COUNTRY NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6134, 22 March 1898, Page 1

COUNTRY NEWS.

The West Coast . Eoad. —The coach which left Jackson's on Friday did not yet farther than the Otira Gorge that night, on account of the swollen state of the rivers and several bad slips on the road It arrived at the Beaky on Saturday n'ght, after having crossed the Bealey, which was very much swollen, and left there on Sunday for Springfield. The passengers and mails did not reach town until yesterday morning. BisiiOT Jmu-us.—The Bishop-of Christchurch preached at Longbeach on Sunday morning, and at Waterton in the afternoon, where the congregation was so large' that the service was held outside, and the rite of confirmation) wus administered, to several candidates. In the evening aservice was held at Tinwald. The offertories of the day were devoted to the .parish debt. Mr Bryant King officiated as organist at all. the service,?, ~J\ '.. 1...,. .''.. St Stephen's, AsHB,URTOJr.—A, harvest thanksgiving service ivas held • at this church on Sunday. There was a very large congregation, and there' were sixty-one communicants. The church was very' prettily decorated with' fruit, flowers and evergreens. The; Eer T. A. Hamilton, vicar, officiated, and preached from Habakkuk iii., i 7-19. Mrs Bowman Fox presided at the, organ* and Mr Horace Gates conducted. Elghx.—On Friday evening a number of friends of Mr and Mrs Letham met at the Elgin schoolroom to take leave of them prior to their departure for Sherwood, their new home. Mr* John Cochran occupied the chair, and proposed the health of the guests, expressing regret at the loss of such good neighbours, and wishing them success in their new home. Messrs Bonifant, Paul, Bland, Graves and other friends all added their' testimony to the esteem in which the guests were held in the district. Misses Dalton and Prothere and several gentlemen gave musical interludes, making up a very pleasant evening. The Weather.—A heavy nor'-wester, with much dust, blew all day yesterday at Ashbiirton. — A moderately strong nor'west breeze blew at Timaru all yesterday till about 3.30 p.m., when it freshened to a hard gale. —A telegram received from Invercargill last night states that; the weather in Southland is again bad. Gales and heavy showers of hail and rain have stopped harvesting, and a considerable area of the grain crop is very backward. A telegram received last night from Wellington stated that >a furious northerly gale was blowingall day yesterday, which was one of the most violent days of a par-v , ticnlarly windy jseasoh. . There was some destruction amongst windows. Eain set in during the night.. / . '•" : Hinejioa Hockey Gtuß.—At.a meeting of members of this chtb, in" the Church of England Sunday School, yesterday afternoon, Mrs H. C. Parsons resigned the office of President, and the resignation was accepted with regret. The following officers were then elected for the ensuing year: —President, Mrs J. L. Wilson; vice-presidents, Mesdames Wood and Miller and Miss Evans; honorary secretary, Miss Fairclougb.; committee, Misses Thompson, L. Eevell and L. BJackwell. It was arranged to play on Saturday afternoons instead of Tuesdays, as formerly, and the opening day will not be held till after Easter. Boring at Cheviot. —The Government having spent .£286 of the vote of .£3OO for sinking a deep well at the Cheviot Dairy Factory, with the result .that the bore had reached a depth of 610 feet, without any signs of water, it was decided to discontinue operations. As .the bore was still p-oing through the same stratum of papa which had been met with when a few feet from the surface, a number of the settlers decided to approach the Government for a further grant to endeavour to get through the stratum. To show their earnestness in the matter, they at once subscribed .£2O towards the cost, which Mr F. A. Cook, the lessee of the factory, subsidised with another £20. The Minister of Lands was then communicated with, and he has authorised the expenditure of a further £25. This will give £65 now to spend, and should allow of the bore reaching a depth of about 700 feet. "Social" and Dance.—The annual "social" and dance of the Awaroa school was held in Mr W. Harrison's grainshed, Summerlea, on Friday, March 11. The room was well lighted and decorated with various kinds of greenery and flowers, and as the evening Avas fine over two hundred people were present. Mrs Harrison (piano) and. Mr Palmer (violin) gave excellent music for' dancing. Miss C A. M. Smith (mistress) gave a recitation, Miss M'Lean a pianoforte, solo, and songs were-sung by Misses Hardy, Donald, Mulligan ;and; Messrs Carruthers, Oliver, Pauling and Taylor. Mr W. Stewart, jun., was Master of Ceremonies. Eef reshments were handed round at intervals by Mesdames Anderson, Shanks, Adams and the Misses Baxter. Dancing was kept up till 4' a.m., when hearty thanks were tendered to the ladies and gentlemen for the music and entertaining items of the evening, and also to Mr Harrison for his kindly assistance and the use of the building. The whole company sang " Auld Lang Syne," to conclude the evening's enjoyment.