LATE LOCALS.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 February 1922, Page 3

LATE LOCALS.

, At the meeting of the Hokitika Beautifying Association to be held on Wed* nesday night an important proposal for future working will be laid before the members. > Rev Mullineux, controller of St 1 Barnahas Hostels in Northern France, will be in Hokitika to-morrow and will be pleased to meet relatives of dej ceased soldiers and will make arrangej ments to take photos of graves when I he goes back to France. i Ford Cars lead the way as usual. J Prices 1 are down and within the reach |of all. Minimum prices,, Runabout, ; £213; Touring, £225, any color, other J than black £5 extra, all f.o.b. Welling- | | ton. We sell Fords only and genuine ! | Ford parts. Beware of imitations.— ■ Mark Sprot and Co., Ford West Coast Dealers, Greymouth,—Actvt. 1 We regret to record the death of an- , other old pioneer, Mr John Boyle of Arahura Road passing away this morning at the residence of his niece, Mrs 'S. Honey of Arahura Road. The deceased for many years was a dairyman ‘ . nea r the Cemetery Hill and later was : licensee of the Newcastle Hotel. Of late years he has resided quietly with his relatives. His wife predeceased him •' a number of years ago. He was a na- j , tive of County Derry, Ireland, and 75 ; years of age. He leaves a number of ’ nephews and nieces to mourn their loss, j | The funeral takes place on Thursday afternoon. i j According to Mr A. Y. Gowen, the i wealthy American yachtsman who I : reached Sydney a few days ago in the j : mot Or-yacht Speejacks, on an adveil- : turous roundj-jthe-world vjoyage, deer , are as great a pest in New Caledonia ; as Rabbits in Australia. While the ; Speejacks was at Noumea undergoing | repairs to damage caused by an island hurricane, Mr Gowen and several mem- j bers of his party set out on a hunting | j expedition. “I have hunted deer in a | good many places,” said Mr Gowen, ! “and counted it rather good going if I got a shot at two or three animals i during the course of a day. But over in New Caledonia we must have seen between 800 and 1000, and we were not out for any great length of time. They were in herds of from 50 to 200 each. We had taken a machine-gun from the boat witli us, and in one spray of bullets bagged more than we could get away. We gave up shooting then because there was nothing of j sport in it. But to the people on the { island the killing off o'f deer is not a question of sport, but of absolute ne- j cessity. They easily out-numbor ~ the ; cattle, and the farmers have been com- 1 pelled to build ' high feiices—high j enough to keep their stock in and the deer out—to save their grass. To such ! an extent have the deer become a pest on the island that the authorities pay a ( bounty for every beast that is killed.