THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16145, 25 February 1918, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

j ' ♦ — NEWS AND NOTES. ASHBURTON A. AND P. ASSOCIATION. a — g j A meeting of the Genera! (. oniruittce "> Jof the Ashburton A. and P. Association ! j was lic!d on Saturday a:V.rjiOc?t. j j president, Mr F. Franipuin. r>; ! | A letter was read from Mr 13. Iripp, I! of the Timaru A. and P. A:-ioei:ition, I suggesting that the Ashburton ami the j Timaru Shows should be j'.eid ir; the same week in the autumn in i'v.t'rv, ! and sugy-'scifig thai, tie Ashbr.ftou As- ! | sociation should have the first ea> to ! whether tin- Tin«.aru dates should i for a Tuoswy and Wednesday, ami Ashburton on a Thursday and Friday. 5 The president reported having attended 'a conference in Timaru with reference to the future autumn show date.-. Al'Ut 501110 discussion, diuiiijj; which opinions were expressed that it woukl be a great mistake to hold the two shows in the one week, it was decided, j i:i< the motion of Mr ,T. Grigg, seconded j by Mr J. Cairns, that the Ashburton A>socir.tion would be quite willing to co-operate -with the Timaru Association in arranging dates for future autumn shows, and it was suggested that, a joint committee of the two associations should definitely fix dates for future shows, but that the Ashburton Association would not pledge itself to agree to j the holding of the two shows in the one j week. I The ma Iter of the amusement tax was loft, with the Finance Committee to j | deal with, and it was decided to send 1 a letter to the Canterbury A. and P. Association, asking that Society to represent Ashburton at the conference in Wellington, provided Ashburton was . unable to send a delegate. A letter was read from the Gore A. and P. Association, asking the Ashburton Association's co-operation in having the freezing charges in the South Island brought into lino with those in the North Island. On the motion of Mr D. G. Wright, seconded by Mr \Y. Anderson, of I Fairton, it was unanimously decided that the Ashburton farmers were perfectly satisfied with the charges made by the Canterbury Frozen Moat Company. It w'ls decided to invito the GovernorGeneral to bo present at the coining show. The following were elected members ] of the Association: Messrs K. Waugh, P. Dalton, and A. Reid. FARMERS' CO-OP. SUPERANNUATION FIND Tiie tbird annual general meeting in •connexion with the Farmers' Co-opera-tive Superannuation Fund was held in the offices of the Association on Friday evening, Mr A. H. Mourn, in the unavoidable absence of Mr J. A. Pannett, chairman, presiding over a largo attendance of members. The statement of accounts, showing accumulated funds of £'8154 7s lOd, and sick claims paid during the year amounting to £39(3 Is (kl, was presentee! and adopted, together with the report. The number of members on December J3lst, ]017, was 3G5, an increase of sixty over the previous year. Messrs A. \Y. Jamie son, Thomas Hilson, and H. T. Whittingham wcro re-elected trustees for the employees, and Messrs Newburgh, Rest and Co. auditors. OXFORD. The a'nnuui meeting the Domain j Board was held on 'luesday, tho 19th , .. inst. Present—Messrs A. Stubbs (chairman), W. H. Alford, D. Hawke, ami P. C. Jones. The balance-sheet for th» ' year ending 1917, showing a credit bal- j ance of £112, was road amd adopted, i Tho chairman stated that he had no j formal report to make, but had inspected the racecourse ieserve 1(351 ana the View Hill Domain, and was pleased to find both in a ve.ry satisfactory state, but Pearson Park was in a most de- j plorable condition. He had never seen I it so bad, and was quite ashamed of it. j (He then left the chair, and asked the ! members to elect n new chairman. Mr Hawko moved that Mr Stubbs bo reelected, as all the members had the greatest confidence in him. Tho motion j was seconded by Mr Jones, who was sure that the unsatisfactory state of tho park was no fault of the