The weather, which had been wet all the week, cleared yesterday afternoon, and this morning broke fine and sunny. The regatta was held in the Frankton arm of the lake, as a light breeze which was blowing made Qucenstown Bay unsuitable for the earlier events. The water was a little choppy, but in the afternoon a good surface was presented.
Having to row against the breeze made it impossible for competitors to record good times in the earlier part of the day.
The absence of the Otago Rowing Club and the Port Chalmers Club was much felt, as both have hitherto been represented since the inception of this popular local aquatic carnival.
The attendance of the public was good in spite of the change of venue, and the spectators had a splendid position on the slopes overlooking the arm.
Close on 700 excursionists arrived from Southland by special steamer at one o'clock, and a good proportion attended the regatta.
Hang in there, farmers told
"I want to say a few words to those soldier settlers who are becoming disheartened owing to the poor returns they are receiving from their farms," said Mr H.D. McKellar, Commissioner, at a meeting of the Nelson Land Board.
"My advice to them is to ‘stick it out’. Their position is difficult, but they have been in even more difficult positions while on active service, and have won through, and I feel sure that if they display the same spirit in their present difficulties they need have no fear regarding the future.
"Prices of sheep, wool, and butterfat are rising, and the outlook generally is brighter than it was a few months ago. I am confident that the man who has sufficient tenacity of purpose to retain and work his property will become successfully established.
"The Lands and Survey Department as landlord, or mortgagee, are willing to help the man who is trying to help himself. Instalment payments can be postponed, and foreclosure is never considered in the case of a settler who is working his farm satisfactorily, and who shows that he is determined to succeed in spite of the obstacles that have to be surmounted.
"Every farm will ultimately be successfully worked by somebody, and I sincerely hope that the men now in position will retain their properties, survive the present time of adversity, and be rewarded by success."
Horse sense saves the day
The Auckland Star reports that a horse harnessed to a tradesman's cart stumbled and fell in Queen Street, pitching the driver over its head onto the hard roadway.
The man was a little stunned, and before he could recover himself, the horse had in a general way commenced to smash things up as it lay on the ground struggling to free itself.
With commendable pluck, a smartly dressed young woman grasped the situation, and getting hold of the horse's head and sitting on it, gave instructions to a few nervous men who had gathered how to free the horse from its predicament. Sometimes a movement from the prone horse scattered them quickly, much to her disgust.
She asked one young fellow to sit on the horse's head, and she would soon free the harness. "I wouldn't sit on its head for a fiver," said the young fellow. By this time the driver had come to himself, and the horse was soon got free.
"Thank you, Miss," he said. "You are worth six of those city chaps."
"Oh, I learnt to do that on my father's farm," she said, as she passed on, telling the young driver to bathe the horse’s injuries with plenty of hot water, and to put embrocation on the injured knee.
Eels marooned by tide
A strange phenomenon was seen not far from the sloping land adjacent to Shoal Bay, Devonport (says the Auckland Star).
The tide was an unusually high one, and for some reason hundreds of young eels swam near the edge of the water, swimming above land that as a rule is not covered by the tide.
After high water, when the tide commenced to recede, they did not want to go out with it, and scores of them commenced to wriggle about in the course seagrass and to make their way inland for fully six or seven yards.
Whether they were after food, or whether they had completely lost their bearings, it would be hard to tell.
— ODT, 17.4.1922
