IN TOWN AND OUT

Southland Times, Issue 22052, 27 June 1933, Page 4

IN TOWN AND OUT

NEWS OF THE DAY Outward Cargo. The Otira, which reached Bluff- yesterday, loads 180 vans of meat, 1300 boxes' of butter, 6000 crates of cheese and a quantity of wool. The Wainui took 180 bales of wool, 1200 feet of timber, 50 sacks of seed, 2000 cases of milk and a quantity of fish and oysters. * * » •

Fire at Waipahi. A.n outbreak of fire at 2.30 o’clock yesterday morning completely destroyed a five-roomed dwelling with shop attached at Waipahi. The house was occupied by Mr and Mrs Branks and three children and the shop was unoccupied. The occupants of the dwelling escaped, but nothing was saved.. A bucket brigade concentrated on saving the post office adjoining, and as there was little wind their efforts were successful. The building was owned by Mr P. H. Jones, of Waipahi, and insurances were held both on the building and Mr Branks’s furniture.

* * * * Peter Dawson Impressed. A young Gore singer’s voice was warmly praised by Mr Peter Dawson, the famous baritone, last week. This was Mr R. W. Stevenson, who met Mr Dawson at Dunedin and the visiting singer was greatly impressed by his voice. During a radio programme on Friday evening Mr Dawson induced Mr Stevenson to sing the chorus of the popular song "I Travel the Road.” In urging Mr Stevenson to continue his studies, Mr Dawson said he would hear him again in two years’ time when he would be back in New Zealand and would then see what progress he had made.

Kingswell’s Creek Bridge. Progress in the construction of a new bridge over Kingswell’s Creek was reported by the Mayor (Mr W. McChesney) at last evening’s meeting of the South Invercargill Borough Council. His Worship stated that under the regulations of the Main Highways Board unemployed labour could not be used. If it were the subsidy could not be obtained. It was also necessary to call tenders. The plans had been prepared and sent to Wellington and it was estimated the cost would be from £250 to £3OO. The bridge would be built entirely of concrete, no wood being used, and it would be a slab, not an arch, bridge.

Ships’ Bells. What has become of the bells of ships which have, through misadventure or the effluxion of time, ceased to ply between ports? This question has been creating a considerable amount of interest in northern exchanges. In Invercargill there is located at least one ship’s bell. It originally belonged to the Oscar which was wrecked on the Mokomoko in 1863. Included in the salvage from the wreck was the bell. It was acquired by the Wesleyan Church at Waikiwi and performed trusty service until the property fell into the hands of Mr C. Myers. Later Mr Myers sold the building for use as a Presbyterian Church, the bell again being called upon to summon people to worship. When extensions were made to the church it was decided to remove the bell. The late Mr James Lennie made an offer for it and when this was accepted he took it to his nursery at Waikiwi where it is still in use as a means of summoning workers to meals. Concerning the location of other ships’ bells the Otago Daily Times states: The bell of the old passenger steamer Mararoa and the bell of H.M.S. New Zealand are in the Dominion Museum. The bell of the Dartford, which was a Union Company training ship for officers in the early part of this century, and which is now a hulk in Auckland Harbour, is in the possession of Captain C. F. Post, of Upper Hutt. The bell of the Rakanoa is in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve headquarters in Wellington. The Rakanoa, formerly named Bells, was built in 1896, and after many years’ useful service for the Union Company, was scuttled in Cook Strait in March, 1928. The bell of the old Opouri is on the steamer Opihi, which is frequently in port at Dunedin. The steamer Progress, which was formerly a dredge at Oamaru, and which was wrecked at Ohiro Bay, near Wellington, in 1931, carried the bell of the barque Ann Gambles, 424 tons, which was wrecked at Bluff in 1878. This bell is now presumably buried in the shingle at Island Bay. The bell of the ship City of Auckland, which was wrecked on the beach at Otaki in 1873, is believed to be in a hotel or boarding house at Otaki. Winton Drill Hall.

Following the reference in Saturday’s issue to the proposal to floor the Drill Hall at Winton so as to provide a building to accommodate large dances and other functions of a similar nature, several business men of the town have expressed the view to the Winton correspondent of the Southland Times that the proposal is one that should be taken up whole-heartedly by the business section of the town. One business man declared that the matter should be taken up by the Borough Council and the •'Winton Commercial Association. “Every winter we hear the cry about the lack of a suitable hall for dances,” he declared, “and the absence of a hall of sufficient size means a decided loss of business to Winton. It seems ridiculous that a town the size of Winton has not a suitable hall for such gatherings and there is no doubt that it is a drawback. No doubt it would be a good idea to floor the Drill Hall, but such a proposal has always fallen through in the past. Rightly the Drill Hall does belong to the people of Winton, but the Government is not interested in th 6 welfare of this town, and had it not been for this apparently independent body the building would have been floored and paid for long ago. At the present time excessive rents are charged, and as a consequence several bodies that would have used the building at a reasonable charge have been compelled to seek other quarters, while other societies that have had no option have simply had to ‘pay through the nose.’ I could quote you several instances where bodies have been literally ‘pushed out’ of the Drill Hall as a result of the excessive charges levied. This should not be so, as all these bodies were working in the interests of the town, and the Defence Department would have been much better off by getting a few shillings than nothing. I think our local Member of Parliament, Mr P. A. de la Perrelle; should be approached in connection with this matter, and he may be able to throw some light on the situation. As it is at present I think the majority are in the dark.”