The Country

Otago Witness, Issue 3769, 8 June 1926, Page 35

The Country

LAKE COUNTY. .June 4.— Exceptionally hard frost* have k«en experienced during the last week. Thee* have been followed by bright sunny days, so that farmers have been able to make good headway with harvesting operations. • Football.—Two matches have been played in the Wakatipu sub-union competition. On Saturday, the 22nd ult., Queenstown played Arrowtown at Queenstown, when the game resulted in a win for Queeutown by 14 points to 8. Mr J. M’Mullan was referee. At Frankton on Saturday last Country 9 Pirates defeated Queenstown by 5 to nil. Mt H. D. Morgan refereed the match. The next match will be playeo at Arrowtown to-morrow, when Country Pirates meet Arrow. Wedding.—\ wedding of district interest was celebrated at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Invercargill, on the 26th ult. The contracting parties were Miss Margaret Wilson, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs J. A. Wilson, of Waikiwi, Invercargill, and Mr David H. Cockburn, elder son of Mr and Mrs John Cockburn, of Arthur Point. The bride was attended by her sister Blanche, while the bridegroom a brother, Mr J. L. it. Cockburn, of Marora Station, was best man. The Rev. W. J. Robeitson was the officiating clergyman. Golf.—A team from the Wakatipu Club journeyed to Pembroke on Saturday lasi, and played a match with the Wanaka Club, when the visitors were defeated by 134 games to 24. Personal.—At the statutory meeting of the Lake Countv Council, held on the 26th ult., Mr William Reid was unanimously leelected chairman. Mr Reid has been a member of the council for 26- years, during all but three of which he has occupied the position of chairman. At the last meeting of the Southland Education Board. Mr J. A. Ryan was appointed sole teacher of the Kinloch Sc1k»o1, and Miss A, E. Stuck sole teacher of Arthur's Point School. ALEXANDRA June s.—Of late v/oather conditions have been very mild, with but little trost. There have been a few grey days, but Friday morning broke clear and bright—in fact, quite a summer’s day. The snow that recently fell on the tops of the surrounding ranges is gtadutlly disappearing, and if this spell of mild weather continues, then winter will pass by, hardly felt at all Alexandra is well known for its genial climate, and is becoming more and more popular as a holiday resort, both for summer and for winter. King's Birthday.—The King's birthday passed off very quietly in the town. All business places were closed, and the atmosphere of holiday pervaded the whole of the district. In honour of the day flags were flown at all public place* Sport.—Two teams 'from Alexandra journeyed to Dunedin to take part in the ladies’ hockey tournament, the Alexandra town team , and the Alexandra D.H.S. team. Though neither came on top, they made a good account o/ themselves. The A team of footballers is more than holding its own. mid already have had some splendid victories If they keep going aB they started, they will a<*ain secure the banner that they won so brilliantly last season. The Bowl ing Club continues to bold weekly euchre parties in the bowling pavilion, where very enjoyable evenings are spent Trinity College Music Examinations. — Alexandra has now become well established as a centre for Trinity College examinations. This year there are 54 entrants, including ailso candidates from Ophir, Uinakau, Clyde, L<y*der, Becks, and even far away Cromwell. This represents an increase of 24 on last year's entries, and is considered as highly satisfactory. The committee in charge, under the energetic guidance of Air C. Richards, chairman, and Mr K. Black, secretary, are to be congratulated on the result of its efforts. Census Returns. —The latest census returns indicate clearly that Alexandra is the leading town of Central Otago. The towns majority in number of population can hardiV be reckoned in thousands, Still, as has been explained in these notes before, many of the citizens vere Exhibitioning in Dunedin on Census Day, otherwise the lead would have been even greater than what the census ditolosed it tc 1>« OPHIR AND OMAKAU. June 4.—Since Sunday night (four days and nights) we have not had a glimpse of sun, moon, nor stars. Sunday Itself was a glorious winter’s day, cloudless and calm, and the night too, till late ; but Monday morning brought a fog which has since prevailed. The barometer was exceptionally high (So.s2in) when the fog began, but it has fillen to 29.60 this morning, and we may expect the fog to clear soon. The temperature each day has been just froozing, and each night several degrees below', so we are “ sure 'tis winter fairly.” However, there Is some compensation in the glorified appearance of leafless trees and shrubs, dead thistles and tumatakuru bushes, wire-netted fencing, and dead cocksfoot—anything, indued, that will carry from hundreds to ipyriads of spicules of ice. The school tennis court, for example, is now surrounded by a magnificent web of lacework 10ft high, as white as snow. The month of May was marked by uncommon weather —unusually moist (178 points) and unusually cold (average day and night 39.2 deg). It was also very calm —23 days being quite so, and the other eight with only light breezes. But (bough the month was so cold on the whole, the first 11 days were almost spring-like during the days, and this mildness, following the spell of summery weather in April, * played tricks. At least two pairs of small bird* were seen in Ophir busy building their nests on the day preceding the snowstorm of May 12; a young goldfinch wus found about three weeks hatched; fruit buds on poplar trees gave signs of bursting, and the young catkins had formed to push through. Sap .vas flowing in trees n»id aiirubs that had lost their leaves. But all that was suddenly ended by the snow of the 12lh end the keen frosts that followed—down t" 12 dee. (20 of frost) on tljie morning of the 17th. Still, at this d«(s, all the weeping willows, and even sbme water willow*, are almoat as green as in summortime. Farowell Social.—lt says something for the reepeat in which our late railway station rpa*t*r wa* h*ld that nearly 70 people came throttgli from six to ten inches of snow to him farwwell oft the night after the snowfall. Mr Stanley Howie was with ns for

