COUNTRY NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12571, 7 March 1919, Page 6

COUNTRY NEWS.

[Prom Otm OoRSESPONnK.vis.] CHEVIOT. HaTT«stiaß operations arc now about com* pietcfl m th« Cheviot dietrict, only a few Jato wheat crops being still in stock. The wcatlicr has been very favourable, and crops vo been stacked under the best conditions. f Y®' hoping for rain, the long nterval of hot, dry weather having severely ejected feed crops. Rape, particularly, has unless rain soon comes will .bo' of little- value., A..vety successful concert was given in the iu W j ,],°n Friday evening by the Cheviot °ln" O P° children in aid of the piano ♦i. n i-tii- e . j Ca .children wore assisted by two little ladies from Christchurch, Miss J-cina Miles and Miss Mavis. Ritchie. The programme, which consisted Of songs, duets, instrumental items, dumb-bell exorcises and physical anil, wag carried out with excellent precision, and evoked- rounds of applause from an appreciative audience. A Red Cross appeal song by Miss Edna Miles resulted in a collection of over £3. The children wore trnin«l by Mrs Ford, Miss Ford and Miss ammeters, to whom hearty votes of thanks were passed. A sum of £ls 15s 6d was netted for the fund. KIRWKE. A very large gathering of people from Kirwoo and surrounding districts met in the Agricultural Hall last Thursday evening for the purpose of giving a welcome homo to irooper J. IT Jarman, and Privates J. Bell and J. Ihornthwaite. The Rev P. Revcll, on behalf of those present, gave the guests a hearty welcome, and said that all were pleased to see them back safely, He also sa?d_ Uiat gold medals were, to have been handed to them,, but unfortunately those had wt arrived m time. Mi J. W. Belgravc, ou behalf of the Courtenay Agricultural and Rasters! Association, of which Trooper Jarman is president, also extended a hearty , 4 ° lh | / ue^ s - Trooper Jarman suitably responded.: Cheers were given, and the National Anthem was sung. During the evening songs were contributed by Mrs R. M Dowell, Miss E. Turner and the Rev P. Revcll, the accompaniments being played by Mrs J, H. Jarman and Miss Foster. Dancing was kept up till a late hour, the: music being supplied by. Mrs Christbplierson and , *RTHO:»'S PASS. ’ . _ A cricket match was played here between the resident .team and the Otira team.': resulting un a win for Arthur’s Pees by' 7 tuns. Both teams suffered a liberal supply of bruises. ■ boarinv eloquent testimony to the bumby condition of the pitch.- For P, tlr s: Hawkes. M* Gregor, Thomas and Mac Donald played; a good game, and for the Pass, W. . Cook carried off- the honours in batting,, bowling and fielding. ' The visitors were entbrtaihod at luncheon, by the local team, and afternoon tea was provided by the ladies of the district. Before leavimin the evening for Otira by Mr Bealle’s coaohes. three hearty cheers were riven- for , a .F M 9 team. This wa-s the second match of the Arthur’s, Pass winning last wesk at Otira by 12 runs. ' The Arthur’s Pass end of the tunnel has been.on contract now for about four months. The progress made is -very- satisfactory, from ffvo to six lengths a month being done. This amount of work per month exceeds expectations, and entitles the. men to every consideration. The contractors, consisting of fr° m . twenty-eight to thirty men, under the able management of Messrs W. Davis, G. Robinson and P.■ Birss, are working well together, the men making very fair wages.The Public .Works ■ Department should see that a-sufficient quantity of steel, timber .and other materials is ■ supplied tb, the ■ tunnel men. . • ./' ■ WAIAU. . : The Waiau School Committee met on Monday , evening; present—Messrs C.' Oidman (chairman), G. Aymer and Rev J; H. Thomsou. The headmaster reported that the school roll stood at eighty-two, .the average .attendance. since re-opening : being seventy-seven. The Canterbury , School Committee*’ Association, wrots in' reference, to questions, on educational matters to be addressed to air candidates for Parliamentary honours at ,Ihc coming elections. Accounts amounting to 12s 4d were passed for paymeht. Mr W. R. Creed .wrote offering to erect a. boundary fence between the’ schoolhouso- and his property ,if the Education Board would supply the material. .It was agreed’ to notify the board of the offer. It was'decided to remind the board that the schoolhouso and schoolbuildings were badly in need of a coat of paint. ' Minor repairs to school • furniture .Were agreed to. -■ •; ' . - SOUTH MALVERN. • The rainfall for the month of February was : 99 points, Rain fell; lightly on , eightdays and; fairly heavy rain - (51,; point*) fell -on •February-1, .making nine days of'-rain.'’ Fdr ‘.the; same, month, of •-IBlTaiid. 