WEST COAST NOTES

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17922, 16 November 1923, Page 11

WEST COAST NOTES

NELSON METHODIST SYNOD (special to "th* pbess.") GREYMOUTH, November 15. . The session of the Nelson District Synod was opened at St. Paul's Church, Greymouth, yesterday, the Bev. W. Greenslade (Blenheim) presiding. Those representing various circuits are:—Nelson: Mrs S. Leaper; Blenheim: Bev. "W. Greenslade, Bev. F. B. Lawrence, Mr Chas. White; Richmond: Rev. J. R. Nelson; Hokitika: Rev. J. F. Jack, Mr F. Oliver; Reef ton: Rev. H. Benny, Rev. "W. A. Watson; Westport: Rev. "W. B. Pickering; Greymouth: Rev. B. J. James, Mr C. N. Gunn, Mr I. Nelson; Motueka: Mr E. Wratt; Havelock: Mr F. Bateup, Mrs Mitchell; Murchison: Mr R. T. 11. Wearne, Mr J. Bradbury; Denuiston-Granity: Mr Moses Ayrton; Wakefield: Mr C. C. Hoskin; Church Property: Mr W. D. Pike. At the pastoral session, the Rev. W. B. Pickering, fourth-year probationer, was unanimously X'assed iu his year, and recommended to Conference for ordination to full work of the ministry. The Revs. li. Benny, J. F. Jack, and E. W. Haines, B.A. (third, second, and first-year probationers respectively), were unanimously passed in their years. Reports on the circuit work of these brethren were very satisfactory. Two candidates for the ministry were unanimously received and recommended for acceptance by Conference—Messrs M. Ayrton and F. Bateup (both home missionaries). Two remaining home missionaries, Messrs C. C. Hoskin and R. T. H. Wearne, Avere also continued in their work. Conference is to be recommended to appoint an additional agent to assist during the ensuing year in carrying on the work in the Denniston, Granity, and Runanga home mission district, and also appoint either a married probationer or a married home missionary to work in the Picton district, in the Blenheim circuit. The following are circuits due to take married ministers next year, but recommended to be relieved for another year: —Motueka, Hokitika, and Reefton. The circuit debit balances totalled £327 2s lid, only one circuit being in ,tho position of reporting a credit. In view of tht? financial stringency occasioned in Denniston, Granity, and Runanga home mission district, by the hold up on the'Buller coalfield, it was decided to recommend circuits to. assist the station by means of a retiring collection, and to wire Home to the Mission Committee a request for asfiistj£lllC6 The afternoon session of the Nelson District Synod, was presided over by the Rev. W.- Greenslade (Blenheim). • After the presentation of the Teport of the Connexional Temperance: and Public Morals. Committee resolutions were .adopted (a) Opposing the proposals for Corporate-Control of the liquor trade on the ground that it involves the partnership of the. Government; (b) Advocating/abolition of the State Control issue in order to simplify the issues; (c) , Emphatically protesting against the jefforts being made by interested parties to introduce liquor licenses into the King Country in viola-, tion of the pact with the Maoris made in 1884> The Synod further opposed any. extension of the facilities for drinking.. The relation of the Church to sport was discussed, arising but of a request that the Synod should use its endeavour to prevent the secularising of Sunday. Mr Moses Ayrton (Runanga) asked whether-, .instead" of indiscriminately condemning' Sunday sport and amusement, the Church should not undertake ,the. duty of giving guidance to the community in the matter of their amusements and the occupation of their leisure hours. Reference was made to the prevalence of Sunday.sport on the West Coast. The chairman disclaimed the appelation of "wowser," but said the secu-' larisation of Sunday went to the very root of Christian life, and he attributed to it the lowered spiritual tone of the Church.

