Local and General News.

Marlborough Express, Volume LVI, Issue 140, 21 June 1922, Page 4

Local and General News.

To-day is the shortest day. Eight degrees of frost were rcgistered last night. Sevcral English motor-cars oonsigned to Auckland found a resting placo with the Wiltshire.

A social evening, to bid farewell to Mr and Mrs J. A. McKay, will be held in the Oddf ellows ' Hall, Renwick, on Saturday evening.

Tenders for tlie purchase of the burnt coiriigated and bar iron, bricks, etc., ou the school site at Tua Marina, will be received until noon, June 28th. A Wellington Fress Association telegram states that the football matches on Saturday yiekled £175 for charities, tlioueh the dhv was wet.

The Kaituna Rifle Club will liold their annual ball and presentation of prif.es in tbe Gibsontown Hall, on Friilay, July 7th. Opossums are reported to be fairly numerous in ihe Wanganui' district, and an opc-n season has been gazcfted' for thc rnonth of Jnly.

When his vessel passed White Island last week, Gapt. T'. Stephens,. of the steamer Huanui,, rtetexl that the island was showing considerable activity. Grent volu mes of steam wero rising and lie obscrvcd a second large vent on tlie- island. 100 maids' and girls' grey all wool flannel f rocks, eizes iSin to 33in. small sizes 11s 6(1 ; 1 arge sizes 13s 6d. Thomas's sale, Sample Rooms. — Advt.

A farmer from Pongaroa went to Pahiatua last week to do some business. Intiirmting that hc decided to ccase a certain subscription, as he had sold out, thc reportcr askcd him who was the ingoing man. "Oh, nobody sells out these times ; thc owner is going back on the place, ' ' was the reply, which was quite understood.

Miss Rosina Buckman was heartily welcomed .at Nelson ycstorday afternoon. Tlie spcakers were his Worship the Mavor (Mr W. Lock), the Hon. W. W. Snodgrasfc, Sir John Salmond, and tlie Mayor of Blenheim (Mr E. S. Parker). Mr Parker said that Blenheim -was looking forward to welconiing its own daughter, and would give hcr a rousing reception on Thursday.

Th© tonnagc of eargo handled at Greymoutli for the four months ended April 1922, was 167,900, the fourtli hi,ghest in the Dominion,

The weather in tlie Strait was so rough on Saturday that the Wellington fishing boats, owned by Italians, put into Picton H&rbor for 'shelter and provisions.

The gold rush fcvep' as growing in Taumarunui, ,and rumors. are current that a number of citixens besides visitors are prospecting i» the back couutry in pursuit of the elusivc; mititai.

''After the slump oame 'I got. as much — I mlght .say moi-e— work from three men ttum I had previously ob- , tained from. five," said a county en- r gineer when giving evidence in the Supreme Court in Paliperston. As a result of a recent fresh in the Waimata, River, says the Gisborne Times, the Gisborne Harbor is in a wrorse state than it has ever pareviously been . in. thc history of the board, and from all accounts there apipears to be but little hope of effecting. an improvement.

Every shag in the district means the destruotion of about 1000 fisli. a year, stated the ehairman of the Timaru Acclimatisation Society. He asked members- to shoot shags w'henever possible. The Society 's Counoil intended to do their utmost to reduce these enemies of trout., and lie asked members to co-operate to the best of their ability. On the authority of the late Mr George Hogben. and, Dr Adams, Gov— ernment Sesimologist, it is stated that whilo some 1800 earthquakes have bean recorded as having origins in or near New Zealand^ thei'e lias^ been sinoe the great Wellington earthqjoake of 1855, "no shock in the New Zealand region pi'oimr which has at all approaehed; the destructive phase."

To run a special train betweem Ward and' Blenheim aiu Saturday next in connection with the- Town v. Country football matcli, the Railway Department sought a guarantee of £35 from the Marlborough Rngby The Uhion at its; meeting, this week: decided' that it could., not risk such a sum and lias let the mattcr of providing transport for the Awatere; EuG'bvitcs dron.

Tkroe players and one referee were takcn to hospital as a result of accidents at Saturday's Rugby football matches in Christchurch. Noue of them is in a serious condition. P. Saxby, of the ' Yarsity A tenm,, received a kick in the back. R. Ford (Merivale) sustained injuries- to hisknee. A. J. Masson (Merivale) had his right leg injured. D. Barrett, who referecd the Sydenham- Lyttelton v. Albion mateh, licked his right knce.

