LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 27

LAKE COUNTY.

March 19.— 1t has long been noted that St. Patrick's Day, or the middle of March, brings^ in the end of summer, the change generally beinfl marked by a spell of rough or bad weather, and this year has been no exception to the rule. That ie not to say that we shall have no more fine days, for the fact is that the most delightful and Balubrious weather this district is favoured with starts about the end of March and lasts till August, when spring brings in a spell of wet and changeable conditions. If tourists only knew tbat the close of the season heralds the most eujoyable weather imaginable, lasting till the middle or end of May, when the frost makes things unpleasant to some, travellers in search of health and change of scene would find both in abundance in the highways and byways of the Wftkatipu. The winter months, although characterised by cold nights and frosty mornings, are renowned for sunshiny, balmy days. During the past three months the weather has been far toa fine, and we are now thankful to revel in a little spell of a really bad time. Yesterday for the first time for nearly three months we heard the patter of a shower on our iron roofs, the value and pleasure of which will be understood when it i 3 stated tbat native and cultivated grasses, turnips, and all green feed for stock were on the point of withering. The rain, although not by any means sufficient, will revive, vegetation and make thing.* in general more pleasant. St. Patrick's Day.— This most popular sains and his day were not allowed to pass without dua recognition. At Queenstown a well-arranged and full programme of sports was successfully carried out by a competent committee. The weather being delightfully fine, there was a very large turn out of the general public, and a. very pleasan.'. day was spent. In the evening an Irish concert was held in the Queenstown Town Hall, and was exceptionally well patronised. At Arrowtown there were no organised_ manifestations of rejoicing, which, however, did not prevent a number from doing due honour to the day in their own free and independent manner. Ructions.— Weather notices are , not held i'l much repute, yet the inherent element of chang.: inseparable from the subject makes them an invaluable stock-in-trade of the newspaper scribe. Besides this, our New Zealand weather sometimes excels itself, and furnishes somethinj; really worth recording, as Mr Walter Little, of Cardrona, can instance to his co»t. On Wednesday last week, when the slcy looked all sereux* and harmless, and Mr Little was in the midst of harvesting a paddock of oats, a storm of wiuJ. arose, and suddenly the sky turned as black a?, ink, rain coming down in literal torrents. I r must be mentioned that Mr Little lives at thu foot of Mount Criffel, and that the face of tho mountain rises in rather Bteep reaches. The raict developed into a regular waterspout, coming down the mountain side in a cataract, bringing with it soil, stone?, and boulders in such quantities as to make it appear as if the whole mount was dissolving itself and on the move for the low country. In a few minutes there was about a foot of water in Mr Little's house, while outside of it garden, orchards, and paddocks were transformed into a sea of liquid mud. Fortunately the visitation did not last long, and when tht» weather cleared it was found that about seven acres of oats, most of which was cut and stooked, and about an acre of orchard were covered by many hundred tons of boulders and debris to au irreclaimable depth. As is tuual with such phenomena, this one travelled in a streak only a few hundred yards wide, outside of which limits neither iam nor any other atmospheric disturbance was noticed. Mr Little is a heavy loser by the occurrence, being almost to break up and shift hia home. Another vagary of the past weather was the wind, which has attended to business for the last three months with a persistence that was quite monotonous aud with, such effect tbat some farms in the Clatha Valley have been either totally or partially blown away — that is to say, the soil has been cavried off, leaving nothing but a bed of shingle ana stones too heavy for the wind to lift. At Cromwall it is said the dust has never been so heavy— in many -

cases people having to clear away the accumulations from their doors the same as with the snowdrifes in winter. In addition to all these ructions ■we had an earthauake ou ftfoaday morning last, felt at Queenstown and other parts of the district, and some thunder, so that things have been made lively for us during the last week or so. More Ructions.— The Wakatipu Licensing Committee held «n adjourned meeting yesterday at the Courthouse, Queenstown, when after some routine business a discussion, arose anent the non-granting of a conditional license on the occasion of the St. Patrick's Sports Association gathering (Thursday last) by the chairman, Mr S. E. M'Carthy, S M., leading to the following resolution, which was carried :—" That the action taken by the chairman in refilling to sign the certificate authorising the issue of a conditional license to Patrick M'Carthy, licensee of the Mountaineer Hotel, Queenstown, for the booth ou the recreation reserve, Queenstown, on the occasion of St. Patrick's D^y sports was against the unanimous wish of the remaining members of the committee, who hereby protest against th? action of the chairman." After this the tendency of the chairman on the liquor question will no longer be a matter of controversy. Obituary —Another of the early pioneers t>f the district passed away on Saturday laßt, when Mr W. M'AUister succumbed after a protracted illness. The deceased dates back his advent to this district to 1880. After working at mining he settled down first upon Mr C. C. Boyes's Kowarau Fall* station, and afterwards at Halfway Bay, Lake Wakatipu, where he spent about 20 years of his life. Deceased, who was a native of Ar,ian, Scotland, and was 6i yeais of age at the time cf his death, leaves a widow and a growi«-trp family of four. Ihe funeral took place last Tuesday, when Mr P. ltoss held a short service at the residence of the 1 deceased at Queenstown, the obsequies at the grave being conducted by the Key. 11. Blair. A Send-ofI" —Mr F. Iff. Daniel, for some years pecretary to the Sew Hoy Big Beach Company, who was a general favourite at Queenstown, wai presented en Saturday. last with a pu'se of sovereigns on tbe occasion of his leaving Qaeenstown for Dunedin, where he has secured a lucrative appointment. Accident.— At. Maretown last Suuday, while having a friendly grip at wrestling, a young man named M'Duff had a fall, dislocating his elbow. Ihe sufferer was taken to the Arrow Hospital, whero Ms injury was attended to by Dr Thompson, and h« is doing- well. All's Well Thit End's Well.— A farmer at Ihie Crown ! errace, in view of a (rood crop, pays v his harvest hands Is per hour, while others growl at paying IQd, though they are similarly situated. The example is worth mentioning for the sake of emulation.