SOUTHLAND NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3442, 2 March 1920, Page 27

SOUTHLAND NEWS.

(Feom Oub Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, February 28, 1920. The hearty welcome which Sir Joseph Ward received from his many supporters at Winton on Tuesday night must certainly have , done much to lessen the disaoeointment of his recent defeat, for fully 650 from the Awarua district met at Winton to entertain him at a banquet. Over 180 people journeyed by special train from Invercargili and other towns in the Awarua district to be present. Mr T. Walker, Mayor of Winton, presided, and before the lengthy toast list was commenced, numerous apologies were read from many of the prominent Liberal members of New Zealand. A copy of an address, which will shortly be presented to Sir Joseph, was read by Mr Hinchey, Mayor of This appreciative address, which is being very enthusiastically and widely signed, makes glowing reference to Sir Joseph s lengthy and successful career "as representative member for Awarua. On rising to reply, Sir Joseph was cheered to the echo and after thanking the many speakers for their kindly and enthusiastic expressions of opinion and, in particular, Mr Hinchey for the address, proceded to outline, in his opinion, the reason for his recent defeat. In conclusion, Sir Joseph spoke of his 32 years' representation of the x\warua electorate, and, though his party was "defeated, and he himseli foroad to retire temporarily from public life,, he prophesied an early return to politics for both himself and his party. The banquet was the most enthusiastic of its kind ever known in Southland, and judging by the outbursts of applause which punctuated bir Joseph's masterly speech it- would seem that his prophesy had some reasonable ground for belief. The singing, of God Save the King" and "Auld Lang Syne terminated a memorable gathering. The plans for the electric power scheme of Southland are now nearing completion, and it has been estimated by a competent authority that the. scbeme should be in working order in three years. Widespread interest in this scheme is taken througnout Southland, and farmers and commercial men generally are eagerly looking forward to the day when it will be in operation. One of the most difficult problems to solve has been the transport of material to Lake Monawai; but this troublesome matter, it is thought, is being solved at present by an enterprising party of surveyors, who with a highpowered launch are attempting to negotiate the swift-flowing Waiau- River. If they are successful in reaching the scene of operations by motor boat, the transport of material will b 3 made by this route. The recently elected Power Board, which consists of some of the most prominent business men of this dictrict, have devoted untiring efforts to furthering the ambitious schemes of this project. Though Southland has experienced glorious weather for the last two months, the Caledonian Society were unfortunate on Wednesday, tha 25th inst., in their choice of a day for their annual gathering. A light rain in the morning no doubt prevented many country patrons from attending, and, although it cleared up in the afternoon, the. day was still cold, with the result that the townspeople attended only in small numbers. An attraevtive programme was gone through, and the most important event of the day, the Sheffield Handicap, was won by O'Callagha.n from 12 yards. This is the first running event of any importance that has been held in Southland since the war broke out, and the handicapper had a most difficult task. In the evening the theatre was filled to overflowing with an appreciative Scotch audience, who listened with keen interest to ; a varied selection of Scottish items.

An important step was taken at the last meeting of the Town, Council, when it was decided to purchase a. new site for the public reading room and library. At a cost of £2600 a valuable site has been bought at the corner of Deveron and Esk streets. The new position is a splendid one, and it _ is hoped that a building in keeping with Invercargill's growing importance will be erected. Or Carswell, who has taken a prominent stand in the matter, hinted at the possibility of an art gallery anrl museum being included on the site. In view of the present house and land boom, more than ordinary interest was taken in a case that came before Mr Q. Cruickshank, S.M., this week, when Robert Buchanan proceeded against Meek and Ougbton. Ltd., land and estate agents, Invercargill. for £2OO damages- for alleged breach of warranty of authority on the oart of defendants in' connection with ~ the disposal of property. The trouble in the matter arose over an error in the transmission of a telegram in which the nrice of a house was erroneously stated at £825 instead of £925. This interesting case involved much legal argument by both counsel, and finally the Magistrate reserved his decision. The position taken bv nlai.ntiff's solicitor was that M%ek and Oughton. simply undertook to endeavour to get the vendor's signature. On account of persistent deficit in the revenue received from the Municipal Tramways, it was decided at last meeting of the Borough Council to make a substantial increase in the trcm fares from April 1. No doubt the electrio nower scheme will e-ive great relief to the Borough Council in supplying Rowex 1 at a .greatly reduced! rate,

