TAWANUI.

Otago Witness, Issue 3330, 9 January 1918, Page 23

TAWANUI.

January 2.—We have got through another year, and what a year of'trials it has been to our nation as a whole, and through it all we here have been wonderfully preserved! Still, very many homes in our Dominion have been rent and torn by many a sorrow. Let us extend /to all such a word of cheer. Let us all look up and remember that '" the Lord still reigneth" over all the earth. - Weather.—The weather here is at the time of writing simply awful—rain, wind, thunder, and as cold as winter. . For the last three weeks it has been mostly wet, with the exception of a few days at Christmas, which were nice and warm, and "fairly dry. .-New Year's Day was wretched-. So much depends on the weather at holiday-time that it is safe to cay that hundreds have been disappointed this year: Bushfelling.—There is a, fair amount of bush felled around here and Houipapa tins year, none of which is burned as yet, and not the slightest' hope of burning for many a day. This is one of the most serious drawbacks of bush settlements —the getting of suitable weather at the right time to burn the fallen bush. It is early in the season yet, however, and we must not complain too much. What we want here now is a good spell of drying winds to dry up the roads and bush.' Pishing.—There appears to be a' good deal of fishing being done; but, speaking generally, I understand that fish are not so plentiful this year in the Catlins. Holidaymakers are fairly numerous to our bush this season. The bush is a very great relief to the eyes and other* senses after being shut up in a city for months together. War.—The war is the main topic, of course Our boys have mostly all gone, and many of them are among the wounded, while a few have returned. The situation is apparently still at a critical stage, and we long for a decisive victory, and also for a satisfactory peace. In the meantime let us all be united and put our shoulder to the wheel, and then we believe victory must be ours. /