three years, and we were sorry to lose him. In spite of the cold outside, the social of dance and song within the Blacks school was very enjoyable. One singer, however, showed very bad taste by closing a comic song with a word that has been held sacred by Jew and Gentile for some thousands of years. During an interval in the items, Dr Scrymgeour, on behalf of the community expreseed to Mr Howie very high appreciation of his services and the great esteem in which he was regarded, and presented him with a gold watch and chain in proof of the same, and wished him, with his wife and family, all happiness in his new position at Sawyer’s Bay. County Election and Poll.—This also took place on the day of the snow, so that the local booths were not overcrowded. However, there was no need for an election, as Mr John M’Knight, who has represented this riding continuously since November, 1911. was unopposed for his sixth term. The vote in favour of a £20,000 loan for bridge construction was easily carried. This carries with it the very handsome Government subsidy of £40,000, so that among others, the two local bridges—the foot-bridge over the Manuherikia between Ophir and Omakui and the traffic bridge over the Poolburn between Ophir and Oturehua —should be properly fixed up. Mr M'Knight tells me that this is the first Government grant that Vincent County has received, with the excepion of some £3OOO to wipe out the debt some three years ago, when the new Counties Act came into force. Peace Memorial Hall.—The great event of the month was the opening of the Ophir Peace Memorial Hall on May 26, when the largest and most successful bazaar in the history of Ophir was held. The bazaar, which yielded well over £3OO, was opened by Mr James Horn, M.P., assisted by Mr Jas. Ritchie, Vincent County chairman. The workmanship of Mr AFKnight as builder, and the services of Mr 0. C. Austing as secretary of the Hall Erection Committee were greatly praised. The opening dance took place on the night of the 28th, when Air and Mrs John M’Knight headed the grand march to music supplied by the Alexandra Jazz Baud. This was followed by a children’s treat on Saturday afternoon, concluding the trio of very successful functions, at ail of which Mr John Clare, president ’ of the Hall Committee, assisted indefatigably. Ru*bv Football—On May 1-3 there was no football on the Omakau ground, which then lay under about eight inches of snow. This cleared rapidly, however, and the ground was only somewhat damp on the 22nd. There were no matches on May 1, the closng of the Dunedin Exhibition claiming so many of the plavers. On the Bth, 22nd, and 29th the Matakanui First Fifteen played Gimmerbum. Middlemarch. and Poolburn respectively—the first and last on their own ground at Omakau, the other at Middlemarch. Gimmerbum sent a strong fifteen, and the game was a good one between two teams very evenly matched. 1 . Moran scored a try (unconverted) for Matakanui, and Hall kicked a penalty goal for Gimmerbum. The deciding factor was Frank Donnelly, who potted two goals (one a magnificent effort) for Matakamii, who thus won by 11 points to 3. Mr S. Howie was referee The Middlemarch match was a very strenuous struggle ending in both nil. The match against Poolburn last Saturday was worth going a long way to see, though it did not end till 5.20 p.m., when hardly anything could be seen. (Really, matches in winter should begin at 3 o clock sharp.) Poolburn sent only 14 men, and played one short a good part of the time. Matakanui scored two tries, both converted, and Poolburn “cored an unconverted try, making 10 points to 3 The teams used quite different methods. Poolburn had a set of very fast forwards, and even when their halfback got the ball out of the scrum (which he did thrice out of four times) he played to his forwards instead of the backs. Matakanui had a more evenly balanced team, and the backs prevailed. But if PoaJbura had played full strength, and if one of their best nun (Frank O’Connor) had not been injured at the opening of the nrj*rd spell, they might have won. Mr J. Haig refereed. The Second Fifteen of Matakanui so far have not won a match. On May 8 they met Ida Valley at Oturehua, and were defeated by 23 ooiats to nil. On the 22nd (the 29th was a bye* they met Hyde on the Omakau ground, Hyde scoring 17 (five tries, one converted) t« 3 (a try by John White). In both matches, however, an impartial observer would not have wondered at Matakanui scoring so few, but at their opponents not scoring nwre. The heaviest man in the local team is list- 51b, and the team contains three small youths who were primary schoolboys last season. On the other hand, both Hyde and Ida Valley (which have no First Fifteen) had several men playing who could turn the scale on Kaikorai forwards. This seems inevitable in the case of clubs that have no First Fifteen, and it is good training for the local juniqrs. Both matches were very friendly, and it was noticeable that the heavier men dkl not unclidv use their weight in tackling, as they might have reasonably done. BALCLUTHA. June s.—Weather conditions during the past week have been varied. Tuesday and Wednesday wore cold, raw days, and on Wednesday a heavy fog hung over the town all day, accompanied by a very keen wind. During the night, however, the fog lifted and gave place to a very severe frost, the hardest experienced this winter. Workers’ F.ducational Association.—There was a very good attendance at the W.E.A. meeting on Wodnesdav evening, on the occasion of Professor Fisher’s visit. Mr M'Crackcn gave an interesting nddreea on “The Growth of Party Government.” There was much discussion at the conclusion of the lecture. Balclutha-Tuapeka Mouth Highway.— Operations on the highway from Balclutha to Tuapoka Mouth aro now in full swing. Ahont 50 men ore engaged cutting away the hillside above Barnego. The travelling surface of the road, wlico completed, is to bo

