A few business people are turning their eyes to Invercargill as a promising area for development. A short time ago two Dunedin business men purchased a block of land west of Invercargill for subdivision - an area one-tenth larger than the town of Oamaru.
At present, workmen are employed in improving the approaches, forming roads, etc. Their plans embrace tramway facilities through the centre of this area, thus opening up Invercargill's only marine suburb.
Operations will not be pushed until the war is over, but sufficient development will be done to show the bonafide intentions of the parties.
It is intended to create a number of small homestead areas of five and ten acres each, and to sell these on small deposits and easy terms of payment.
As these small areas will be within 15 minutes of the wharves and railway station at Bluff, they will give the casual worker or returned soldier a chance to supplement his incomes by the raising of poultry, dairy produce, bee-keeping, strawberry-growing, etc.,
Several residential sites of a quarter of an acre and upwards will be provided later. In addition to this, the Rosedale Woollen Mills, so long lying idle, have been acquired by a Dunedin syndicate.
It is expected that the spinning of yarns will be started in the near future, to be followed later by other departments. Dunedin capital is finding its way down in additional channels.
•A somewhat sensational incident took place at Evans Bay, Wellington, on Sunday. It appears that a boy of six, named Raymond Roberts, son of Mr Arthur Roberts, manager of the Victoria Laundry, accompanied by his mother and aunt (Mrs Juriss), were spending the day in a little cove midway between the patent slip and Oriental bay.
The boy went in for a swim among rocks, and was coming out of the water, when he was observed by his aunt to stagger. Thinking he had merely slipped on the rock, the ladies did not take any notice of him until a shriek told them that something was amiss.
Arriving on the spot, they were horrified to see that the boy had been seized by a large octopus. Then began a thrilling fight for the boy's life, the ladies pulling their utmost, and the octopus determined not to let go of its victim. Finally the boy was got out, and by that time several men had arrived on the scene.
One of them despatched the octopus with a sheath knife, and on being measured on the beach it was found to be nearly eight feet from tip to tip. Had the octopus been able to get a firm grip on the rocks, it is doubtful if the boy could have been saved.
•The completion of a new road connecting the Otago Peninsula high road with the Portobello Beach road at a point about a mile below Macandrew's Bay was the occasion of a recent official inspection by Messrs J. Fairbairn (chairman of the Peninsula Road Board), H. V. Fulton (chairman of the Portobello Road Board), A. Johnston (chairman of works for the subdivision), and C. Macandrew (clerk of the Portobello Road Board, R. S. Allan (engineer), and Mr Stevenson (contractor for the work).
This road, which is of an easy gradient for motor and horse traffic, when thoroughly consolidated will afford visitors to Dunedin an opportunity of seeing the splendid views which are obtained from the Otago Peninsula by the high road and enable the return journey to be made by the lower Beach road, within about one hour from the time of departure from Dunedin.
When this new route is finally completed it will be an asset to this city, and will provide a short and attractive trip to visitors.
•Manly, the seaside resort of Sydney people, was raided recently by an army of spiders. They came in aeroplanes - flying webs which became anchored to trees, fences, and telegraph wires. Some of these webs were only a few inches long; others ran to yards.
The invaders were so small as to be hardly distinguishable by the eye. It is not known where they came from but students of natural history are agreed that on occasion these spiders travel through the air some hundreds of miles before their webs come to earth.
They apparently have no control of their descent, for thousands fell into the ocean continguous to the town, while fishermen operating in boats in the vicinity returned covered with both spiders and webs.
- ODT, 2.2.1917.
COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
