MAUNGATUA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 39

MAUNGATUA.

January 4-. — Christmas lias come and gone having brought pleasure to some and t< others disappointments. In some place; the -wind reached to a strong gale, quite marring the pleasure of the- day's outing. With us, our annual Christ ma* picn« passed off with the usual success. I& wtu held in a. mice shaded paddock, kindly leai for the occasion by Mr Junies Millar. Thi* i is the event of the season, and m looited ' forward to with great interest by Both old and young folk — a, meeting of friends, etc. The Outram Brass Band, which has always favoured us with its musio and company, , jra& unable to be present on this occasion, ' and would have been badly missed had not Mr Jam-es Dow kindly come forward with his bagpipes, and rendered- aajKtanoe to break the stillness at intervals with some beautiful Scotch airs, which were greatly appreciated. Afiter gaanes. races, etc., had been indulged in to the utmost, the prizes were handed out by the chairman of the School Committee, each child receiving a passing standard prize, and several specials for writing, drawing, anil attendance. 1 \va* unable to hear the fortunate- winners' names. Quite a- number of beautiful i voium-29 were amon@ert the prizes. The year's sewing was judged at the school by ! Mrs W. Thomson and Mks KsinpshSll, and the following prizes were awarded: — Division, I, Jane Barclay; Division 11, \ Maggie Thompson ; Division 111 Ivy Mitchell : Division IV, May Heenan ; Division V, Jessie Sparks. The judges expressed tho opinion that th« work was very creditable, especially among the lower divisions. After refreshments had been handed round, and ample justice had been done to all the good thing* provided, adieus w-e/e said, and all wentfod their homeward way, having spent a pleasant afternoon. The uv.ua! dance in the evening- finished the day's pleasure. Mr Janies Don made an efficient M.C., and excellent music was supplied by Meeere H. Sutherland, F. Buriow, J. Cameron, and Mr James Dow (pipe*). CAVE (South Canterbury). January 2. — The weather during December ha» been very mixed. We have had rain, snow, hail, wind, and frost at night. There were days on which there was not much growth and very little progress was made at shearing. The weather was so patchy ihat those farmers who did not have a shed large enough to hold sheep for a day's shearing have had a lot of waiting before they could get their sheep shorn. There are a few places where flhere has not been a cut-out yet. Crops. — The crops are all looking well. but a lot of the oats are infested with smut, or corn ustilago oarbo. The rape crop is looking well, and some farmers have very nice plots of mangels, and a good few have good plots of swedo turnips. These are the turnips of the future when the farmers get to know an easy way of keeping them clean and a cheaper method of thinning the crop. Some of the new settlers have taken " Agricola's "' advice in the Otago Witness to have something in the green feed line all the year round. A good lot of lambs are well forward, and with a bit of finishing ou rajpe

' they will be off to the freezing- works in s short time, 't Church Matters. — There was a meeting at? the Cave on December 17 of members of the Presbyterian Church tp try and form a new charge — that is, to form Albury. Chamberlain, Tengey, Cave, Cannington, and Ma'; Waro into a new charge. There were re--presentatives from all the different places,^ and they had a long conversation on thfl* financial aspect of the proposal. Some of the delegates were very sanguine of success. The Rev. Mr Todd, convener of the Timaru " Presbytery, was in attendance, and- gave' all the information needed. There is to be"» a meeting on January 10, 1909, at Cave aft 1 . 11 o'clock a.m.. and at Alburs~ on the sameday at 2 p.m., to further consider the pro- _' posal. All subscribers are to be in attend- ~- : ance on the 10th of January. ~, Obituary. — I regret to have to report the- J death of one of the oldest residents of * the Upper Pareora Valley, in the person o£ Mr William Little. He died on the 23rd,* of December at 2 p.m.- Mr Little came to ; the district in 1881, and was manager of "• Canniifgton Station for Mr J. M. Ritchie, ;jf of Dunedin, for close on 25 years. About fj four years ago he went to reside on his "$ farm near the Cave, and enjoyed good^J health till about four months ago. Mr'> Little then got a chill, the cold settled on.his lungs, and pleurisy intervened. He^ -'was a justice of the peace, and "was alsd* a. great supporter of the Presbyterian^? Church, He was an elder of- the Pleasant^ Point Church. He was held in high r«-1 speci by all who knew him. He was , bj^ good neighbour and a good judge of sheepv When his advice was asked by any of the,? settlers as to what was the best sort of!s stock to put on their place he gave ifc?^ freely. The settlers turned out to a nian^ to follow his remains to their last resting--*!? place in Pleasant Point Cemetery. At tfae*l grave the Rev. Mr Gulley made an ltn-" 5*5 * pressive speech, referring to Mr Little's 33 services to the Church and the example-V^ he showed to his family. He reminded his v hearers of how soon the time would come ~^J when all would have to give an account of t\ their stewardship to the Great Judge at - the last day. and he hoped that all would 1 watch and be ready for the Master's call ' f at His coming to judge the world at the last day. ; School. — The Cave School broke up for *" the holidays on December 24. The Chairman (Mr F. Roberts) distributed ilie prizes to the children, and expressed a hope that ■ ' after their holidays they would come back to their work in full vigor and able to . attain the best results, and ready to pre- , pare themselves for the battle of life after they left the school, and make a good name for themselves then. Festive Season. — Christmas and New Year passed off very quietly in this part of j South Canterbury. I conclude by wishing' the editor and all his helpers a happy and i prosperous New Year.