when we may look forward to an extended mileage and a more frequent service. A cloudy sky and wind from a favourable quarter on Tuseday afternoon raised hiph hopes amongst farmers and suburban residents -of a heavy downpour, but though Wednesday morning broke with a cold, misty rain from the south, the weather cleared by noon and an easterly wind, unusual at this time in Southland, has prevailed since. Rain is badly needed here and farmers are loud in their pessimistic forecasts of a poor winter supply of feed if i:h r drought continues. Considerable local interest is displayed in musical circled with regard to the participation at the Dunedin band contest of the Invercargili Hibernian and the Dominion Bands. These bands have their keen supporters, but many people consider that the Hibernian Band will secure a high place in the contest. This young band has practised assiduously, and under the skilful baton of Mr A. R. Wills has demonstrated its efficiency by winning the B Grade Contest at Auckland Exhibition, 1913-14. On Thursday night a successful swimming carnival was held at Pleasiire Bay. Despite a cold east wind, which militated somewhat against the enjoyment of the spectators and the comfort of the competitors, some" fine contests were witnessed and fresh interest has been aroused locally in this fine sport. The opening of the snipe shooting season on February 1 was accompanied by particularly unfavourable weather conditions for scouring this wily feathered l game. Some good bags were obtained, however, on the Clifton shellbanks, one party securing, some 30 birds. A keen party, who visited a former successful retreat at Awarua Bay, met with only a small reward on account of the fine weather which allowed' the birds to stay out on their safe banks. The snipe this year are in splendid condition, and some of the red-breasted larger birds one sporting party secured a week ago were 03 big as pigeons. Red-bill are numerous here, but v unfortunately, the Acclimatisation Society have protected that bird. At Friday's meeting of the Southland Education Board the following appointments were made : —Cardrona: Temporary sole teacher, Annie Ranee. Garston: Sole teacher, Aubrey Witting. Grove Bush : Temporary assistant Gladys Beer. Invercargili Middle: 10th assistant, Millicent Affleck. Merivale: Temporary assistant, Mary P. Dewe. Niagara: Temporary solo teacher, Frank Rose. Nightcaps: Head teacher, Alexander G. Thompson. Queenstown: First assistant, Georgina Tait. Redan: Temporary sole teacher, Arthur -Vickery. Riverton: Third assistant, Isobel Brown. St. George: Temporary 6th assistant, Mary Macpherson. St. George: Seventh assistant, Helen. Finlayson. Tuturau: Assistant, Jeannie Oughton. Waianiwa: Assistant, Hannah Spillanc. Winton: First assistant, Henry G. Simpson. Haldano: Temporary sole teacher, Howard Wilson. St. George: Pupil teacher, Victor Raines. Wyndham: Pupil teacher, Mary Black. Otautau: Probationer, Hanorah Spillane. Pine Bush: Temporary assistant, Lucy Buckingham'. Waimahaka: Tempor ary assistant, Irene M'Kenzie. Wallacetown : Assistant, Mary Smith. Drummond: Temporary assistant, Mary O'Meara Holmesdale: Temporary sole teacher, Agnes Brotherston. New River Ferry: Temporary sole teacher/Madeline Simmonds. Monzies' Ferry: Temporary assistant, Olga Jensen. Invercargili South: Ninth assistant. Irene Taylor. Invercargili South: Tenth assistant, Annie M'Kay. Invercargili South : Eleventh assistant, Jessie Dickson. St. George: Pupil teacher, Thelma Vyner—transferred from Waihopai School. Otautau : Probationer. Annie R. Cameron.