18 feel. It is thought that the road will take two years to construct.

Literary and Dramatic Society.—The attendance* at the fortnightly meetings oi the Literary and Dramatic Society are well maintained. At last meeting an interesting address was given by Mr John Reid, 8.A., on "The Way to Read a Novel.” Kings Hirthday.—Thursday, the King's Birthday, passed off very quietly here. I lie town wore quite a deserted look, due to the fact that the majority of the residents had wended their way to the Dunedin Show or the Wingatui Races. WAREPA. June 4. —The weather lia3 been very wet for a long time, rain falling almost every day. Fortunately we experienced a few fine days, and all the crops are safely stacked, one neighbour helping another until the last sheaf was gathered in. The damp weather has helped the turnip crops, and there is a good supply of winter feed for stock. Most of the tat lambs are away to the works. Farmers about this district have supported the south works well this year, most of them selling on the terms of a forward advance payment and the balance when the meat is sold at home. Very little crop has been sown this autumn, and there does not 3eem much chance of any more being sown now, as the ground is very wet. Winter Show.—Last month the eighteenth annual show was held. It was opened by Councillor R. MTndoe, late chairman of the Ciutha County Council. There was a good show of grain, roots, and vegetables, but the baking section showed a decrease fiom former years. Harvest Thanksgiving.—On Sunday, May IC, Mr J. B. Brugh gave an interesting description of tue work in the homes belonging to the church. Over £25 was collected in Warepa and Puerua churches, besides a quantity of produce. Concert.—On Tuesday, May the Bal ciutha Pipe Band held a conceit and danca to raise funds for the Queen Carnival. Mi W. S. Thomson occupied tiie chair. Items were given by Mrs MansfoVd, Misses Gray (2), Li .samara, Joy Mitchell, and M Diarmid Messrs Paape, and B. Gold, and this Pii>c Band. OTAUTAU. June 3s —Prior to their departure from Oiautau to take up residence in Dunedin, Mr and Mis W. II Walker, who have been staunch supporteis of the Methodist Church, were entertained at a social by the members and friends There wa9 a laige attendance, over which Rev. M. Ayrton presided. Speeches eulogistic of the guests’ work in tue church were made by the chairman, Mr as Blooker (on behalf of the Ladies’ Guild), and C. Walker (on behalf of the church;, while at a convenient interval m the proceedings Rev. Ay.ion asked Mrs Walker to accept a cake stand and fruit dish as a token of the esteem in which she was held, the latter gift being made on beha'f of the Ladies' Guild, of which body the guest had acted as secretary and had also taken a keen and active interest in its affairs. The speaker trusted she would long be spared to use these gifts, and wished her every success in her new sphere. In reply Mrs H aikei said that anything 9he had done for the church had been done willingly and without hope of any reward. However, she thanked them for their gifts and the kind remarks which had accompanied them, wished the chi«.ch every success, and assured those present she would cany away wfith her many hap t »y memories of her stay in Otautau. Mr Len. Eason, on behalf ot the young men of the church, made a presentation to Mr Walker