chairman. Mr Stubbs declined to tako the chair on account of failing health, but, as no other . member was willing to accept the honour. after a little persuasion he consented to take it for another year. Votes of thanks were carried to the chairman, members, and secretary. Mr Alford was! especially thanked for the trouble he j had taken with regard to keeping tho ' keys of the Coronation Hall and date; ! of hiring by a'l societies using it, and i also for receiving the fees. It was re-j solved to pay the County Council's ac- I count for cleaning water-races, rfnd to | deduct tho amount from the caretaker's j cheque; also to reply to the Council's! letter regarding paying share of cost;! ?I. >' e ljairs to protection work us Burnt; Hill I'ord. that the Board were pre- > pared to do so. It was resolved that i the Coronation Hall should bo painted, the library painted outside, and cleaned, | papered, and varnished inside, and the gates and fencing painted, tcinders to he invited for the whole. It was resolved j to engage a man to thoroughly clean 1 I up the park before another caretaker is j <>ngaged, who will then bo required to Keep it in good order, and to draw up u more strihgent schedule of duties. The chairman presented the Board with a new life-buoy for tho swimming bath LhZiu" 0 fK Y lng ! >eeu d est roved), for which he was heartily thanked. DOYLESTON. fn™nnt S ' Eddv ' of tlu ' 3( Sth Itemorcements was entertained at a farewell social in tie DovJcston Hall on Thursday evening. There was a large attendance, and the evening was spe^C T (VRr 1 " 8, 1 P lla P? e| l and Mr M. U?if (" J , S " ppij,n « tlie music. On behalf of the residents, Mr W. 0 Kennie presented the soldier with a the b 6 and c °uveyed to h'm the best wishes of the residents for a suit ably replied*" Pri ™ to Kddv ellesmere. }' ,C E,iesm ere Countv of Advice to tho National Efficiency Board, held at Leestouon Boi \ WaS , att T ended hv Messrs J. tarvf' \v" T ir, u T?r°^ T (' lon - secreT 'ij}- T i W. H. Jackman, + u Cunmrrham (members of the committee), A. T. Robertson, and cJn'™ 0tt x (tl 7 st . ees) ' The Commissioner wrote stating that at a recent un e +b Dg Efficiency Board had taken ?e M rd° ? Uestlon of . fi , re insurance with regara to unoccupied premises owned i? s . eril sts on active service. The conditions on the policy relating to drn c r UP Premises were usuallv verv 'iT„ II lhe insurance companies nail.been communicated with, and the ol'« ,e l, I ' peel V ed niadc it sufficiently n the clauses referred to ould not be enforced upon men actual'v on active service. A precis ofi tnu answers received was enclosed for i tne committee's perusal. The ComMission or further wrote to the effect I •bat the assistance which ma.v be i [ranted to soldiers bv way of periodical I 'aynietu. or by lump sum, had been in- j reused from a maximum of £104 ;er , nnun: to a maximum of £15G j>« r ! nnun!. The seerotarv 'presented Ms i eport on the correspondence that iujd j wssi'd_ between the Commissioner and : im.self coucerning the affairs of seveal reservists who had sought harvest, ■ave. ; Mr 11. E. B. Watson, of Tai Tapu, j as presented a fine enlarged photorapn of his champion Clydesdale mars lileen, to be hung in the Ellesmere'

A. and P. Association's new commiti tee room at Leoston. I'm ' l!U-v «-' s t weather prevailed' in tne Lllesmere district dining the battel part of last week, with the result tli.it stook threshing again became general throughout the district on Sat--111 day The sheaves had received such a .soaking a week ago that it required more than the usual' length ol" time or the 111 to dry sufficiently to be fit ior threshing. If the mills could get a clear run tor a fortnight there would be very little stook threshing to do. Many larmer.s who originally intended to thresh out of the stook are hutting 1 „ v '' iu ' ;u ! n the stack, owing to the effeets of the rain, and so as to to avoid th<> risk of further da 11111 "e by wet weather.' "