SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 48

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(From Ottr Own ConaEsrosDENT.l IXVEECARGILL, December 19. I The warm rainß of last Sunday melted the snow on th« mountains, and the rivers have once more been m flood. On Monday morning i the Waikaia and Mataura rose rapidly, the : form-er almost submerging the oat crops on ] the flat, and in ssveral places covering the ' Toad to a considerable depth. The coach on the run to Eiversdale on Tuesday morning had to cross four or five of these temporary rivers, the water in one place leaching to the j horses' chests. Monday night, fortunately, was cold, and the melting of the snow was j checked, else the flood might havA been dis- | astrous. There was a considerable fall of snow during the night on tha Whitecomb country and the Old-man Range, and another flood on the return of warm weather is quite among the possibilities. But warm weather does not appear to be very close, cold showers and winds having prevailed right throughout the week. j The Eiversdale-Waikaia tar.dges are in a ! very bad state. The flco. of the Waikaia bridg' is extremely uneven and the sides rotten, aid the Riversdale one is in such a state 1 of dilapidation as tc the positively unsafe. Indeed, its rotten state led to what might have been a v«ry serious accident aecently. One , morning la a t we°k. when the coach had al- ( most cleared the bridge at the Riveisdale end, j one of the horses' hoofs went through the planking, and the team got off the roadway down an enbankment, and tipped over the 1 coach. That no one was hurt is due largp'y to the presence of mind and nerve of the driver. Mr Shaw, the ccrrt.ra.ctor for the Railway bridge over the Mataura at Riversdale, has struck a bit of hard hick in the shape of an almost impenetrable seam, probably of lignite, ! and the pile driving is proceeding very slowly. There have not been any notable takes of 1 trout in the streams near town during the week, but the creaks rising m the Hokonuis — the Olapiri, the Lora. and the Dunsdale — | have been in splendid fly-fishing trim, and j good baskets of fish from lib to 2-jlb are , I recorded. As for the New River, it has never ; yet been in fly trim this season, and none too good foi minnow. T lie lowly and altogether i i unlovely worm — the big white leptile out of . ! the bank c . — however, never fails, and r.umerous \ small catches with this lure continue to be made. Fishing on a wide beach below Oporo bridge last Saturday night, Mr J. Bews had the rather j unusual experience of land.ng a roiit and an ' eel together on each of two successive casts, i This beacb appears to be swarming with fish. I A very sad drowning case occurred near Wmj ton on Monday. Mi Edward Andrews, ; who was a' one time in business j ias a butchei m InvercargiU, but who j I has for many yeais been farming in the | Wiuton district, went to an islet in the New | I River, accompanied by his little boj Gordon, to kill rabbits, anc" both were drowned. How j i'u happened can only bs surmised, but the j pereral impression is tha* the boy fell into ! the rivei, and the fathei lost his life trying I to save him. Diligent search has been made | for the bcdies, and the boy's has been dis- | cove: ed, but so far th f - father's ha not been ' I found. ' I Av other drowning case — a =iiicide — wa^ that j of T. M"Ke.izie, a farm labourer, of Otapiri, ! ' who deliberately drowned himself in the Ota- ! pin creek en Tuesday morning. Deceased had , suffered fiora a pai lfu! disease for some tune i past. j Mr J. Poiteous. M.A , the popular first as- • sis'ant at the South «cl.col, has been appointed io 'lie pcs t'ios! of A«s.«tant Inspector for the Taranaki Education District. A man-o'-war is to be present at the B'uf rc^aUa. Sir Joseph Ward will not, I understand, be able to attend, having gone to Wairaku f") a fortnight's holiday. Mr Shand, head ieachii at Limehills school, ' *4W jut.^aufftttxaa. iioiii Wi jt2*s.Ufiiifii &g

