SOUTHLAND TOPICS

Otago Witness, Issue 3888, 18 September 1928, Page 35

SOUTHLAND TOPICS

(From Oub Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, September 15.

If variety is the spice of life Southlanders must have enjoyed the last week On Saturday it began to snow and ram and hail. When Sunday morning dawned the greater part of the province was mantled in snow. Invercargill differed in that it was hail that lent the white appearance to the ground. Sunday was a fairly rough day, but it cleared in the evening, and glorious sunshine prevailed all Monday. Tuesday brought rain, but the fact that there was a football match on Wednesday caused the weather to improve rapidly. Thursday was also a good day, but during the night a furious gale arose, and kept many people awake with its violence. It also brought rain with it. Friday was very wet, but another football match on Saturday was responsible for a change to Sunshine. The snow gave sheep farmers an anxious week-end. and it was feared that heavy losses would be entailed by those with ewes in the middle of lambing. Fortunately the death toll was much lighter than was anticipated, and there are many who are relieved that the usual September storm has passed without serious damage. While farmers were worrying about their lambs motorists were worrying about their lamps—at any rate, about the light that the lamps were ’shedding in theit attempts to pierce the thick blanket ot snow that was falling. About 7 p.m. on Saturday a veritable blizzard raged between Winton and Invercargill. A number of drivers decided to stop until the violence of the storm abated. The Winton bus had to be pulled up every now and again to see if it was still on the right road. One car returning from a football match at Lumsden went right off the road near Bramhohn, narrowly missed a bel 4 of pines, and ended by skidding on the grass facing Winton again. Near Clinton a number of Southland motorists return ing from the test match at Dunedin were held up for hours in the snow, which was very deep on the road. Finally concerted action plus the use of many farm implements cleared the way-, and the cars leached Invercargill after a 12-hour trip. Before I leave the subject of weather 1 must refer to the serious bush fire whien occurred at tatara on Thu sday night, or rather. Friday morning, as it was the violent wind that caused the outbreak A tanner had been burning tussocks on Thursday, and everything was quite quiet when he retired that nighty The gale, however, which arose about midnight fanned sparks into a blaze, and soon a vast tract of bush was burning fiercely The flames "rose to a height of 60ft, and seriously threatened some summer cottages. A resident thoughtfully telephone the owners of these cribs, and they were soon on the scene assisting to quell or at least divert the fire. A change in the wind and a shower assisted them, and by daybreak the danger was averted. Twenty acres of bush., however, had been destroyed.

With the approach of the fishing season many fish stories are bound to circulate. Blue cod have formed the subject of the fii st yarns. From four-pounders they rose last week to six-pounders. Now a Pegasus man has brought to Bluff three blue cod which together weighed 241 b It seems hardly likely that this will be beaten, for they are certainly “ some fish.” Invercargill’s amateur opera stars have been shining this week in “The Belle of New York,” which ran for five nights, and drew packed houses; throughout. Scenes of wild enthusiasm greeted the producer principals, and chorus on the concluding night, and all are agreed that for an amateur production it was wonderful The New Sojrth Wales footballers attended on Tuesday nirflit, and were loud in their praise of the performance. At Edendale on Friday Mr T. R. Eades’ first annual sale of “ Plantation ” Friesians

was held before a representative assembly of buvers. I< ifty-three head were subinitted, and met with a keen demand. A y carling bull brought 72Jgns, the top price of the sale, while the most fancied female brought 44gns. The Rugby season in' Southland, which is drawing to a close, is the most successful the province has experienced for 14 years. So far seven matches have been played by the representative team, and six have been won. The match against Wellington takes place on Wednesday, and th fixtures conclude with the return match with Otago at Dunedin. The Maroons will have a hard task to win these two, but if they succeed it will be a great finish for the season. Southland has been the only side to defeat Wairarapa this year, and the only provincial side which has so far beaten New South Wales. The excellent play of the Maroon pne’ has been largely responsible for success, but it must be acknowledged that fortune has smiled on Southland in several of the games. The sub-union touring team, which did so well on the West Coast, Nelson, and Marlborough, was pitted against the Sc_thland representative side to-day, and gave the chosen fifteen of Southland a great fright, clearly showing that there will be cause for much complaint if the 1928 reps do not contain a much larger proportion of country players. The Southland team can consider itself lucky that it made two points to the good, the score being 19—17. At the finish the country team was getting all over the Maroons. The Eastern District team, holders of the Sports Trust Cup. have still two challenges to meet. Northern plays them on Wednesday, and Western a week later. The holders will prove very hard nuts to crack on their own ground. Invercargill has been a happy hunting ground for burglars during the last few months, while petty thieves have also been active. The removal of a safe from a garage at Wyndham, and the exploding of _a safe at Roope’s brewery have remained mysteries as far as the culprits are concerned. In last week-end’s storm further safe-cracking exploits were carried out, but this time the police made smart" arrests. The Rialto Auction Rooms were entered sometime on Saturday night, and two safes were broken into and rifled. Luckily the proprietors had stored the bulk of their cash in another safe that was not located by the burglars, whose haul was very small. They were more successful at Grace’s mercury shop, taking over £5O from the safe as well as much clothing. A day later, however, two Assyrians were arrested by the police, and some of the stolen property and various housebreaking tools were found in their possession. A distressing fatality occurred on the Invercargill-Bluff railway on Friday, when a carpeliter named George Edwards, of Greenhills, was killed through being run over by the train. Apparently he fell off the platform through fainting or sickness, as earlier on the trip he had complained to the guard of not feeling well, and had been assisted that official to his seat. The fatality was discovered through the derailment of one of the carriages. The body of the unfortunate man was found frightfully mutilated some distance behind the train, several carriages and the van having passed over it. He leaves a widow and four children.