WEST COAST NOTES.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17608, 10 November 1922, Page 6

WEST COAST NOTES.

REWANUI RAILWAY BLOCKED.

(SPJJCIAL TO "THE PRESS.") GREYMOUTH, November 9. A heavy slip occurred during the night about half a mile on the Bewanui side of Duuollie, totally blocking the railway line. Trains from Greymouth to Itewanui were unable to run beyond Ihinollie, and owing to the extent of the slip the Railway Department does not anticipate that the line will be clear for tralhc before Saturday at the earliest. A gang was to-day busily engaged in clearing the track. * The State mine was idle yesterday and to-day, the reason given being the shortage of shipping. The mine was to have reopened to-morrow, but resumption will not be possible until the slip on the Itewanui railway line has been cleared. Personal. Mr M. Malone, headmaster of the Taylorville school, has been appointed headmaster of the Runanga school. Mr Malone lias been in Bruhnerton for several years ; and has been prominent in local affairs. Obituary. Mrs Martha Foley, a resident of Westbrook for the past 40 years, died there this morning. Deceased conducted an accommodation house, but had been in ill health for 12 months. Her husband died many years ago. She leaves a family of three sons and two daughters. The funeral takes place on Saturday. Dredging Successes. Hokitika is losing any doubts it may have had concerning the wisdom of the Rimu Flat dredging operations, and! an unbroken line of heaped tailings over half a, mile in extent is evidence! of the energy in Vhich the operations have been carried on during the past year. There have bsen three slifts going c?ntinuouslv each day, and? the wages bill hna helped to give local tradesmen choerful countenances. The officials ot th© company are reticent regarding the returns in gold, but it is a very wideopen "secret 1 ' that the investment haa proved remunerative. The company holds a large area of country, which it is estimated will take forty years to work, so that in this dredging enterprise there is something akin to a permanent industry for a generation at least. There are other tracts of country within a short radius of the present field, where similar dredges c n operate with equal financial success. The. deeper groundi of Kanieri Flat will, it is not unlikely, be operated by an adaptation of a like dredging plant well within a decade It is understocd that the result of tliis month's dredging will decide the company in rei:peot to the larger supply of electric puwer, w;hiHi will be ' indispensable to the second and larger dredge' it is (contemplated' placing on the ground, A fairly substantial gold yield is looked for this month as a result of the preliminary prospecting of the ground ahead of the» dredgo. It is proposed to install a much-improved engineering plant in connexion with constructional and repair work. ... Helping Miners' CMdren. The Hon. W. H. Molntyre has been negotiating with the Minister for Education with a view to having erected at Millerton a manual training schoolroom which "would serve the requirement* of children attending Millerton and Stockton Schools, and obviate the need for making a long journey to "Westpnrt every fortnight,. Knowing the financial position of the Government, Mr MeIntyre approached the Westport Coal Company for financial assistance, and that company has agreed to contribute £2oo towards this worthy object. 'The "VVpistport Coal offer has been placed before ihe Government, and Mr Mclntyre hopes to receive a reply at an early date. • ' • ■ ■