Country News

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 39, 22 December 1894, Page 14

Country News

(From our own. Correspondents.) ♦ OREPUKI. Since my last we have had a lot of very dry weather, which, threatened to make the Xmas washings anything but satisfactory. However, the late rain has freshened up the races a bit, and hopes for the holidays are brighter. As Xmas approaches people are beginning to discuss what they will do during the holidays and where they will go. I fancy a good many will make for Invercargill and the Bluff, while for those who stay at home there will be a grand picnic at the Waiau and a meeting on New Year’s Day. The races will be for local horses only, but the Alton district is considered local, and a few very good horses from that part will be competitors, so a good day’s sport may be looked for. The Orepuki Cricket Club have played two matches this season and have been victorious in both, viz., Otautau and Round Hill, each being beaten by an innings. The-bush-clearers have had a fine chance, of -which they have taken full advantage, and have got large areas well burnt. The settlers west of Waiau have had a pay, and visited Orepuki when, on being questioned, they expressed themselves as highly satisfied with the work and wages earned, and look upon the State farm system as perfection itself; and there is no doubt that if they are the right stamp of men they will do well and make good homes for themselves. Apropos of the Waiau, I am told that the mouth at high water is actually lined with trout, some of them regular boomers, but they all disappear at ebb tide. The Waiau is a river that cannot be fished in the orthodox manner, by the disciples of the “ gentle Izaak,” so that this immense quantity of tine fish is—as far as a food supply is concerned —quite useless, and the settlers may look at them and wish for them, but that is all. The idea here is that rivers like the Waiau should be exempted from the fishing laws, and people allowed to catch them as best they can. The bodies of the unfortunate men recently drowned have not turned up, and most likely never will. There are too many sharks in the hay. In Saturday’s issue you will be sending your Xmas greetings broadcast over the land. In anticipation permit your correspondent to reciprocate, and wish the proprietors and staff of the Cross a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.