The numerical returns showed the church membership in the district to be 1601, an increase of 26; junior members 325, an increase of 72; communicants 1091, a decrease pi: 7; attendants at public worship 4634, an increase of 375; Sunday school scholars 1643, teachers 165, Bible classes,377. The Church Properties report showed that the current income of trusts totalled £2040 and expenditure £2115. The insurance on buildings totalled £l9 515 The. Synod adopted the Church Welfare Committee's recommendation, that competent instruction should be given, showing the results of Biblical research- to conform with the accepted discoveries of modern science. Slackness In Trade. Eetail trade is reported to be slack locally, the tunnel opening causing orders to be sent to Christchurch, and the mining stoppage meaning a losg of wages, being mostly blamed.' However, one prominent grocer is; convinced that matters will quickly adjust themselves, and he confidently expects a brisk Christmas. "There will be a good many people travelling to Christchurch," he declared, "and there will also be" an extraordinary number of visitors • from : other places. I expect a very busy time when the festive sea ; son commences, despite the strike and all other matters that are alarming so many of our nervous fellow-citizens." The retail drapers, he ;said, had experienced a quiet time lately, but that was a usual experience at this time of the year. Post and, Telegraphs. The postmaster at Hokitika states that the District Telegraph Engineer has now installed a quadruple* set of telegraph instruments at that office, which, permits two telegrams to be transmitted each way between Hokitika and Christchurch, or Hokitika and Greymouth simultaneously-on one wire. Ah additional telephone wire between Hokitika and Greymouth has also been provided, giving three direct trunk telephone lines without intermediate stations. These facilities will enable a large increase in telegraph and telephonic traffic to be handled. Greymouth Trotting Club. A transformation has been effected in the Trotting Club's new stand since the Spring Meeting. The completion of the roof has enabled the work to go forward despite wet weather, and the work of matchlining some of the large rooms is now nearly finished- About 20 men are now employed, the contractor depleting the numbers for a period to enable the other works in hand to bo proceeded with. Some of the fillingin work at the back of the stand has been done, and the turfing of a larger area for the. new birdcage is well forward. Special precautions ana being taken to ensure that surface water will not lie about. "When completed, the new grandstand will hold its own with many in use in much larger centres. Jackson's Bay. Bailors on the two little coastal vesi sels which occasionally visit Jackson' 3 Bay, in South Westland, are enthusiastic about the possibilities of the inlet as a deep-sea harbour. The bay, which is 200 miles south of Greymouth by water, is 16 miles across, and provides the only sheltered anchorage along the coast south of Hokitika. A port

wherein the largest vessels visiting the Dominion could be berthed with ease could be made by the construction of a I short breakwater. A few years ago an American company projected the expenditure of £500,000 to make a port ' and build a railway line to tap tho vast timber resources of the district, Dut the Government, was not favour- j able, and it appears likely that the ! virgin forests there will remain undisturbed for some years. Arnold Power Scheme. j _ The decision of the Harbour Board ! in connexion with Lake Brunner vrill have the effect of delaying any definite steps in of utilising the Arnold River in anv electrical scheme pending the report of the engineers on the possibilities of the port of Greymouth. The report on Laks Hochstetter will be in hand in a few days. Statements have been circulated that the Arnold River, in very dry seasons, has tended to become * very I sluggish, and to flow into Lake- Brunner, which is opposite to its usual course. Consequently those interested in the scheme have conducted investigations as to the truth of the statement. One resident of Moana, of 22 years' standing, avers, after crossing the river near the lake twice a day for nearly the whole of that period, that the Arnold has never been less than twelve feet deep, and the average depth at the lake, he states, is 15 feet. Timber Trade. The port, which has been fairly slack of late, should be brightened up by the arrival of the Coolana to-morrow evening from Lyttelton. This vessel divides with the Omana the honour of bting the largest vessel entering the port. This is the second visit of the Coolana, she having taken a load of timber in May, 1922. On this occasion she will load timber for Melbourne. The Waipori is due to-morrow to load 1,000,000 feet of timber for Australia, Greymouth, or Lyttelton. Tho statement has been made m Christchurch that if rates were kept at a reasonably low figure and the backloading proposals were agreed to by the Railway Department, there would bo every prospect of making Lyttelton the deep-sea port of the West Coast. When a local gentleman interested in shipping was acquainted with £fr& above statement lie characterised it as fantastic, saying that the proposition would not be payable if the Kailway Department consented to carry, a product such as timber, which, presumably, is included, for nothing. He stated the rates ruling at present for carrying timber from Greymouth to Sydney and Newcastle are 5s Od per 100 feet, and 6s 6d to Melbourne, and if his company were asked its price for taking timber from Christchurch, say, to Sydney it would demand 10s 6d per 100 feet at the least, if it consented to take it. To rail timber from Greymouth to Lyttelton would cost 4s 4d per 100 feet, and in fixing freights his company, would take into consideration the fact that Lyttelton is eight hours' steam further from Sydney than Greymouth. Coal for the voyage would lwive to be taken from Greymouth to the port of Canterbury, and the loading at Lyttelton could hot be effected with anything like the same- dispatch as ! at Greymouth. During the time .the vessel would be loading at the former port, all other cargo on the Westland section of railways would be at a standstill, as, if all the trucks on the Coast were re-' quisitioned to load the one vessel, they would be capable of transporting only 600 000 feet of timber at a time. Excluding the time, required for taking this off at ■the'port, they .would, be away from the Coast 28 hours on one trip, but, of course, unloading time' had to.. be added. Then, again, the watersiders at Greymouth were skilled in handling timber, and loaded 5001 V feet per hour per gang. At Lyttelton they could scarcely, nope to handle half this, amount. A cargo of 1,100,000 feet could be loaded at Greymouth easily in five days, while at Lyttelton the time taken would .be. from 10 to 12 days. "Here we have what is known as the shift system, and the watersiders work' right round the clock till a vessel is. loaded, whereas at Eyttelton only about Hi hours of the 24 would be worEed," the speaker continued. "Suppose they had men as skilled ■ as ours and were able ,to load with four gangs 20,000 feet per, hour. That . would mean 230,000 feet a day, or a weight, at 400 feet to the ton, of 575 tons', which would require three trains from this side per day for one vessel. The haulage problem would not be the least of a consignee's worries," he concluded. Barrytown Sale. A property in Barrytown district was offered at auction by Messrs . Mark Sprott and Co. yesterday. The perty was knocked down to. the Commissioner of Crdwn Larips, the price ing £IBOO.