1918 .tbo.-gninfaJl, was 243 points■ ar.cl -100.points ■respectively,, so, that the past month has been a very dry one. • The. dry conditions have ‘been ideal lor harvest, and will assure a' clean, bright sample q|. oat-sheaf chaff and ail cereals. Consequent on the heavy rain of the 19R! harvest good, bright grain and oatshcaf chaff were . unobtainable except from the Marlborough district. The whole district is at present awaiting the beginning of the. threshing season as supplies of oatsheaf chaff, wheal and oats are. exhausted..- There is an abundance of green tufhip and rape crops are doing wqll, thanks to. the splendid rainfall of JanufTf. ■■■■■ ROTHERHAM. A-welcome. homo social, under the, auspices of the Rotherham Patriotic Committee, was tendered to Gunner H. Dampier-Orossley sad Private G. Witte. The Rotherham public hall contained a large and ropresentatiyo gathering from all quarters, of the district, who greeted the returned soldiers with hearty applause Speeches of welcome were made by gallon T. J. Smith and Mr B. Hampton, bolps wro rendered by Mrs J. M’Bryde and Miss Coles., The dance music was supplied by Mr J. M’Bryde and Master J. M’Brydo. ASHBURTON. ■ - Harvest operations in the Longbeach district are nearing completion and most of the wheat is now in ..stack or threshed. Several crops of wheat have threshed up to fifty 1 bushels per acre. On the Longbeach Estate J the Italian ryegrass has yielded well, about sixty bushels per acre. There are some heavy crops of clover in tho district, and’ there is no‘scarcity of feed. .Mr Leonard Checkley, of the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association, Christchurch, has been appointed to the managoment of the assoiaation's garage at, Ashburton. and took up his duties on Monday ■The Ashburton Dairy Company’s dices* factory at flic Blaokbridge lias had a nioat successful season. -/■ At present there are eighteen suppliers, and the output is three tons. of cheese per vreolc. _ Some years ago Mr Reid. , 0 f the Blackbiidge district, Ashburton,; introduced the growing oi.linseed into that localitv and tLl l p S or Pr< *" CCC33 ' This season there are hundreds of acres of this crop just; reaching the ripening stage. V It is understood that the Crown Lands Department has inspected Mr F R,S Wans property at Staveley. with a vew "o ascertammg. its. suitability f or soldici ’settle! mcnl A petition is likely tp be-put* in circulation among. returned soldiers in dio county at an eariy date urging the Govern! ment to acquire another nroporty (or sol- { Ashburton oorough. Messrs W. J. Dickie and IV. No»tion^ V W1 be askwl t0 wesent the. petiTlic Mount .Hutl Bond Board met on Monday. Mr Goodwin presiding. A deputation of residents Wftitoa on tho board, ursrinu tJi© necessity of “lacing and keeping prominently before the Public Works Department the claims of the district to have electrical enerr-- supplied as soon as the material for the lino is available. It asked the board to approach the Government at once, and that a canvass should ho made of the district a* to the amount of energy required 1 within a possible, area of reticulation. 'lt j was decided that the. clerk should place the application before tho Department, and that the Canterbury Progress League should be asked to scud someone to the district to enlighten the residents as to (be advantages and . uses of the current. It was decided'to support tho application of residents in Spasfoiv Street, Methvon. ■ asking tho Ashburton County Council to have a water-race run through the sections on the north rtdo of the street. The tender of Mrs A. M. Cleevo for the right of grazing the Highhauk Doinam for three years, at £l2 a year, was accepted. Iho hoards contribution to the Canterbury Progress League was passed for payment, and Mr Goodwin was appointed ! the board s delegate on that body. , A meeting of Hie committee of management m connection with the Ashburton Domain carnival, for raising funds to be expended on improvements to the grounds, i was held in the Borough Council Chambers! on Wednesday evening, when the Mayor (Mr j B Galbraith) presided, Mr A. M’Clure was ! appointed treasurer, and several sub-commit-tees were set up to carry, out the programme. !t was decided that the business * people shouto be ask*i to observe a whole days hohdav. and that the proceeding? e b o uld open with a proceesion horn ■ t ] le . bridge. 1 The Hampstead Town Board met on Wed nosdav evening. Mr W. H, Robinson cj e '- siding. Tno cln;irman reported a debit bal-am-e <>t i’aO lie Sd. The apiiuiiiltucnf ot •. rei.i’escnlfttive on tin- local bramh of jJ t V. Cn'ri.-rtiuiv Progress Leitguo .was held oveig tb.,- hoard, in the meantime to aaccriu.u iinancid cb!;ga:ion to (ho local brau-.fi. ;u it iva? aheid v coiitri’mitiu ; to th o

