TEMUKA

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20607, 22 December 1936, Page 3

TEMUKA

A LARGE PAYOUT RELIEF WORKERS RECEIVE £5OO Comprising a week’s wages and a bonus of £1 each for single men and £2 for married men, a total of £520/17/6 was yesterday paid out by the Temuka Borough Council to 63 relief workers. The men will be off work for a fortnight for the Christmas period, resuming employment on January 2. The average payment to each man amounted to £B/5/6, this amount varying according to whether married or single and to the number of dependents. The payment of two weeks’ sustenance and a Christmas bonus is to be made to sustenance men from the employment bureau to-day. RAILWAY BUSINESS LARGE LOCAL INCREASE A steady increase in traffic through the Temuka railway yards in recent months has been somewhat accelerated comparatively recently, the holding of wool sales and the handling of stock before Christmas being said to account for the further improvement. In an interview yesterday the stationmaster (Mr D. D. Wall) said that there had been 40 stock waggons through the siding in the last week. Partly the increase had resulted from Christmas sales of stock, but the larger numbers had been generally noticeable for some time, indicating that there would be good use for the new stock y.ards when erected.

Mr Wall said that there had also been a large Increase in the amount of wool leaving the station. About 600 bales had been despatched so far, that amount being the total for the whole of last season. Passengers had not shown much increase with the approach of Christmas, although it was rather early for people to have begun holiday travel. Five hundred and eighty-six journeys had been made from Temuka last week, in comparison with 580 for the same week of last year. INFANTILE PARALYSIS NO LOCAL CASES REPORTED Although for the last three days rumours of a suspected case of infantile paralysis have been circulating in the Temuka district, the report was completely denied by local doctors who were interviewed yesterday. At the request of the Health Department the Domain Board had the swimming baths closed at mid-day yesterday to all children under 16. The Board had inquired the Department’s wishes in the matter, and the reply stated that it would be advisable for the baths to remain closed to children until the restrictions were lifted. PLACEMENT OFFICER LOCAL APPOINTMENT MADE Because of the large increase in the business of the employment placement section of the Temuka Employment Bureau, Mr J. P. Boyd, of the bureau staff, has been appointed local placement officer. He will assume his new duties on January 4. An officer of the bureau said yesterday that so much time has been occupied with dealing with inquiries for labour and finding men to suit the positions that Mr Boyd’s time has been practically devoted entirely to that work for some weeks. As the scheme has grown recording and dealing with applications have become one man’s work. It is not known locally how the position of inquiry officer, at present held by Mr Boyd, will be filled. HIGHWAY PROTECTION STOP-BANK AT TEMUKA RIVER With the acceptance of the tender of Mr C. Foley at £126/17/6 for the earthwork, all arrangements have been completed by the Geraldine County Council for the erection of a stop-bank to protect the Main North Highway from floods at the Temuka traffic bridge. The bank, which will form a continuation of the present earthwork on the northern bank of the river, is to extend to below the railway bridge, the proposed extension being 9J chains in

length. Sanction from the Public Works and Railway Departments, as well as from a number of private property owners and occupiers was recently obtained. The work is to begin after Christmas. FUNERAL LATE MR G. A. RADBURND Largely attended by members of local organisations of which he was a member, the funeral of Mr George Arthur Radburnd, a well-known local resident, took place at the Temuka Cemetery yesterday. About 50 returned soldiers paraded at St. Joseph’s Church, where Requeim Mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father C. J. Outtrim, S.M., and marched beside the hearse to the cemetery. Members of the Alexandrovna Oddfellows Lodge also paraded, and at the cemetery gates a guard of honour for the coffin, draped with the Union Jack and bearing the deceased’s military hat and tunic, was formed. The pall-bearers were Messrs G. Radbumd and D. Histen (relatives), Bro. J. Prattley, Noble Grand of the Oddfellows Lodge, Bro. G. Harris, secretary of the Lodge, and Messrs W. Oldfield and S. Webb, representing the Temuka Returned Soldiers’ Association. The service was conducted by Father Outtrim. At the conclusion of the service “Last Post” was sounded by Mr R. Boyle, ex-soldiers filing past and depositing poppies in the grave.

Mr Radburnd was born at Temuka in 1898, and was educated at the Temuka District High School. At the age of 17 he enlisted for military’ service in the Great War, where he served for two and a half years, being once wounded. On returning from the war he took up a position with the Temuka Co-operative Dairy Company with which he remained until the company was absorbed by the Waimate Company. For many months past he was poundkeeper and ranger for the Temuka Borough and for the Geraldine County Councils. He was a member of the 1.0.0. F. Lodge and the Temuka branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, and took a keen interest in the social progress of the district. He is survived by a widow and six children, the eldest of whom is 15 years of age. LETTUCE SCARCE GOOD SUPPLIES OF OTHER VEGETABLES A scarcity of lettuce, through large patches having been destroyed by rust, is being experienced in the Temuka district this season. The weather is said to be responsible for the disease, and a prominent market gardener stated yesterday that there is a possibility of the shortage being experienced throughout the remainder of the season.

However, other vegetables are likely to be plentiful enough for the next month or more. Peas have been generally in good order in local gardens, and there have been rather more people growing their own suplies than usual, but nevertheless the Christmas orders are as large as ever. New potatoes have done well, the absence of late frosts and suitable weather having accounted for the improvement. However the wet weather is stated to have encouraged an unusual number of caterpilars and slugs, which have been doing damage to peas, beans and other soft-leaved vegetables.