has been granted three months' leave of absence, and goes north for a hoLdsy. An InvercargiU resident of 40 years' standing, passed away this week, in the person of Mr J. T. Martin, at cue time proprietor of the Black Eagle bjewery, in Spey street. Deceased was one of the kindest-hearted of men. A notable visitor to Southland at present is the Rev. Andrew M'Queen, minister of the Great Western Road Presbyterian Church, Aberdeen — brother of Mr John M'Queen, of this town, and uncle of Mr Robert M Nab, M.H.R. The reverend gentleman was one of the pionecs of Southland, and wielded the pick and shovel with good effect on several of the Olago goldfields. In last week's notes I recorded the introduction of the four-seated motor car to -Southland by Mr Hankmson. Last night he left on it by road for Christchurch, accompanied by Mr R. Murie. "Who rob the poo* man of his beer? The InvercargiU hotelkeepers. How? By raising the puce to 6d. No doubt the move was made in the- interests of temperance. In one direction it will conduce to that end. It will pretty well put si stop to youngsters drinking. The most notable functions of the week were the presentation of the oratorio, "The Messiah," by the InvercargiU Musical Union at the Theatre Royal on Tuesday evening — the last time of using the old theatre a-9 a place of entertainment — and the meeting of temper? ace workers at Ashley's Hall on Wednesday evening. "The Messiah" has been in preparation, for about two months, with two rehearsals every week, recently, and the chorus was thoroughly well drilled in attack,»phrasing, expression, etc., by that extremely painstaking conductor, Mr Chas. Gray, with the result that a really magnificent rendering of the oratorio was achieved, one gentleman of wide experience of colonial oratorio work asseiting that it was the best oratorio chorus work ever done ia New Zealand. The soloists, too, were in capital form, Mr J. E. Taylor's fnultless rendering of the bass solos eliciting most hearty applause, and the others being almost equally good. Mr Thompson, who took the tenor solos, has a. very pure, silvery tenor, admirably adapted foi the music entrusted to him, and used it to the satisfaction of all. Mrs Ross gave an exceedingly effective rendering of the soprano solos, taking, however, some liberties with the notes in several places. Miss Royds, who has a powerful contralto voice, sang well, and can sing better, but some of her best passages were somewhat marred by too loud playing on the part of a section of the orchestra. The temperance gathering above referred to waa a, social tendered to the workers in the recent No-license campaign by Mr and Mrs J. D. M'Gruer, of this town. Leaders and lank and file mustered in strong force, and a simmer of enthusiasm and mutual goodwill pervaded the assembly, and a most enjoyable time was spent. The occasion was a memorable one, quite apart from the fact that it celebrated the almost complete triumph of the party at the polls, in that it gave opportunity for the public acknowledgment of the services to the cause of Mr J. S. Baxter, who initiated and maintained — sometimes almost single-handed, and through loss and opprobrium — the cause which has, after 12 year 3of strenuous endeavour, come, within m-easurable distance- of overwhelming victory. The presentation was made by Mr J. J. Wesney, who has bsen associated -.vith Mr Baxter in the crusade Tor many years, and his words of appreciation were supplemented by Mr Leggatt and the Rev". Gibson Smith. A presentation was also niaue to Mrs Baxter, through Mrs Baird. These gifts consisted of a massive gold -watch, chain, pendant, and sovereign case for Mr Baxter, and a very fin-o silver tea and coffee service, case of silver fruit knives, and gold chain for Mrs Baxter. During the evening a silver hot water kettle was- presented to the Rev. Arthur and Mrs Mitchell, in lecognition of their seivices as choirmaster and pianiste respectively to the Lyall mission choir. There has been considerable stir in the stock market during the week, and prices foi all kinds of sheep have revived. I hear of good two-tooths bringing 12s off the shears. There are very few four and six-tooths about, and they are firmly held. There is no doubt that if supp'ies oi mutton are wanted for the Scuth African trade, sheep-farmers will have a. good time. Supplies are scp.ice, and if there is anything like corn petit 1 on, good prices should be obtained. The beef market is also ruling firm, and although no ordrs for freezing have actually been placed, there are inquiries foi lines at equal to 33s per 1001b at the work*. There is still some slight inquiry for oats from South Africa, and small lines of B grade have passed at 2s 9Jtl to 2<s lOd f.0.b.. piving farmers 2s 6d at wayside stations. But the market is now prsictically closed to New Zealand by the arrival at South African ports of American oats at considerably les<? than our prices. A little is being done in wheat loyally, suul baTley from the Lakes district is being turned over at. 3s 4d to 3s 6d at Frankton. The Ocean "Beach freezing works have just about completed their annual oveihaul, and will reopen aftei the holidays.