Truck Shortage. Owing to many trucks having been taken to Canterbury during Carnival Week, the shortage locally at present' is fairly acute. Motor Enterprise. The shortcomings of the local railway services are ■ causing extensions • of district motoring facilities, .and these are becoming more and nibre strong competitors with' the railways. Two new motoring services now ply between Kumara and' Greymouth, and their popularity seems to establish the conclusion that the train service upon which the passengers had previously to depend did not entirely satisfy them. Another motor service is. proposed between Hokitika and. Greymouth, and negotiations are under way for the establishment of a 'bus service between Greymouth and the James Mine. Another service is also-to-be- established between Runanga and Greymouth. Already there is a direct motor communication between Otira, Hokitika, and Waiho, which must deprive the railway of a good deal of revenue. The opening up of new roads is helping very much towards the development of the motor services. It is now possible to travel comfortably in about two hours to the wonderful scenery of Punakaiki, and Lake Brunner has been brought much closer to Greymouth than the railways ever brought it by the opening of the new road formed by. the county out there. Housing Problem. The housing shortage in Greymouth goes from bad to worse. Earely is a house to let, and excess of demand over supply inspires fancy rents for. rooms as well as houses. Some residential building is in progress, but in each case it is for the owner-occupier. A suggestion has been made that a syndicate be formed to erect houses of a modern, well-appointed, and useful type that could be rented at a reasonable amount. A proposition of this kind would certainly pay handsomely, it is considered, in a comparatively short time. Another suggestion is that the Borough Council should undertake a housing scheme. The state of the finances might, however, preclude a municipal scheme at present. A scheme of housing for railway servants was one of the requests made to the Minister of Railways, during hi 3 visit to Greymouth, by Mr G. D. Smart, of the Railway Officers' Institute. He asked that the Government should undertake a housing'scheme for Railway officers in Greymouth, or give the officers a guarantee that they would receive the benefits of a So per cent, advance from the State Advances Department. The Minister '.pointed out that the house shortage was a keen question in every railway district, but he promised to do his best for the officers It is understood that as 'far as the Railway Department employees are

(Continued at foot of next column.)

concerned, Greymouth is next on the list for a housing scheme, but that will not alleviate the general shortage. Technical School. The Greymouth Technical High School is nearing the approach of its first year, and the Director (Mr J. Hutton) has cause for gratification at the progress made. He and the Board of Governors are hoping for even better things next year, and the proceeds of the recent fete will supply the necessary money for improvements to school grounds, and for more equipment. A new class to be started next yoar is that for instruction in plumbing. A feature is to be made of the .school library, and at this week's meeting, speaking in reference to this, Mrs Carr said that care should be exercised in the selection of works so as to avoid "rubbishy" books. "The children are showing a taste for a better class of books in other libraries." Another popular move, from the pupils' viewpoint was the attempt by another member of the Board (Mr W. S. G. Pullen) to abolish home work. "I think the pupils do enough during the day," said Mr Pullen. "They should not be required to work after school hours.'' His commiseration for the pupils, however, found no echo, and like the'students of all-ages and climes, the students of the Technical -High School are fated to work overtime with their lessons.