SOUTH MARLBOROLGH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2572, 8 July 1903, Page 39

SOUTH MARLBOROLGH.

Kali out on, June 39.— The weather continues dr\-, but oft»n vorv frcsty. I learned from a tra\c!cr to-day that the frost was lately so sb.up sit V'-uau that the ice burst several piini.i. I hpard pl*> that a good many seeking land loi settlement are coining u» to look

at HighSeld, -which is being subdivided by tho Government, and will shortly be balloted for. I .hear that Mr Green, who lias long been blacksmith at Waiau, is about to start a general store in that township, so that Mi Coakley will now have opposition.

Railway from Culverden. — A petition praying the Government to extend the railway lino from Culverden some 15 miles to Waiau 19 being signed by settlers in these parts. The reasons of the petitioners are solid and sensible. The country over which the line is requested is almost level, only s- few culverts required, and as the train stands three hours at Culverden when it might go on to Waiau and return no time-table would be upset, and ths extension would bring Ksikouia nearer by half a day to Christchurch Aione upon the silent mountain tcp My spirit fills tha vasty spaces spread F*~, i&x and wide a-iouud. It is pleasant here among the fern and tussocks — death-still savo for the swirl of the wiruS across t ! ie crest of the spur and the fnr-echoed full of tho strenm. beneath tho black mnnuka amc lg tbe giant boulders. The prospect from here is magnificent. The sunlight flashes from the snow on tho seaward Kaikouras; the snowdust is whirled from, the Tidies cf Whakarai, and many a lesser mountain, to stream smokeJike far clown the declivities and fall in showers on the sable foreet3. Away to the eastward the brownish peninsula is girdled with bluish waters, and far, far out one ■nhite flick of sa>l is seen on the bourtclless bine. Froia Kaitoiv right away to the Whale's Back th» ccuritry is a- dingy brown. -Silver-bright tue mountain. torrerrf3 flow down their wide shingle beds to swell the KaJioutera stream. Yes, hidden here in the heart of the Kahouteja Hills is an ideal hermit's dream. How many tnssocked summits girdle the- vale, and tlie ivcoded spins slope steeply down to the streamlet that falls f.om crystal pool to pool! Here tho "Ca-pteia Cooker hath his haunts, and the wild goat browses above the steep rocks. Here Wordsworth is- in the heart, and one unconsciously repeats such versos ns "The sleep that is among the lonely hills." Juuo 23.— After a week's very changei>bV v. cither, we are enjoying a wtirm, bright afternoon. A uor'-westerly wind, at tinus br-ngicg heavy showers, then blowing hajf a ga'e, prevailed from Monday morning until "Wednesday ni^ht. On Tuesday night tliTse-quartcrs of an inch of warm rain fell, the heaviest fall for a long time past. Or* Thursday night a cold southerly storm rcsheeiad tho range with snow, and the frosts were again sha-rp — so sharp that plough teams could not srtaggCT round the sidelings. At present a light, warm, nor'-westerly air prevails, and tho sun is quite hot So far, gave for a few very sharp froets, the wisier haa been passing mild. In the Back Blocks. — Aftsr sis months- sojourn here I hardly know how I shall break away from this solitude, where I have beta l6aiuaug the much-needed lesson, patience. How d:d our grandfathers bear to-wait three, bix, or nine months fox a reply to their messages home from the wilderness? Why should we deaira to lose ouiaolrea in the feverish rush of the times, forgetting the good old adage, "Learn to labour and to wait"!

Dogs Worrying Sheep.— A scttaer from, tho Soawsu'd Valley tells rue ,that ho and his brother lately had some 553 sheep -worried by dogs owned by the Uaons, yet the owners very, reluctantly let the sufferers dwtroy their curs. There i 3 us yet but one whare in the va-llfiy, but settlers are this winter busy packing fencing and felling scrub, and, despite the wretched track to their holdings, things are going ahead. The Evening.— The great, rosy glow fades from above tie norlh-weftern hills, and tha "crescent moon, the star of love," holds silvery rivalry above the black, ferny ridgs. Once on such an evening I met an old settler whom I deemed wholly illiterate, but he quoted from (he time-honoured ballad, "Tho new moon with, the old moon in her arm, ' and ho told me that it was a North of Ireland saying that wheu. tha crescent lay on her back she would be a. wefe moon; when she stood up she would be dry; but I have since observed tllut such a tradition docs not hold good in these parts.

Scarlet fever returns at the lceal Health ODice show stili decreasing numbers, tho total number of cases reported for last month being 38 for the city and suburbs, anrfe 61 for the country. The question of an opihospital js still no further advanced, as there seems to be a difficulty in coming to an arrangement with tho Defence Department a* to the site in view near the rifle range. The first of the new c.ir» for tiio Mornington cable tramway was delivered on Monday, nnd was running with passengers from 4o'clock onward*. It k a handsome, roomy par, and was much admired. It is expected that the second car will bo delivered on Wedne.rlay, after which the two half-com-pleted cars whiuh ha\e been in use since the lino wps reopened after the fire will bo withdrawn a,nd completed by having tho tops 1 placed on them. Our Wellington correspondent telegraphs thol Mr A. Thomson i<? at present in 'Wellington in connection with a site for a building for the Early Settler*' As-sociaition. Sir J. (J. Ward will bo inter*, lowed on tho subject in a day or two. Tho tender of Me.«rs Thomson and Co., of Dunerlin (£1375), has l,e»n accepted for the erection of a fallen sold I - 3' memorial at Oumaiu. The North Otago Times remarks tlmt, though tho sum is nearly £200 above the estimated limit cf the committee's mraiis, it was generally felt that the puMio of Oamaru and district would find the extra, amount netcceary without hesitation, especially when, allowing for the duty which is to be remitted by the Clovemincnt, the valueof the monument wili be about £1700. Nearly £100 of tin* r\tr.i cost was gn3rantee4 by the <'>ni-nittpp aid 0110 or two other residt:iU of Oamaru, -o ihnt liulc more- than £100 is now needed.

Hi, Honor Mr .Ju-'tp Williams is stilL ( vifiiic>d (" fie hoi' c, .mi), wo understand, wi 1 be uiiab!-. f< r a few i'ay» at any rate, to proffpfl to rlio Court, of Appeal m Wellni^on.

Ab scnio misuntkrotaniliiig about the matter appears to exist 111 tho country dis * tnui% it may be staged that tho season for native and imparted game closed on Tuesday, June 30.

In a local el&owhero in this issuo in which rcforence was made to the fire escaoe wherewith Messrs R. Jamicson and Co. '3 new building in Moray place lias boon fitted wo stated that the ladder was about 18in wide. This -was an under-«tatement, the width being 24in on tho cleax.