BANKRUPTCY-RETURNS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2146, 11 April 1895, Page 14

BANKRUPTCY-RETURNS.

L— -The- following are the details oE tho bankruptcy trai sactions in each of the districts in Otago and Southland in charge of Mr C. C. Graham, official assignee : —

Marram fclrass. TO THE EDITOB.

Sir, — Ifc is but lately that I Lave ta&ea 1 any particular notico of the sfcfr.thafc is being made about marram grsss. Iv this parb of the colony we do nob require it much, although an indigenous spcciea of it; grows along the coast below Ashburton. That species, however, pop?esses but few of the qualities that make the true marram desirable on sai dy beaches. But my attention (o the marram grass question has bern suddenly awakened by your article of April lon the 6ubject. Iv that article reference is mi do to a battery built on the bent hills of Moutrcseby the local volunteer artillery company as far back as 1860, and which battery is now so far removed from high-water mark by the growth of " bent" or marram grass as to necessitate the building of another battery more to seaward. I canuct speak as to the proposed reerection of the battery, which Diay, for aught I Irnow, be an accomplished fact ; bub I can speak with authority about the growth of the grass during the 14- ye-ara I remained in Forfaishire after the battery's erection. I was not an artillery volunteer, bub belonged to one of the infantry ccmptnie3 of tho town. Tho battery was builb by the men themselves without any _ajo_froui^TOverrmenr, and the riflemen bore & hand in a ffic-Hu^ wi£h,thi) excavations^ I took part a good many evenings in this work. The sand was piled up to a considerable height, and in making the sand mound (a very large one), on which we laid tho plalfoims for the heavy garrison gucs, we had of curse to displace the " bent 3" or tussocky-liko grass which was growing everywhere around. When the mcuud wes finished not a bent wa3 to be set n on its sloping sides and front. > We feared fcfcab tho flrst strong wind would blow away all our work. Nature, however, was kinder to us than our fears, and while no gales worth mentioaing blew for the flriit six months the bent grew so rapidly that both face and Bides of the batfery were covered in that .time with a hcal'hy growth. Year after year the growth incrccsed and caught; the drift of sand, bo that by the time I left Scotland to come to New Zealand (1874) thobittery's sloping oidoß and front had been drifted up with sand to such an extent tbab, instead of the gun platforms being on the vergo of a deep slope — as was the case when the bab'ery was built, — thoy were in 1874 mar-y yards btck from the edge, and the whole, thauks to the bent growth, was as folid as a rock. For miles along the coast to the north tho bent tolds possession, and protects, by the strong ridges of sand it collects, as fine a natural lawn as one could wish ; in fact, vo artificial cricket pitch in the world can compare with the three-mile-long and quarter-mile-broad stretch of natural lawn tho. c e bills protect and preserve. Thit lawn was, I huve no d-übt, at some time in the far past a porlion of the beach, and as sandy, until the beat came in between and marked it off from the sea. The lawn is covered by a natural grass, short ia the blade, but with a network of roots that maks a nice thick carpet of turf, and a golf or cricket ball rebound 3 from it like a billiard bull from tho cushion.—" I am, &c , A&hburton, April 3. Mac Lean Dtjnn.

The Wanganui Navals have decided to disband.

There ia a revival of some spirit of enterprise in fruib culture in the north. The S*n Francisco manifest of the Mariposa shows fchafc for someplace printed " Woorupua" 2Cooib of peach pits were shipped. Whab place is intended for this Woorupua?" Is it Wairarspa ? Ifc is to be hoped that no more fruittrea diseases will he introduced by these importations, as the peach-tree disease known as "black throfc" is common in all parts of. America.

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Totals Western Otago (Invercareill) ... Otago Goldfields (iNaseby) Otago Go'ldfields (Lawrence) Otasro Goldfields (Queenstown) ... Oamaru ... ... jDunedin District. 121 10 6 10 35 20 40 Petitions by Debtors. 68 5 6 7 20 13 17 Immediate Discharge Granted by Court. £53,324 1 2,299 14 4 2,290 5 ,1 1,102 17 8 7,135 1 10 11,319 17 10 £ s. d. 29.17S 5 2 Assets as per Statements. 4 £G9,880 9 9 7,817 6 11 3,173 16 7 3,900 3 5 13,673 3 3 9,209 3 6 £ s. d. 32,106 16 1 Liabilities as per Statements. £24,196 2 4 870 10 11 2,287 14 2 501 14 7 2,417 16 10 5,654 7 5 £ a. d. 13.463 18 5 Amount of Assets Realised. £85,138 7,331 19 3 3,197 15 3 3,769 14 8 17,621 16 10 10,161 4 1 £ s. d. 43,055 19 S Amount of Debts Proved. 9 9 £12,159 346 8 6 954 0 1 158 19 3 1,161 9 6 3,583 17 2 £ s. d. 5,954 9 0 Amount Paid in Dividends. 3 6