In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23817, 15 May 1939, Page 8

In Town And Out

Mothers’ Day Mothers’ Day, a festival which originated in the United States of America and which has spread throughout the world, was observed yesterday. In Invercargill reference was made to the occasion in most of the churches. Opossum Season The latest issue of The New Zealand Gazette announces that the season for taking opossums in the Otago and Southland acclimatization districts will open on July 1 and will close on August 1. In the Lakes district the season will continue until September 1. The licence fee will be £2. An “Old Soldier” “We can truthfully say that he is an ‘old soldier’,” said Mr R. Smith when drawing attention to the fact that Mr Charles Lake was among the veterans present at the annual reunion of the Invercargill South African War Veterans’ Association on Saturday night. Mr Lake was a private in the Fiftieth Queen’s Own Regiment which formed part of the British military expedition to Egypt in 1882. He fought in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir and was a member of the detachment of British troops which occupied Cairo on September 14, 1882.

Social Security Tax A committee of 15, with Mrs E. W. Trevena as chairman and Miss R. Ferguson as secretary, was appointed at a meeting in Christchurch attended by 50 women in furtherance of the protest payment of the Social Security tax. The name given to the committee is the Canterbury Social Security Protest Movement. Mrs Ethel Cuff was appointed by the meeting to take charge of publicity to be circulated throughout the Dominion to arouse the interest of women in other centres in the formation of a similar body. A letter circulated states: “This women’s protest movement is nonparty, and in no way advocates nonpayment of these taxes; so it is definitely not encouraging anyone to defy the law. That matter is left to every individual’s own conscience, but, in every way, this movement will endeavour to increase the strength of its numbers of protesting women.”

Regimental Camp A special train carrying members of the Southland Regiment to the annual camp at Burnham, left Invercargill on Saturday morning. The train took more than 100 men from Invercargill and picked up others as it proceeded north, a total of about 200 members of the regiment entering camp. The Otago and Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast regiments also travelled to Burnham, there being a total of about 800 men in camp. Major T. Mathews, of Invercargill, is in command of the Southland Regiment. The troops will return south next Saturday. Shortage Of Lemons The highest price for lemons since the 1919 influenza epidemic was obtained in Hamilton last week, when the first consignment under the Government marketing scheme realized 52/- a case. There is an acute shortage, and high rates are likely to rule for about 10 days.—Press Association. Famous Run Occupied After being unoccupied for more than two years, the Rainbow block of the former Molesworth sheep station was taken up on Thursday when its lease was ballotted for in the Lands Department office at Nelson. The successful candidate was Mr D. W. Oxnam, a well-known landowner in the Murchison district. It is the intention of Mr Oxnam to stock the run mainly with cattle, and he will probably put a small herd in for the winter. Some sheep will also be turned out on the hills. The run is situated in the Wairau and Rainbow valleys, about six miles from Tophouse, Nelson. The area of the block is stated to be about 76,200 acres, consisting of rough-run country, fairly open and at an altitude varying from 1900 feet to 7000 feet above sea level. Although the Rainbow was worked as a section of the Molesworth estate, it has had a homestead of its own for many years. When Molesworth was closed down by the Government for the rehabilitation of its pastures, the flocks were' dispersed by sale in the early months of 1937. In January of this year the Rainbow block was put up for auction, but there were no bids for the lease. Hymn Competition Among the winners of a New Zea-land-wide competition for the words for a hymn to celebrate the centenary of the Presbyterian Church in the Dominion is Mrs M. C. Parker, of Wellington street, Invercargill, a member of the congregation of Knox Church. Other pri"e-winners were the Rev. F. Robertson, of Pukerau, and Mrs R. S. Watson, of Ashburton. Church Parade for Nurses Nurses from the Kew, St. Helens and Karitane-Hunt Hospitals and the Dee Street Infirmary, with members of the Registered Nurses’ Association, attended a parade at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church last evening. More than 100 nurses were included in the parade. An appropriate sermon on the valuable service given to humanity by th: nursing profession was preached by the Rev. E. Gardiner. The service was in honour of the memory of Florence Nightingale. Ploughing match at Kelso Increased interest has been shown in ploughing matches in the south during the last few years and several associations have been formed to conduct matches in different centres. At a wellattended meeting of farmers at Kelso last week it was decided to form the West Otago Ploughing Match Association and to conduct the first match at Kelso next month. June 28 was fixed tentatively as the date for the opening match. Mr J. A. McDonald was appointed president of the association and Mr B. Baxter secretary. Dental Disease The prevalence of dental disease in countries inhabited by white people and its effect on the national health were dealt with by Mr J. L. Saunders, director of the Division of Dental Hygiene, in an address at Wellington. Referring to the economic waste caused by dental disease, Mr Saunders said: “I wonder how many people are aware of the proportion of school children of this Dominion, let alone adults, that suffer from dental disease. No less than 97 per cent, are affected, I believe. If we could convey to the public the seriousness of dental disease and give them elementary information, we could do a great deal towards its prevention.”—Press Association.