THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16167, 22 March 1918, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES. CHEVIOT. A bazaar «v.-ns held til( j Town Hall in aid oi tne Cnarcj ot|'*P_ land Stipe-nil Fund, i mo weatnrr fa-ou o-l the effori, which was a great After the vicar, the JJ.t. aul had offered prayer, the .lazaai - 1 formaliy opened by Mi ; dent of tlio Bazaar Committer. -- _ Gee acted as secretary and surer. Tho following holders-.—Produce stall. Me< f] Don ton, Gcc?on. and M <■£.'£' rt i JJ*' 1 Mi.-< Geeson and Mr MeGiflert. Jt-n----|,lo \ißll. Mesdnmc- V.-.ikin.son n.id Mis? Wa flora. Svreets r-la!i. "V* "Woodford. .Misses Saunders and Lewis. «Coft. drinks. Mosdamos Rentoul and Chisholm. ' Tea room. Mesdames Walmslev. Johnson. Hughes. and Chiltls Messrs Bosomworth, teaunders, Walmsley. nnd Wilkinson Fruit salad, Miss Bnsomworth. Th/» total takings amounted to about ,:00. IJurinf tli" evening: various panics and competitions wore taken part in. Music was suoplied fiv Mioses Saunders anu Walmslev, r.nd'Mr Murtratroyd. RAXGIORA. Private T. I>. Good, son of Mr E. R, Good, Rangiora, who lett with the 4th Reinforcements, returned homo yesterday invalided. Private Good oaw servico on Gallipoli, and since then has been engaged in military work in England. Tho monthly meeting of tno Ilangiorn, School Committee was held last evenin"- Mr F. B. Lane presiding. It was decided that the Easter holidavs bo from March 29th to April 2nd. It -vas agreed at the next meeting to compile a complete roll of honour tor the selirol. The headmaster reported that the average attendance was 286 out or a roll of 311. , The tennis tournament, which nas been in progress for some time in connexion with the Rangiora Tennis Club, came to an end last evening, when tho finals resulted in Miss E. Scott and I'. B Glasgow (owe 40) beating Miss M. Walker and 11. Pratt. The prizes for the competition were given by Mr ana Mrs H. D. van Asch A progressive croquet tournament was held, yesterday afternoon for prizes given by Miss J. Mackenzie. The winners were Mrs J. Golding and H. Chappell, the consolation prizes going to Mrs Springer and A. Golding.

HALSWKLL. The Hall Committee lield a euchre piirtv and dance in the hall on Saturday 'evening. There tvas a Rood attendance. Miss Fitzgerald and Mr McGarry were the winners, while the consolation prizes fell to Mr Trevor Legg and Miss Iv.v Sullivan. Dancing was kept up till midnight. The Vestry and Parish Council of St. Mary's Anglican Church mot at .lio viearngo on Wednesday. .Letters from Bishop Julius relative to the proposed change in tlio system of church voting wcro°road »nd left open for discussion at tlie nnnnal meeting of parishioners. Four members of the vestry were appointed to receive subscriptions t;I March 31st. the close of the financial church yon r. AKAROA. Tho Borough Council i.s making an effort to induce the Government to send its official cinoina operator to Akaroa. .i_i.fi Tho heavy southerly gale that roilowed tho boisterous not '-eastcr at the beginning of the week, raged with- unabated force throughout Wednesday, and well on into Thursday morning. Up till the middlo of tho afternoon heavv rain fell. It is seldom that such'a high soa is seen running up tho harbour. The oil-launches and fish-ing-boats strained heavily at thoir moorings. In somo cases extra, anchors were put out. Fortunately, all lines held, and no drifting boats were reported. The Government training ship, Amokura, which had sought shelter on Monday from a howling nor'-eastcr, ventured out to sea on Weflnosdav morning, but returned ft few hours* later. Outside a tremendous sea and roaring southerly made things distinctly • unpleasant for the boys aboard. Apart from the damage dono to fruit trees, fences, unstable roofs, toleDhone and telegraph wires, one or two" narrow escapes are reported. At the height of the' gale, for instance, a sheet of corrugated iron, flying from n dismantled roof, passed just over the head of a citizen struggling along the main street.

THE GERALDINE DISTRICTS. A period cf stormy weathor began on Aionaay night, wneii rain fell 'veiy heavily over tho (icraldme districts anU continued until late on Tuesday atternoon. by which time many ot the creeks and smaller rivers were running down in high fresh. In some places the flood waters overflowed tho uanks on to the adjoining roads and meadows, but 111 spn.c of renewed showers the fresh subsided quickly, and on Wednesday a strong westerly wind served most usefully in drying the saturated country. At the moment the outlook appears to bo more settled, aud it is this may prove to be the case, as much of tho corn land is already in u very wet condition, and any long delay in the preparation of the ground for the autumn sowing might cause the loss of the season. During the last few days most of the ploughing teams have been standing idle, and a great deal remains to be done towards readying things for the next wheat crop. According to general reports tho shipowners have little fault to find with the present season, and one may travel almost anywhere through tho districts between the Rangitata and Opihi rivers, nnd seldom seo a barelooking paddock or grass land that is not covered with a plentiful supply of feed. Apparently there is no foar of tho stock being on short commons during the winter, as in recent years, while tho turnip crops almost everywhero promise well, and are still making steady progress. The swedes have generally done well, and in the country near the hills the root crops are better than thoy have been for several years. Tn places where attempts have been made to gather a second hay-harvest, dpcrations have been greatly impeded by the bad weather, and it is now unlikely they will be successful, as was hoped. A large acreage had been set apart for tho purpose of clover soed, but though.'the growth of these crops has gone ahead in a promising fashion, they will Drove more dlfficut to harvest than in ordinary seasons, and iu a number of cases it is reported that the heads contain scarcely any seed. One reason given for this unfortunate result is the noticeable absence of the bees which ordinarily frequent the clover fields. While the bumble bee seems almost to have disappeared from the country, the mason bee, or wasp, has reappeared in great numbers, and their so-called nests are to bo found in all sorts of strange places; for instance. in the handle of a frying-pan T?hich had been thrown aside in an old ched.

Eridently, in the near future, some tronblo will be experienced in keeping down the numbers of rabbits which nowadays are to lie soon along most of the up-country roadsides, arid in many places -where .a yuar or two ago they were quite unknown. It has beeii suggested that they should be trapped and frozen in large quantities, ■when a cargo mighty be sent to England at any opportunity.