Reunions in the south

The old church being demolished to make way for the new St Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin. - Otago...
The old church being demolished to make way for the new St Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin. - Otago Witness, 24.2.1915.
For 12 years now the pioneers of the Bruce and Clutha districts have met together in regular annual reunions to revive old friendships and old memories and to receive honour at the hands of the younger generation for which they have done so much.

These reunions are held alternately at Milton and at Balclutha, and yesterday Milton was the scene of the gathering for the sixth time.

These occasions always give cause for lamenting the gradual thinning out of the hardy pioneer ranks, and every year the gaps in the lines grow more conspicuous.

Few, indeed, remain now who knew Otago in the fifties; and yet, on the other hand, when all the circumstances are considered, it is not only a real pleasure but a great surprise to see how many of these stalwart old people can find their way to an early settlers' reunion and keenly enjoy all the entertainment arranged for them.

The trains to Milton yesterday morning brought them and their friends and relatives from every direction, and by the middle of the afternoon there were well over 1000 people on the ground.

Over 70 were there who knew Otago before 1865, and two - Mr John Callender and Mr D. Dalziel - of the original Philip Laing passengers.

The weather was dull and warm, and the Milton showground, with its capacious buildings and sheltering trees, made an exceedingly pleasant meeting place.

A considerable number of motor cars secured for the occasion by the local committee were kept busy running visitors out to the grounds, where tea and a generous provision of sandwiches, cakes, dainties, and fruit were to be had at any time from 10 o'clock onwards.

• The Otago Acclimatisation Society has recommended his Excellency the Governor that the season for red deer shooting should be the same as last year - from April 1 to May 20, both days inclusive - and that the season for fallow deer should extend from April 10 to May 15, both days inclusive.

Four red deer stags are allowed to be shot or two fallow deer bucks.

No red deer stag shall be killed carrying antlers with less than 10 points, and no fallow deer buck shall be killed carrying antlers with less than 14 points, or a palmate of less than four inches.

No doe, hind, or fawn shall be taken or killed on any pretext whatever, except under the written authority of the council of the society, for the purpose of culling the herds of red and fallow deer.

The provisions as to deer ''tags'' remain as before.

The penalty for a breach of any of the regulations is an amount not exceeding 20.

• Nugget Bay fishermen are now utilising the tongue of the groper, said to be a great Maori delicacy, as an article of sale (says the Balclutha Free Press).

Hitherto the tongue has been cast away with the head; but it may be that the increased demand for fish, consequent upon the ''war'' prices ruling for meat; has caused the fishermen to utilise what in the past has been wasted.

The tongue is said to be really an epicurean morsel.

• An amusing episode occurred at the Pahiatua show (says the Herald).

The judge of one of the sheep classes drew the attention of the class steward, who is a prominent breeder, to certain shortcomings in the shearing of the sheep.

The judge remarked that he would like to send the owner of the sheep a pair of shears.

Subsequently, he inquired from some bystanders who was the owner of the sheep, and he was startled to learn that they belonged to the steward to whom he had been speaking. - ODT, 25.2.1915.

 


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