When the residents of Waimarino arose one morning, however, they found that the whole of the north side of Ngauruhoe and the shoulder of Tongariro were black, owing to a discharge of scoria ash during an eruption on the preceding night. Again, on Friday week, at about 4.30 p.m., Ngauruhoe sent up another great shot, which continued until nearly dark. This drifted over the line of the previous deposit, the wind being in the same direction. At the beginning of last week, when Mr Cullen left the district, the portion of the mountain affected was still black. The lip of Ngauruhoe, on the south and south-eastern sides, was also very much serrated and had fallen in.
Parents too indulgent
Five boys appeared before the Christchurch Juvenile Court charged with a series of burglaries. One was committed to the Weraroa Training Farm, and the others were ordered to come up and be dealt with when called upon and in addition to report weekly to the probation officer for two years, and attend no picture shows. Mr S. E. M'Carthy, S.M., speaking of the causes of juvenile crime in the city, said that one cause that was pre-eminent was the absence of parental control. Some children were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased. Their parents were far too indulgent, and he had no doubt that, if a good example were set by parents, it would have had a beneficial effect on the children. Lack of good home training was the cause of a lot of the juvenile crimes committed. He also believed that children should not be allowed to go to the picture shows so much as they were. Some of the films displayed were not fit for children, and a good many simply showed an intelligent child how to commit a crime.
Siberian honour for Otago man
At a meeting held at Bodaibo, the centre of the North-East Siberian mining industry, in November, the population honoured Mr Edward H. Watson, M.I.M.M., at one time well known on the Otago goldfields, by electing him as president of the Miners' Federation and Board of Control for the Lena and Vitim districts. There are about 21,000 men employed on this field, the Lena goldfields (partly an English undertaking) being the largest employers, while Messrs Wm. H. Muller and Co., of London and the Hague, for whom Mr Watson has been manager for some years, are the next in importance.
Prisoners reclaim estuary
It is a number of years since Mr M. Hawkins, then gaoler at Invercargill Reformatory, and now Deputy Inspector of Prisons, introduced a comprehensive scheme of reclaiming a large portion of the New River Estuary by prison labour.
Despite the forebodings of pessimists, the work was begun. Since then, approximately 2650 acres of land has been reclaimed, and the work is still going on. Of the area reclaimed 2000 acres is Invercargill Corporation property
