feed regularly and is in decent condition will not bolt fine chaff. A half-fed horse, in poor condition and fed at irregular intervals, is likely to bolt any kind of chaff. Another argument in favour of fine chaff, when sheaves are cut into chaff, is the fact that a large number of the oats are cut in two, which in addition to saving a horse's teeth, must effect a large saving of his digestive organs. "Aerricola" fpeaks about straw being cut into chaff, but I thought that was out of date, givine: place to oaten chaff. High Jinks in Cromwell.— Lately the Cromwelliteti got up an entertainment the like of which is seldom seen up-country, and at the last minute found that some misr-.reant had put the piano out of tune, and one had to be borrowed for ihe occasion. Mr Talboys offers a reward of £10 for the conviction of the offender. A resident in thn Argus bewails the rapid diminution of his wood pile on dark nights, and is anxious to meet the offending individual alone on a moonlight night so as to impress on him the evil of his ways. A eood plue of gunpowder inserted in some of the pieces might work the necessary reformation. Hawea Brass Band Joncert.— l am reminded of this by seeing "a denial" by "One of the C mtnittee" in last week's Witness I will not go into details, but will remark that the sophistry of the argument of the writer is simply astounding. Me&sts M. Curran and T. Wilson were the doorkeepers, and I explained to them that I had no change to get a ticket, but would send the money over to tha treasurer, which they accepted as satisfactory, and I went in. Before leaving, in order to put matters on a proper footing and be straightforward, I waited on the treasurer, Mr D, Urquhart, and told him that I owed him three shillings, and he expressed surprise when informed that the usual courtesy to the pres3 had been withheld, but remarked in extenuation that it cost the band a lot of trouble and money. Accordingly, within the time I mentioned to Mr Urquhart, I forwarded him a postal note and stamps to the value of a single ticket. Anyone whose lot is cast in a district, and who has a reputation to keep up, would be extremely unlikely to merit the charges made by " One of the C mmittee." In. deciding to .withhold the usual privilege of the press, the section of the committee who did so would have acted wisely in giving full reasons, when a mutually satisfactory arrangement might have been made. The difficulty of starting and maintaining the band is spoken of. It is understood that the concert held last Christmas would clear off all liabilities, and in the present case the expense of printed tickets was incurred. Further, complimentary tickets were used that night. If the committee desired to be economical there is another point that I would respectfully draw their attention to. During the first parb of the concert, sundry economical individuals enjoyed it from the outside of the windows, and afterwards, as the committee did not give tickets to those who went out, they came in with the crowd, and enjoyed everything thereafter without cost. As I haid before, when all complimentary tickets are abolished, then a reasonable pressman will cheerfully waive all press privileges, and do all he can to bring the affair to a success. "When the "Member" is in a moralising mood he can think of the lack of judgment displayed by one who rushes into print without properly ascertaining facts, and the cvi lof suppressing certain facts in order to bolster up a serious charge. If the member has any delicacy of feeling and conscientious principles he will express regret fo?

his letter in last week's Witness. In declining to insert the coitributed account of the affair under the circumstances the editor followed a universal custom.