LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 250, 3 August 1937, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Ashburton iPlunket Society'u request to hold a street collection on Friday, September 10 (Daffodil Day), was granted by the Borough Council last evening.

The King’s bounty, £3, has been granted t d Mrs J. Anderson, of Kohurouaki, the mother of triplets, born at Hastings on Coronation Day (says a Press Association telegram).

Two tenders for the construction of new stock ramps at the Ashburton Municipal Abattoirs were received by the Borough Council last evening, and that of Mr M. Thompson, at £44, was accepted.

Entries for the Trinity College practical examination! which are to be held about the end of September are coming in fairly well so far as the Ashburton district is concerned, the secretary (Mr A. C. Wilson) told a “Guardian” reporter this morning. There should be a worthy total by the end of the week, he said.

The first ducklings of the season were hatched in the Domain thiA morning. They are Muscovy ducklings, and have appeared much before the usual time for hatching, indicating that the sitting must have been carried out when the Domain ponds were ice-bound and in the grip of winter. It is hoped that the brood will survive, although ducklings in the Domain generally do not stand a great chance of doing so owing to the large number of cats in the vicinity which prey on them.

Sheep worrying by dogs from the city is reported to be causing serious losses to farmers on the outskirts of Wellington (says a Press Association message). Reference to the depredations of these dogs was made at a meeting of the Makara-Hutt provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, and a resolution was carried protesting tc the authorities at the damage to flocks from dogs. Ten members of the executive were present, and their collective losses through dogs during the last few weeks was stated to exceed 200 sheep.

Referring last evening to the manner in which the asphalting of full blocks of footpaths was held up because one or two property owners refused to fall in with the others and pay half the cost of the work, the Mayor (Mr W. H. Woods) said that for some time past a move had been going forward to have legislation put through enabling borough councils to insist that such people fall in with the wishes of the others, failing which the councils could do the work and charge up the cost as rates. It was hoped to get the necessary legislation through at the next session of Parliament.

Three building permits issued in the last two weeks by the Borough Inspector (Mr J. R. Richardson) were for structures estimated to cost £BO3.

The first term for which certificates of fitness w r ere issued in respect of motor vehicles will expire at the end of next month. The regulations provide a term of six months from April 1.

Having decided to remove 80 pine trees on the east side of the cemetery, the Ashburton Borough Council called for tenders for them, and last evening received only one. It was for £5. The council decided to hold over the question in the meantime.

The Hon. W. Downie Stewart, who is at present in Wellington, is completing a biography of “The Life and Times of the Rt. Hon. Sir Francis H. B. Bell, 1851-1936.” The main part of the book is concerned with the career of Sir Francis Bell, and will contain many interesting stories of political life from behind the scenes, as well as personal anecdotes.

A very long discussion in committee caused the-Ashburton Borough Council meeting last evening to extend to an hour seldom reached. There was a small agenda, of general business, which was completed shortly after 8 o’clock, and then there was a long discussion on the Courthouse site, the meeting continuing until nearly 10.45 p.m.

Copies of the Road Cod© prepared by the Transport Department at the request of the Minister for Transport (the Hon. R. Semple), and handed to all motorists at the time of the renewal of licenses, are being distributed to houses by the postmen in Ashburton. This is being done in an effort to reduce the number of accidents on the roads.

“Councillors, you may smoke!” The Mayor recited his formula at the meeting of the council last evening as members were in the middle of a discussion, and the remark was greeted with laughter, as most of the members were already smoking. The Mayor had been busy at the head of the table and had failed to grant permission as early as he usually does, and members, recognising that the Mayor had forgotten, had lighted up without waiting.

The window scratcher who made his work so obnoxious in East Street over a period of many months, but who has not been heard of for some time past, has been at work lately in the Triangle, or perhaps some individual has taken on the cloak of the original vandal. Several windows in the Triangle have been damaged by long scratches, all done on one night.

A Westmere resident who advertised the loss of a sheep dog the other morning received a telephone message next evening from Marton announcing that the dog had returned to its original owner’s home (says the “Wanganui Chronicle”). The dog had made the journey of approximately 30 miles in three clays. A remarkable feature of the incident was that the dog had changed hands twice since it was domiciled at Marton.

“The Grigg Street entrance to the jDomain has become a dangerous one, and we should, perhaps, do something about it,” said the Mayor at the meeting of the Ashburton Borough Council last evening. He said that pedestrians and cyclists used the entrance las a thoroughfare, and on holidays and sports days motorists used it, and there were many people in the vicinity on sports days. <

That recommendations be made to the Government for a family allowance to be made in emergency employment taxation was a motion carried by the provincial executive of the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Union (says a Napier Press Association telegram). The opinion was expressed that while ther'e was a. need for increasing the population, the unemployment tax was a penalty on a man who had a family. Any reduction in unemployment revenue would be well worth while if It provided an inducement toward bigger families.

A raid on motor vehicles and their drivers to ascertain if the requirements of the law with regard to licenses and other certificates bad been complied with was carried out at the Ashburton traffic bridge to-day by the Ashburton Borough Inspector (Mr J. R. Richardson) and the County Inspector (Mr E. N. Johnson). Between 9 a.m. and noon 300 cars were stopped, and it was found that only about half a dozen drivers were unable to produce their licenses. These will have to send their licenses to the inspectors for checking.