When Miss Rosina Buckman stc-p-ped off tbe gangway of the steamer at Picton on Monday evening, (,relates the Press) one of the conceid pa.i'ty remarkedf ' 'Madame^. onee mere you stand upon your beloved native spik" The talented lady mmt have considered the soil of lier ehildhood had assumed a fairly solid foundation, for there is not mueh spring about the concrete whrrf.

At the half-yearly meeting of thcr Blenheim Mi'stietoe Lod'ge, the following officers wero 'clectcd: A.D., Bro. W. Longman ; V.A., Bro. A. Neal; sccretary, Bro. C. P. C'uIIif ord ; treasuTer, Brov F. Jackson; M.S., Bro. F. Bradley; Arch Druid bards, Bros. E. Browne and V. Holdaway; V.A. bards, Bros. H. Register and Squires; Inner guard, Bro. A. R. Thomson; outer guard, Bro. McHugh. D.P. Bro. P. Bradley, who was again nomi'n'ated for the position of District Prosid'cnt, i'nstallcd the officers, for which he Tceeived a heartv vole of thanksv

E'xception was taken by tlie Auckland' Presbytery to the opinion expresscd by Mr Massey as to war clouds on the horizon dpring his speeeh at West Eyreton. Thc followifrg motion wras carried unanimously: ' ' That the Presbytery affirms its belief in tlie League of Nations and the method of internationnl conference as means of preserving the world 's peace. It recalls that New New Zealand, through its Primc Mlnister, is one of the signatories to the Covenant of the League, and urgcs that statesman, instead of predicting further war, to take the lead in seefeing to make thc League an efficient instrument of peace. ' '

I he local season of coneerts hv Miss Rosina Buckman and Mr Alaurice D'Oisly promises to be exceotionally suceqssful. There was a. substantial booking of seats at Thomson's yester- . day, 520 seats being reserved during the day. There was a keen demand for seats again to-day, and it seems likelv that the greater part of the dress eircle and stalls seating will be reserved when the plan closes for tomorrou" night 's concert. Good seats for botli nights are still available. Miss Buckman and lier party will arrive in Blenheim to-morrow aft-er-iioon and they will be accorded a civic reception in the Town Hall oommeneing at 3.30. A large attenda.nee of citizens would he a happy compliment to the distinguished visitors. Tlie proceedings will neeessarily be brief and will embrnee selections by the Retumed Soldiers' Orchestra . song by Miss Frances Morrison, and short addressos of welcome.

There was another large audience at His Majesty's Theatre t nigjtt, when tbe Nelson amateurs goncluded their Blenheim season of "A Country Girl. ' ' The eomedy went with a rnuelt better swing than on the opening night. .From the outset the ehorus settkd down to work, and the openiiig ehorus went exceedingly well. From this on there was nothing to cavil at in the' ehoral part of the production. The fmal'e to the ffrst act waa .again given with plenty of flre, and a popular seena was t&e graceful minuet in the sccond acft,. The good ehorus work had the offecfc of bracing the pribicipais, and! altogethcr tlie piee'e* was a gfeat improvenient on- the preeeding night 's1 diow. Mi? Tom Pollani and the Nelson Society have added another production to their li'sf of triumphs. Its second concert of the season was given by the Ketumed Soldiei-s' Orchestra in the Town Hall on Sunday evening, and proved quite as . successf ul as its predecessor. The attendance was- very faiar,, ihe hall being comfortably i'ulL It was considered satisfaCfoiy in vi'ew of the strong cou n ter-attractions dnring the week 7 The orchestra was wellbalanced and showed an improvement on the previous concert. .No very iinportant 'rearrangements had taken place m: tlie combiivation, exeept that Mr C. T. Cimino played a vioHa which gave an added tono to the staffng department. Perhaps the rnost difficult composition tlie, orchestra has yet attcTnptcd was. ." Asqrodgus, ' r but it was attaeked with aoility and proved very sati'sfying. The vocalist* were Mrs J. R. IMacQueen, .Miss Eileen Connolly,. and Mr C. PlUm, each meeting with a; popular i'@c6ption. The first-mentibned, .who. sang Saunderson 5s "Before the Dawn, " vvi'tft "I am longing for the Spring ' ' as an encoro nunxber, made lier* ffrst appearance before a Ble'nhciin audi'ence. She has been proniiinent in the concert and' operatic circles of Auekland, and lier ffne soprand will be an acquisition to the town. The aecompanimcnts were played' by Mrs Mills, for Miss Connolly; and' MTir S'caretlebury, for Mrs MacQUeen' and Mr P'lum.