IN TOWN AND OUT

Southland Times, Issue 20616, 15 October 1928, Page 4

IN TOWN AND OUT

NEWS OF THE DAY Daylight Saving. While most people in Invercargill appear to have remembered on Saturday night to advance the clocks half an-hour, there were a few families who forgot, with the result that they were late for church or for appointments. A New Bet. “If I were a betting man I’d stake the whole of my overdraft in the Belfast bank that Al. Smith will not be returned to the Presidential chair,” was a remark made by “Catch-my-pal” Patterson in his Prohibition address yesterday. * * ♦ « Tramcar and Lorry. About 5 p.m. on Saturday a tramcar which had stopped at the corner of Abattoir Road and the North Road had its door wrenched off by a motor lorry. The motorman had just opened the door to allow a passenger to alight when the lorry came on the scene, crashed into the door and carried it away. * ♦ ♦ # Reservations on Railways. The Railway Department’s restriction limiting the reservation of seats to journeys beyond 100 miles is to be removed as from to-day. Passengers may now reserve to and from any stopping station irrespective of distance. The only trains excepted from the concession are the Auckland-Wel-lington Limiteds, though under special circumstances reservations may be secured on these trains between Frankton and Auckland, and Palmerston North and Wellington. ♦ • # Atlantic Salmon. A party of Invercargill anglers who spent the week-end at Te Anau report having caught some fine Atlantic salmon. Altogether nine of these great sporting fish were landed, the top-weight being 10 Mbs and the average 71b. The fish were in excellent condition and the anglers state that the prospects of a good season at the lake are bright. A rainbow trout weighing silbs was also caught. The fish will be displayed to-day in the window of A. and W. Hamilton, Esk street.

Stewart Island Service. A Stewart Island resident writes to a reporter as under: “The action of the Bluff Harbour Board in postponing the weekly trip of the Jug to the Island on account of the Bluff Gala has given rise to widespread dissatisfaction and there are many people on the Island who would like to know the terms of the board’s mail contract when it can postpone the running of mails for 24 hours on the grounds that the town of Bluff is having a little amusement in the form of a gala.” * * # « Whippet Racing.

The interval in the High School-Borstal football match on Saturday afternoon was enlivened by a race over the length of the football field between two whippets. The dogs took off well and the spectators welcomed their appearance with whoops of enthusiasm. One lady who was on the raised dais provided for the Press evidently forgot her elevated position for she walked over the edge. A child who accompanied her, followed her example and caused consternation in the ranks of the spectators by her cries of alarm. ♦ * • ♦ Live Shell on Campbell Island.

Of recent weeks there was discovered on Campbell Island, in the far south, a live shell four to five inches in diameter. One of the shepherds on the island make the discovery during excavations round the hut. Its presence in such an inaccessible part is unaccounted for, although a French or British gun-boat is known to have visited the Auckland Islands, farther north, many years ago. Instead of having the copper band seen on all modern shells it is studded with brass or bronze which shows that it must have been on the island for at least 20 or 30 years. The mystery of its presence there has yet to be solved.

Too Much Dignity. “A great deal of our church and social reform work is cursed with too much dignity. We want to get a bit of the starch out of our collars. But I may say that I’ve seen far more starch in the pews than in the pulpit. If a man in tatters came into church the church officers wouldn’t shake hands with him. Nor would many of our women welcome a fallen sister or put forth a helping hand. No, if one of their fallen sisters came to sit down beside them they’d whisk away their skirts. At least that was what they used to do, but they can't do it now because they’ve got no skirts to whisk.”—“Catch-my-pal” Patterson in his Prohibition address yesterday.

Concerning Whitebait. Commenting on the running of whitebait in southern rivers after their appearance on the West Coast, an Oamaru pisciculturist advances the explanation that their late arrival on the east coast is attributable to the action of the currents. The first whitebait of the present season showed in large quantities at Westport. Then they appeared to <vork their way down the coast to Greymouth, round the Bluff, and up the east coast, finishing their run at the Waitaki river. This “route” was in keeping with the currents. Asked if he could explain what whitebait really was, the informant said that opinions were so sharply divided that he would prefer not to give his views. The Maoris, he said, t>elieved they were a species of inanga.

Speedy Arrest. Laurence Glenn Dyden’s golden dreams were rudely shattered on Saturday morning when Detective-Sergeant Hewitt paid a seven o’clock visit to him and mentioned a little matter in connection with the theft of £l2 from one Patrick Creehan, of Oreti, As a consequence, he appeared on that charge in the Police Court on Saturday morning. The young man’s luck or skill in wrong-doing was apparently as poor as his knowledge of meum and tuum for the thfft had been committed only the day before. So swift is the arm of the law these days! In the court, a remand till Wednesday for the purpose of getting full details of the case was granted, the question of bail being negatived by the detec-tive-sergeant who remarked: “I think two or three days at the Borstal might do this young man a lot of good—it’s not his first offence.”

Floods Threatened. Advice received from country districts yesterday stated that, the roads beyond Winton on Saturday had been rendered impassable by the heavy rains of the previous few days. The Oreti river was in flood and the roads thereabouts were almost impassable. Heavy falls of snow were experienced in the Northern and Eastern Districts, and the mortality among lambs was expected to be very high. At a late hour last evening reports from Wallacetown were to the effect that the Oreti was rising steadily and there seemed every indication that the countryside would be flooded. The Invercargill-River-ton road was under water last evening to a depth of nine inches, but cars were getting through. It was anticipated that traffic would be suspended by this morning. Heavy rain during Friday night brought the Waiau river up to the highest flood point reached earlier in the week. Trees and logs were being carried down in large numbers. » ♦ * * Half-hour Summer Time. “Are you in favour of Mr Sidey’s daylight saving?” was a question put to the Hon. A. D. McLeod by a member of his Upper Hutt audience, reports the Wellington Post. “I have voted consistently ever since I have been in Parliament,” said Mr McLeod in reply, “against daylight saving. I honestly believed that the extra hour would cause hardship to a large section of the primary producers, particularly the dairying people,

and I voted along those lines.” He said that when the Bill was introduced at the close of the session proposing to split the difference and advance the clock half an hour instead of an hour, he had voted with those who had unanimously supported the measure. “I believe,” he added, “that the half-hour will be beneficial to the townspeople, and I don’t believe it will throw any undue hardship on the great majority of the primary producers.” (Applause.)

Drought in North Otago. The past week in North Otago (stated the Otago Daily Times) has been characterized by strong winds and sunshine. These have added to the anxiety of farmers, for they have had a bad effect upon crops, as well as upon pastures and stock. The conditions on the farms are going from bad to worse, and those holding light country on the plains are in a somewhat serious plight through the lack of moisture. It is now about two months since anything like a refreshing fall of rain occurred, and the ground is so parched and dry that it cannot be worked. The crops in the southern portion of the district, where there is apparently moisture in the subsoil, are looking more vigorous than those on country with a north-westerly aspect. It is a good many years since North Otago has suffered such a protracted drought as that at present being experienced. Unless rain soon comes, the loss of stock will be heavy. In the meantime, settlers are hoping that a change is not far distant. The supply of cream from the various dairy herds has fallen considerably during the last fortnight, owing to the shortage of water and feed.