of a cup and saucer and teaplate. at- the same time wishing him every success. A c ucert programme was rendered by the following: Duet, Misses N. Ayrton and Stroud; solos by Miss Enid \\ esney, Messrs M’Acergnc-y, and T. Stroud - (encored); recitation, Mrs Lightfoot; and a humorous story by Mr \V. Humphries. Suppet was dispensed by the ladies, and after a social hour had been spent with games, a very enjoyable gathering was brought to a fitting termination with the singing oi "Auld Lang Syne.” Band of Hope.—The first meeting of the Baud cf Hope for the session was held in the Town Hall on Monday evening, when there was a large attendance. Rev. Ayrton occupied the chair. Miss M. Stroud w-as re-clet ted sec Mary, and Mr G. M’Anergney was appointed treasurer. A short address was given by the chairman on the respective merits of water and wine, and the following contributed to the programme: Recitation, Peter Jaquiery; solps, Misses M. Campbell and D. M’Fadgen, and Mr G. M’Anergney. Several new members were also enrolled. WELLINGTON WING WHISPERS. (By pßrxn Pan.) June 3. Dear “ Pasquin,”—-The Grand Opera House saw the final performance of "Give and Take ” on Monday night last, when Mr Harry Green and Edward de Tisne changed parts, and were see’ll in yet another phase of their undoubted talents. This Jewish comedy, with its capital and labour problems, has had a most successful season here. There commenced yesterday at the Opera House a novel entertainment of pictures and juvenile pantomime. The all-British production of Charles Dickens’s famous story, “ Tale of Two Cities,” comes under another name; “ The Only Way ” gives Sir John Martin Harvey full scope in the role of Sydney Carton, and the English ladies in the east are as beautiful as any actresses of the screen. “ The Only Way ” marks a new era in British film production, and makes a stalwart challenge to American supremacy, so long undisputed. Mary Brough, an old favourite, is also in the cast, and the settings, photography, and general direction are faultless. Preceding the picture is a novel entertainment by a company, of Australian children, directed by Miss Scully, a Sydney dancing teacher. “ The Wedding of Baby Kerr ” is simply an excuse far some ravishing young ladies, called the Beauty Ballet, to disport themselves in a series of charming frocks, and for talented children to go through a pantomime of marriage musically, vnml with full terpsichorean effects. The whole thing is artistic, and the children, from tiny tots to shapely girls in their ’teens, display rare ability. No wonder Australian girls arc good dancers: they start young. Pavlova’s coining is crenting a deal of interest, and a record season is assured for this most famous of world favourites. Millie. Thurzu Rogers is one of the principal danseuses, and she is a Wellington girl, a member of a dancing family, for she has a brother on the stage. Thurza has some prominent dancing to do in the ballets accompanying the star. The Kendall String Quartet gave another successful concert in the Concert

Chamber last night. Their return season has every promise of being as successful as their first visit. The George Ward Revue at the Fuller House still continues to attract crowded houses. The Nigger Minstrels have gone, and a number of excellent vaudeville turns while away a pleasant first-half.