General News

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 307, 28 December 1937, Page 6

General News

I Telephone to Kawau ! Reisdents of Kawau (Auckland) are ■ now in touch with all parts of the I Dominion as the result of the com- ; pletion of the telephone service be- • tween Auckland and the island. The : first telephone call was put through ! to an Auckland subscriber this week i and the service has since proved of ; great convenience to visitors. Sharp Rise in Strawberry Prices The heavy Christmas demand for strawberries, together with a shortage caused by the dry weather, has resulted in a sharp rise in prices in Auckland to almost double those ruling last week. The present season has been very favourable for Captain Cook strawberries, stated the manager of an Auckland shop, and much of the fruit is still o c very good quality. ' Heavy Mortality of Ewes. I Losses among flocks o£ sheep shorn (before the recent wet weather have been greater in the Temuka district ! than was expected, states a Temuka correspondent. In many cases ewes were lost even when they had been shorn for some time. Messrs. L. V. Talbot, Kakahu, G. A. N. Balderson, Clandeboye, J. Ross Orton, and N. Campbell were farmers who suffered small losses. The most unfortunate was Mr. R. B. Morrison, Clandeboye, I who was caught in the middle of shearing. Of a Hock of 230 ewes shorn ,at least 130 died. Mr. Morrison has | not found the full loss. He said he had been holding the sheep in the sheds and they needed feed. Shearing had finished about 4 p.m. on the day the storm began. He had put the ewes out to graze for a short time. There was a wide gorse hedge in the padaock which usually gave adequate protection. When he tried later to , drive the sheep back into the shed they were so chilled that they could ’not move. Mr. Morrison said that I even it he had not allowed the sheep , to graze he must have lost 60 or more. I The motherless lambs would be i checked, he added, as they were not due to be weaned until late in January.