SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3274, 13 December 1916, Page 23

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) INYEKCARGILL, December 0. Last waiter, the past spring, and the ummer, so far, have been wonderfully line,

and never beiore has tnere bsen such a prolusion oi blossom in garden, iieid, and bush. The lawyer bushes and cabbage trees havo a phenomenal show of blossom, and the koracties are more loaded witn flowers than tor many years past. All these evidences give rise to the expectation that the summer and autumn will be dry and warm, and lino weather is confidently expected tor tiie bum-nie-r bhow and Christmas holidays. Our own seaside resorts are coming more and more into favour, and already all the accommodation at both Bluff and Riverton is ongaged for mouths ahead. Air J. B. MTvmney, the well-known secretary of the lnvercargill X.H.C.A., finds it necessary, on account of impaired health, to relinquish his work for at least a year, and proposes to try farm life on the outskirts oi Auckland City. It is to be hoped that the change will have the desired result, as Mr M'Kmncy's heart is in I.M.C.A. work, for which he is well adapted. In the meantime a .temporary secretary is being advertised ic^.

At last meeting of the lnvercargill Chamber of Commerce appreciative relerence was made to the services as auditor to the chamber for the long period of 30 years of tiic late Mr David Strang, coffee merchant, and his son, Mr R. Al. Strang, was appointed to succeed him in the olrice.

Miss Helen Buss, mistress of the Middle School, is retiring on superannuation -at the close of the current year, and a movement is on foot to give tangible expression oi the high esteem in which she is held, not only as a faithful and efficient teacher, but as a worker in the cause of education generally. The Hon. Dr M'Nab lectured at the Albion Theatre last evening to a. full house on the subject of the early visits of sealers and whalers to the south and south-west parts of this island, during the period from 1800 to 1824. Dr M'A r ab, as is pretty well known, has for a good many years past spent a great deal of time and money in acquiring material for a history of the early whaling and sealing days, his researches taking him to Australia, America, and the Home Country. Special attention has been drawn to these bygone days by the discovery last year, in a cave near Preservation, of a slate, on which were inscribed two messages with regard to visits of whaling boats. These messages wore incomplete and not fully decipherable, and they were referred to Dr M'Nab for interpretation. . His interpretation, and hi 3 reasons therefor, formed the introductory part of his lecture, which dealt pretty fully with various visits of Sydney sealers, and the awful fate that befell many of them by cannibalistic Maoris. He also gave some particulars of the genesis of the flax-milling business in these southern parts. He described how the Maoris, when not engaged on more remunerative work for whalers and sealers, would set their wives and slaves to work carding flax by very primitive methods, the average output for an individual being about slb a day. Endeavours were made to find a more expeditious way of getting off the glutinous and g-?jn matter in the flax by boiling it, laying it in running streams, and burying it, all of which methods, it is scarcely necessary to say, proved ineffective. The doctor was well received, and the lecture, though somewhat long, was very attentively listened to, and a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the lecturer at its closet The rest of the evening was devoted to shewing a- series of moving pictures of mountain-climbing in the New "Zealand Alps. These pictures, with others, are being used to advertise the Dominion and its attractions, not only throughout New Zealand, but also in x\ustralia, Canada, and the Home Country. The Southland Acclimatisation Society took advantage of the visit of Dr M'Xab to lnvercargill to send a deputation to interview him on the subject of introducing Atlantic salmon into jNew Zealand waters. It wa3 claimed that the River Waiau is specially suited for this fish, and the representatives of this society undertook that if the Government would put the salmon in this river they would tmdertake its introduction in other rivers of the province. The doctor, while sympathetic, demurred on account of the cost, which he said would be ±I2OO to bring out one shipment, as a competent man would have to be- in charge of the whole operation. In any case nothing: could be done during the continuance of the war. The deputation also once more brought up the question of netting in the estuary, which, it was urged, was resulting in a marked deterioration in the number and vitality of the fish in the Oreti. Indeed, it was urged that netting was only justified if it resulted in supplying the public with a considerable quantity of fish at a moderate price; but, as a matter of fact, the quantity obtained was very little, and was sold at the exorbitant price of Is per lb. The Minister admitted that if the netting was not resulting in public benefit there was no reason why it should be continued, and he promised to go right into the matter, and if the representations made to him were proved to be correct he would put a stop to the practice. A bushman named Jas. M'lntosh was killed in the bush at Gorge Road on Wednesday by being struck down by a tree which he, with others, was engaged felling. An inquest was held and a verdict of accidental death was returned.

The W.C.T.U. are again providing a Rest Tent at the Show, where mothers may not only rest themselves, but ' may leave their babies and small children in the care of thoroughly reliable and competent women while enjoying the sights of the Show in comfort. The Rest Tent may now be regarded as an established feature of the Show. It has been greatly appreciated in the past, and will no doubt be largely availed of. As before, it will be situated in the western end of the Defence Hall.

At the Invercargill Magistrate's Court on Wednesday a man named J. G. Miller was fined £-1 and costs for allowing his premises to be used for the consumption of liquor. The evidence showed that Miller's house had for some time past been used for drinking parties, which had become somewhat of a nuisance to the neighbourhood.

Mr John Henderson, who has for several years past been employed in the Money Order and Savings Bank department of the Invercargill Post Office, has been promoted to the position of district accountant at Oamaru. Before leaving for his new position he was presented by the postal officials with an English lever watch and a fountain pen. Tho presentation was made by the chief postmaster, Mr St. George Douglas. Soma little time ago the Invercargill Corporation notified the Oreti Tramway Company that if they did not resume the tramway there was a danger of their rights lapsing, The Oretl Tramway Company have taken the hint, and have let contracts for the repairs to the estuary wall and consolidation of the tramway embankment, and it is anticipated that the trams will bo running by April next. A meeting is now being arranged between the Oreti Company and tho Otatara laud-owners with a view to getting a traffic bridge on the way, and it a pro-

bable it will be held during the incoming week. , The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has had quite a financial struggle during the time of its existence, and tna committee recently decided that if the public did not value such a. society sufficiently to give it adequate support il would cease operations. A canvass of the business people o{ the town having resulted satisfactorily, is was decided to go on, and applications foi the position of inspector were invited. Thcs« were examined by a sub-committee and reduced to three, which were submitted to th« meeting ox the society on Tuesday evening. The successful applicant was Mr John Burlc. of "Waikiwi, a man who lias had a long and varied experience of animals, and attracted a good deal of attention by the stand he made a while ago against the ill-treatment of sheep at the Invercargill Abattoirs. Mr J- T. Prain has been induced to continue as secretary, and there is now every reason t-o expect that this society will be able to continue its good work unhampered by financial stringency.