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Otago Witness, Issue 3912, 5 March 1929, Page 60

With the seasonal summer activities on back country stations now almost at an end. there is a notable increase in the numbers of swaggers to be seen on backcountry roads these days (reports the Napier Daily Telegraph). Many of them appear to be of the old order though,, the claw who delight, in the carefree existence of the knights of the road, and have little ambition to do anything else but walk the roads and rely upon the generosity of their fellow-creatures for their every meal.

Tlie postal authorities advise that the steamer Ulimaroa, which is due at Wellington to-day from Sydney, is bringing. 89 bags of mail and 77 parcel receptacles for Dunedin. The letter and newspaper portion should come to hand on Wednesday afternoon, and the parcels on Thursday. '

The recent spell of very dry weather has browned the hills in the Wellington district, and country settlers are taxing advantage of the opportunity to clear up their holdings by burning off manuka and tauhine, which had been felled some months ago (reports the Dominion). Scrub and grass fires have been blazing merrily in all directions during the past few days, pillars of cloud by day and of fire by night. A good-sized fire at Mangaroa, just across the river from Bloomfield’s farm, raged in the high northerly on Tuesday afternoon last, and passengers by the main highway had to pass through dense clouds of smoke. Settlers in the country districts are also burning off their •qu.ws