SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 48

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspone*;nt.) INVERCARGILL, August 23. The Invercargill Competitions came to an 'end on Wednesday evening, when the attendance was enormous. The waiting queue extended right down Tay street to Trice and Bullicd’s. The Competitions tins year have been an even greater success than last year in the quality and number of the performances, tnc attendance of the public, and the takings. The takings total over £IOOO, and it is expected that when all expenses are paid there will be a profit of about £2OO.

The first interprovincial Rugby football match, Canterbury v Southland, was played at Rugby Park on Wednesday afternoon, and resulted in a win for Canterbury by 9 points to 8. The weather was perfect, and there was a fair attendance of the public, most of whom wore in the* new grand stand and along the south side of the ground. The Oware Dairy Factory Company has just finished what, under the conditions of the cheese market, must be regarded as a fairly satisfactory year. The total milk supplied was 172,665 gallons, which give the suppliers Is o|cl per lb butter-fat. and produced a little over 73 tons of cheese. The milk cost £3261, and the cheese realised £3877. The Invercargill W.C.T.U. is getting up a convorsaaione to provide £lO for their Rest Tent at next Summer Show, and the tickets are going off well, one lady having already sold about 100 tickets. There is a fairly strong branch of the W.C.T.U. at Gore, and endeavours arc now being made to get them also to provide a Rest Tent at tne Gore Summer Show. The value of this boon at Invercargill Show has been gratefully acknowledged by many country mothers, who but for the W.C.T.U. would not have seen much of the show last year An attractive feature of the recent Competitions was a school choirs contest in which the children of the South and Middle Schools were the competitors, the event being won by the Middle School, under the control of Mr Greig. The prize was a handsome silk banner donated by Mr J. Crosby Smith, and this was formally presented: to the school on Friday afternoon.

On Monday evening last Sir Joseph Ward was entertained at dinner by the Mayor and councillors of Winton. and presented with an illuminated address, and was later on m the same evening entertained at supper by his Winton constituents and friends, wiio also presented an address. In replying to the addresses and speeches. Sir Joseph gave some particulars of hie doings in the Horne Country, and said that he was proud to be the representative of Awarua in Parliament, and prouder still of the fact that his friends were apparently as attached to him as a private member as they had been to him as Prime Minister.

Mr W. T. Buchanan, who has been lessee of the Railway Hotel, has sold put. to Mr P. J. Boilott, formerly of Dunedin. Mr and Mrs Buchanan intend to take an extended holiday before settling down to business again. . On Thursday week the completion of 21 years’ existence by the Island Dairy Factory Company was' celebrated by the holding of a social, which was largely attended by present and past supporters and others connected with the dairying industry. Among others present were Mr James M‘Lauc!ilan, of Wyndham, who /may he described as the champion dairy factory secretary of Southland, both in point of length of service and in number of secretaryships; and Mr William Brasch, who was first chairman of directors and a supplier for nearly 20 yeans. Messrs Maicofct, Richardson, and Wm. Dunlop, who were a)nong the first directors of the company, were also present. The, invcrcarg'li Borough Council on Thursday evening considered probably the strangest claim vet made on them. The claim was by Mr M'Kcnzie, an entrant for a number of the singing competitions in the recent Competitions Carnival. He was sitting on the back seat in the*.Victoria Hall recently listening to singing items which were being given during the day, when a picture on the wall broke from the cord, which was frayed, and fell on Mr M‘Kenzie’s head, inflicting an ugly cut. One of the grounds of the elaini was personal disfigurement, which tho claimant regarded as serious, as lie was training for the concert platform

On Monday last, on his way to the reception at Winton, Sir Joseph Ward was interviewed in the tiain by Messrs A. and D. M'Ncil and A. Inglis, representing the Southland Teachers’ Institute, who held that the cause of education was suffering through t.h'* understating of t!ie schools and tiro fact that about 30 jior cent, of flic tea fliers were uncertificated. Through the lack of competent teachers the classes were inordinately large, with the result that the children did not get the individual attention which was necessary. Teachers were short because the profession was not made attractive by the paying of adequate salaries, the teaching profession being paid on a lower scale than other branches of the public service, their salaries and superennuation allowances being dependent on ar. attendance which was beyond their control.