The treatment of the soil in this semi-arid district in itself requires a considerable amount of skill and judgment, and it is pleasing to see the settlers already realising the great advantages of proper cultivation. The tomato plants on several of the orchard farms are looking very well; the fruit is setting nicely and beginning to ripen. The works at Kawarau Gorge are beginning to assume shape. A good deal of solid work has been put in by the contractors; the workmen, under Foreman J. Robertson, have made satisfactory headway; the excavations for the power house are completed, and the concrete work for draft tubes and the excavations for anchorages for river crossings are also completed. The uprising main is now being placed in position, having been connected with the main distributing channel and taken down as far as the Kawarau road. In the new year the work of erecting the power house will be put in hand. This and the setting up of the machinery, most of which is now upon the site, will be done by day labour.
• Mr Philip Gibbs writes: The Germans, anxious to spend Christmas peacefully, did not seek trouble. Apart from a few raids and artillery duels, from Ypres to the Somme the Tommies listened to the German carol concerts, but kept their rifles ready in the event of raids. The Germans occasionally invited a truce, vainly shouting, "Won’t you come over, Tommy dear?"
Our men, through their periscopes, watched the Germans baling water from the trenches, crawling from under falling parapets, and struggling up to their necks in shell holes full of ice-cold water. At some points the troops exchanged news, throwing cigar boxes containing letters. Drying rooms, warmed by a charcoal stove, are the latest British preventive for trench feet. The troops holding the trenches cheerfully waited on Boxing Day for the Christmas dinner, thus enabling their more fortunate comrades to enjoy comfortable surroundings in the rear.
• The heavy formation work in the construction of the Clyde-Cromwell railway is practically completed. The bridge at Nine Mile Creek is now in hand, and the rails are laid to this point. When the bridge has been completed the remainder of the work will be fairly free from difficulty. It is anticipated at Cromwell that the last four miles to complete the rail will be pushed on as expeditiously as possible in order to make the line revenue-producing.
A party of fishermen and others from the Pleasant Point district organised an eel drive, and 266 eels were captured. These will be frozen and sent Home for the benefit of the soldiers in the hospitals in England (says the Timaru Post). — ODT, 31.12.1916.
• COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