Recommendations regarding the lighting of the Ashburton traffic bridge, made at a meeting of representatives of the Ashburton County Council, the Ashburton Borough Council, and the Tinwald Town Board (which called the conference), were ratified at the meeting of the Borough Council last evening. The allocation of payments were as follow: —County £35, Borough £3O, Tinwald £2O. The allocation was made on the understanding that all 17 lights on the bridge are lighted, in place of seven as in the past, when the cost was about £7O a year. Members of the council agreed that the arrangement was very satisfactory.

So keen has the demand been in Ashburton for seats for the Test match between New Zealand and the Springboks at Christchurch on September 4, that the Ashburton Rugby Union has applied for extra seats to meet requests. Seventy of these seats were granted at Bs, and at the meeting of the Management Committee of the Union last evening rthe secretary (Mr G. V. Furby) reported that all had been sold. The match between South Canterbury and the Springboks at Tima.ru has not attracted so much interest, and there have been only a few applications for seats.

Seventeen ratepayers and residents of King Street petitioned the Borough Council last evening requesting that improvements in sewerage, channelling and lighting in that street should be carried out. The Mayor said that there were a nuinber of new houses in the area, and the question of sewerage would have to be gone into before long. That would call for the installation of an electric pumping station. Mr R. Kerr endorsed this view, and said that drainage would have to be put through there soon. Heavy lorries using the street in bad weather had had to use chains. The Mayor said the locality was becoming a good one and something would have to be done, and sewerage should be the first tiling. The petition was referred to the Drainage Committee, which was authorised to obtain an engineer’s report.

Stock slaughtered at the Ashburton Municipal Abattoirs in July was as follows:—Cattle 151, calves 10, sheep 762, lambs 2, pigs 108 (one condemned).

Under perfect conditions of weather and ice surfaces, 29 members of the Ashburton Tramping Club spent a very enjoyable day in the Mount Harper ice area on Sunday. They found the facilities very much to their liking.

Thirty-one motor driver’s licenses were issued by the Ashburton Borough Inspector (Mr J. It. Richardson) in the last two weeks, making a total of 930 for the present motoring year.

A display of southern lights was witnessed from Ashburton last evening. The density of the light varied, over a period of an hour, from bright, light green to dull red. The phenomenon was observed due south in a small arc of the sky.

Unpaved streets in Ashburton are becoming unusually dusty as a result of the recent dry warm weather. Vehicles passing along them are raising dust cloucis similar to those experienced during the summer, but rather unusual at this time of the year.

Waiving its policy on the question, the Ashburton Borough Council last evening agreed to the request of two residents of Peter Street W T est that the footpath in front of their properties, from Oak Grove to the far boundary of the second petitioner, on the usual conditions. The council’s policy is to asphalt paths for a complete block, but circumstances in this case caused the council to change its custom.

In spite of the attention of fly fishermen and others who find its feathers particularly suitable for making trout Hies, the native bittern, or matuku, is apparently not decreasing in the Rotorua district. A resident recently reported that in a large patch of raupo lie put up no fewer than 44 bitterns, the largest number he remembered having seen together in an extensive experience of wild life. In other parts of the district also reports indicate that the birds are increasing.

Kiwis are reported to be plentiful on the Wanganui River. Wekas, on the other hand, have completely disappeared. Mr Gregor McGregor has a theory that the love of swamp country, with its uninviting dampness, is the cause of kiwis continuing to hold their ovm against stoats and weasels. The woodhen, on the other hand, frequented country which was congenial to these natural enemies of wingless birds.

A dangerous section has existed for some time past on the Main South Road near the saleyards, between the bitumen and the macadam surface. Rain had worn the road at the side of the bitumen into potholes, some of which _ attained fairly considerable dimensions, and would have presented a nasty problem to any cyclist who found nis machine in them. The potholes have recently been filled, however, and the surface at this part much improved.

Because it has retained its withered leaves for most of the winter the opinion has been expressed that the tree planted in the Domain to commemorate tlie jubilee of King George V. and Queen Mary was “sick.” The curator t(Mr H. P. Clayton) said this morning that actually tne tree was making excellent progress. It was quite a. common thing for a young tree to retain its leaves during winter. The tree is planted near "the bowling green.

A remarkable instance of the musical talent of the Samoans was mentioned recently by Pastor A. G. Stewart (superintendent of Seventh Day Adventist missions in the South Seas), who was a through passenger to Sydney by the Monowai (says the Auck-. land “Star”). While visiting Samoa recently, he was entertained by a brass band attached to the native mission training school, the conductor of the band being a young man in the midtwenties named Sione, who performed the feat of playing simultaneously two cornets, one a treble and the other an alto. Both parts were played coirectly and distinctly, with the ease of an accomplished cornetist.

Opposition to the planting of a Coronation commemorative grove of trees from the Grigg Street entrance to the Domain to the Oval, as suggested by Mr R. Kerr at the previous meeting, was again expressed by the Mayor (Mr W. H. Woods) last evening. He said that trees planted there would probably be a danger to motor traffic, and they would cast a shade on the basketball grounds. The results of tree shade on the Oval had become apparent lately. He would' like to see trees planted for the purpose stated, but planted somewhere else. After some discussion round the table, the council decided to leave the question in the hands of the Mayor and Mr Kerr.