Mr. P. Mills, C.P.S., has kindly supplied us with the following vital statistics for the quarter ended 31^st Dec., 1924: – Births – males 14, females 18, total 32; deaths – males 4, females 3, total 7; marriages 1.

The Shire Council has been notified by the L.G. Dept. that the embargo placed upon the growing of opium poppy does not extend to such varieties of poppy as Iceland poppy, Shirley poppy etc., commonly grown in house gardens.

From a parcel sent us by Mr. S. Louttit during the week, we sampled some excellent potatoes, the flavour of which was particularly good. The tubers, many of which were 2lbs weight, were grown on virgin soil on the donor’s property at Braemar.

Shire President Flood is to be complemented on the improvements that have been made in Page Street. The Shire Hall has been re-painted and a neat fence erected on each side of the building, the work of which does credit to the contractor, Mr. P. Lynch.

Mr. H. R. McWilliam is endeavoring to have direct telephone connection between Tuross and Moruya.

Quite a gloom was cast over the district on Saturday night when it became known that Mrs. Caroline Shottin, widow of the late Mr. John Shottin, had died suddenly at her week-end residence at Gundary. Only that afternoon Mrs. Shottin was driven into town by her daughter, Mrs. A. Russell, with whom she lived at “Bonnie Doon,” Kiora. After doing some shopping Mrs. Shottin returned to Gundary, where she was to remain until next morning in order to go to church. In the evening, Miss Smith, a neighbour, went across to visit Mr. Shottin, but on entering the house was shocked to find her lying in a pool of blood. Drs. Quilter and Cutler were immediately sent for, but on examination pronounced that life had been extinct for about an hour. The unfortunate lady had evidently fallen, striking her head in the action (which accounted for the blood). Heart failure was the cause of death. Mrs. Shottin, who was the daughter of the late Mr. Jacob Luck, was a native of the district, and had lived hereabouts all her life, where she was held in great respect for her many sterling qualities of heart and mind. … She was in her younger days an excellent horsewoman, and rarely entered a show ring without securing the coveted blue ribbon. Mrs. Shottin was 78 years of age. Her husband pre-deceased her over 30 years ago, and her only son Jacob about 8 years. Deceased leaves only one daughter, Mrs. A. Russell, to whom sympathy has been extended from all quarters in the irreparable loss of a loving and devoted mother.

Extracted from the Moruya Examiner by the Moruya and District Historical Society Inc