IN TOWN AND OUT

Southland Times, Issue 21090, 23 May 1930, Page 6

IN TOWN AND OUT

NEWS OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Industries Week.

When an application for a grant towards the expenses of conducting a New Zealand Industries Week came before the Chamber of Commerce yesterday, it was stated that the chamber viewed the idea sympathetically and was prepared to assist financially. **♦ , * Unsatisfactory Chaff-cutting.

According to local merchants, Southland chaff is rather at a disadvantage as compared with the Blenheim and Canterbury products on account of the unsatisfactory cutting. It is noticeable that most of the Southland chaff is a good deal chewed about in the cutting, and the cut is frequently of uneven length, there being a good many long straws in it. If Southland farmers wish to put a good article on the market and one which will compete with other chaff-producing centres in New Zealand, they should see that the cutting receives proper attention. * Farmers’ Parliament

The most important farmers’ gathering of the year will take place in Invercargill today when the Southland Provincial Conference of the New. Zealand Farmers' Union will be held. The conference will be held in cthe Y.M.C.A. lecture hall commencing at 10 o’clock. The annual report and bal-ance-sheet and the election of officers will occupy the early part of the business, after which a very long list of remits on various important questions will be considered. In the evening the annua! dinner will be held. Delegates from all branches will be present at the conference, which will occupy the whole day. ' t.* . * *

Car Capsizes. A motor accident occurred near Baird’s corner on the lower Knapdale road on Wednesday evening. Mr J. M. McQueen, of Waikaka, was motoring from Gore, and about 7 p.m. he felt his car was off the road and on the grass at Baird’s corner. He suddenly swerved his machine as he then knew the Mataura river was only a few yards distant. In swerving the car it capsized, and both the windscreen and side shields were smashed, and the body of the car was damaged. The weather was bad and sleet was falling at the time, which made visibility very poor. The occupants of the car were not injured.

Unemployed on Bluff Road. The question of the employment of men, who were out of work, on the Bluff road was brought up at the meeting of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Sir Joseph Ward wrote stating that he had brought the matter under the notice of the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. E. A. Ransom) and he acknowledged the chamber’s letter in regard to the subject. The correspondence referred to the refusal of the Main Highways Board to subsidize the Government grant on the amount raised by the City and County Councils. “Wouldn’t opening up new land be a better idea than the Bluff road,” said Mr A. H. Mackrell. “Have you joined the Labour Party ?” asked Mr D. Rutledge. Members stated that the chamber was powerless in the matter and the letter was received. < 4fr sjt # More About Sun Fish. Yesterday reference was made to a sun fish weighing a quarter of a ton which was found on the beach near Fortrose. Unfortunately the Southland Museum has neither the accommodation to house the fish nor the funds to have it preserved. The sun fish are related to globe fishes. There are three species, all of which are widely distributed in tropical seas, but they very rarely come as far south as New Zealand. The roundtailed sun fish has an extraordinary shape. The body is deep and oval in form, with the snout projecting a little above the small mouth in which the teeth are united to form a single sharp-edged plate in each jaw. The very large and high fiorsal and anal fins are placed opposite each other and behind them the body ends abruptly, without any decrease in depth. The skin is rough, bluish-grey in colour, with silvery reflections on the sides of the body. The fish reaches a length of over eight feet and weighs up to a ton. The other two species are the pointed-tailed sun fish and the oblong sun fish. The latter is very much smaller, never more than two feet in length. The specimen found at Fortrose is apparently a round-tailed sun fish.