ELTHAM BOROUGH RATES

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 257, 8 October 1931, Page 5

ELTHAM BOROUGH RATES

BETTER THAN OTHER DISTRICTS The promptness (or otherwise) of the payment of rates generally gives an excellent indication as to the financial position oil any particular district, and in this respect Eltham borough residents would seem to be very fortunate, says the Argus. The Town Clerk (Mr. A. J. MacPherson) stated to an Argus representative yesterday that although the percentage of payments was down considerably as compared with last year, the position was' fair and certainly much better than many other districts. Tn fact, the amounts received had exceeded his estimate and he had not viewed the question from a pessimistic angle. Many other local bodies were experiencing great difficulty in obtaining rates, and Eltham could be iu a much worse position. The other departments of the borough concerned with finance, said Mr. MacPherson, were standing up to the strain particularly well, and reflecting definitely the solidity of the district.

Do They Know? Do pheasants and other game birds know the shooting season in the same way as they know winter and summer? An Aucklander who travelled to the north by car recently is firmly of the opinion that they do. Being a keen sportsman, and, incidentally, a fine shot, he knows something about pheasants, and he avers that during the months that it is unlawful to kill the birds they show a striking disregard for what to them should appear a very real danger. On half a dozen occasions on the run to Whangarei, a beautifully-conditioned cock pheasant was seen to cross the road only a few yards in front of the car, and the unruffled manner in which the bird made its crossing suggested that it had no fear of dogs or guns, "if the shooting season was on, and you had a gun, you wouldn't see one bird anywhere near within range," remarked the sportsman, as he watched a cock pheasant and three hens feeding calmly within 70 yards' of the road along which the car was passing.