church centre. Mr W. A. Robinson was »p. pointed tho board’s delegate on the local Peace Celebration Committee. Mr. Cochrans was appointed to carry out certain road work in tho district. A resident reported that an offensive odour came from the outfall drain on the South-east Belt. It was decided to refer the matter to the Ashburton Borough Council, which controlled the drain. Accounts amounting to £l9 8s wore passed for payment. RAKGIORA. _ The officers of the Canterbury Military District are holding their annual ’“drive" at Ranglora. There are sixteen present, with Colonel Ohaffcy O.C. District. During the j day they study tactical problems in. the field, and lectures on different military subjects are- being given in' tho evening. Colonel Sloemah, of the Imperial Government Stuff, was present yesterday. l , Tho '’drive,” which commenced on Wednesday, continues until Saturday,; ’• . AKAROA. A well attended moating of the Akaroa War Memorial Site Committee was. he'd',*®the Borough Council‘ Ohamhors on Tuesday, thot. Mayor -(Mr G., Armstrong),. It was decided •to write ‘to ’ tho ‘ local Red- Cross and Lady Liverpool, Funds, - asking them, to devote any surplus'funds they - may , have in hand to the War Memorial Fund, also .that a deputation'should wait on the Peninsula Patriotic Fund tor a grant.-- It was decided . to : hold a carnival on the • recreation, ground ‘during the Peace celebration, also ,to have the site properly fenced and put - in order in time for it to bo dedicated by the Prince of Wales during his tour of the Dominion. , ■ ■ The. fortnightly meeting of the- Akaroa Borough Council was held on Wednesday: present—The Mayor (Mr 0, Armstrong), and Councillors Fyfc, Davis, Munro,' Leete, Lewitt, Kerridgo, Williams and Kearney. A letter was read from tfio Hon C. A.‘ C.‘ Hardy, .stating that 'he would do all "in: hi* poiver to get the British - Fleet to visit Akaroa. The, financial statement showed receipts .since, last meeting to have -been £134, Is 4d. Accounts pro'enled for payment totalled £7B^l3s. The Works Committee re- ‘ ported having: appointed; Mr D. Potter .assistant .foreman out of fourteen, applicants, also recommending obtaining a supply ol cement and tar. Tho renort, was adopted. The. foreman reported on work accomplished during the past fortnight. It was. decided r.btain on expert’s opinion on the suiteability of the . suction gas plant as a stand- . ,by plant. The council then sat as a Domain Board. Tho annual report was read and adouted. Mr G. Airastroug was re-elected chamman, and Messrs Munro, Leete and Davis a managing commitfee. , It was dot I® isk_ Mr Young.: curator of Christchurch Domain, to pay a visit to Akaroa and advise on; the proper cate’ of. the ; Doui»in. Accounts amounting to £7 15s 9d wore passedfor payment; - - ■ . - , On Tuesday a very successful - welcome homo social was tendered to- Privates C. Wnlker. M. M’Guire and F. Maher, in the’ Boating Club’s social ’ , hall, which- ■ was crowded to its fullest: capacity. - Duvino- - thg opening Mr A. Kotlowski nrVentcd watches suitably engraved, subscribed for. by' the 'residents of - Akaroa and surrounding baygj to the throe returned men. Sougs and musical selections wore given bv. Misses -Keegan/and Lehevre, and Itossrs Arms! rong., Jones and Donnell. The rest of the-evening, was d#toted to dfliicmg:.,, ■.. V ... KAIAPOI. ■ A -public mcetiuv was held in the-Odd-fellows Hall,- Kaiapm., last ■ night,■ when Messrs- A. S. Taylor and I’. H. Otimiejiilem•vb! l ?„ oE ,Dm Canterbury . Progress; •League,"’addressed a * small but onthusihstic: a.udic*it* ' oil the league’s, aims. Mr. W. Doubledav; in the absence or. the-Mayor, was voted to’th« chair. After the speakers had concluded, several questions were, asked and answered satisfactorily. The. matter of arranging- com- - .nnttees in connection with the local; branch was left over to. u later date,, when -a meeting will .be held in tho Council - Chambers. A hearty veto of thanks was passed, to -Messrs Climic and Taylor Tor their presoiice. The annual meeting of tho Loyal Kaiipoi Lodge 1.0.0. F., M.U.. was held--in'- th« lodge .room on -Tuesday night. N.G. Bfo ' W. Wallace presided over a. fair attendance of members.-; . The balance-sheet Tor" the year ended December 3R 1918. was adopted.' A hearty welcome was extended to’ P.G. 1 Brother R. Dritcoll, who has returned from active i service. Tho following deiEgntos. .were noin- I insted for the district meeting 1o be held at. Christchurch:— P.P.G.M. Brother P.. Bate, P.O. Brother H. Fisher and Brother Moujeer. A committee of five members was appointed to consider the matter of allocating the supplus funds of the lodge.