Snow-bound sheep in peril

Runholders on the higher levels in the Kingston district, where it is estimated that between 80,000 to 100,000 sheep were snowed in as the result of the heavy fall experienced some weeks ago, have apparently not yet succeeded in getting their sheep down to the lower levels. As in a number of cases the sheep have been snowed in for almost five weeks the position now must be becoming extremely serious. Mr J.E. Winsloe (secretary of the Southland Expansion League), who returned to Invercargill on Sunday evening after making two or three unsuccessful attempts to reach Kingston from Lumsden by car, stated that up till the present there has been no sign of a thaw. On some of the sun faces the snow was lying to a depth of 3 to 4 feet and was frozen hard. The weather had been particularly frosty while there was insufficient heat from the sun to set up a thaw. Many old settlers in the district had stated that the conditions were the worst they had experienced for very many years. The mortality among the sheep was bound to be very heavy. The farmers in the Waikaia district were in a similar plight, and so far he had heard of only one settler there who had managed to get his sheep down to the lower level.

A highly-hyphenated MP
Our legislators in New Zealand have not aspired to the luxury of hyphenated names. Or, at least, hardly ever. Parliament has been honoured with the presence of only three possessors of double surnames. One of them was sent there by a Dunedin constituency. He sat in three Parliaments representing as many different electorates. As plain James Benn Bradshaw he occupied a seat from 1866 to 1875. Then, after an interval of nine years, he re-entered Parliament as member for Dunedin Central with the name of James Benn Bradshaigh-Bradshaw. He did not live long to enjoy the possession either of his new seat in Parliament or of his expanded name. His services in connection with the liberalisation of the factory laws are gratefully acknowledged by a memorial statue in the Northern Cemetery.

About $9500 in today’s money
Oamaru has reason to be proud of its thriftiness inasmuch as it has a larger average amount to its credit per depositor in the Post Office Savings Bank than any other place in New Zealand. The average amount is £79 16s 1d.  — ODT, 25.7.1923