WEST COAST NOTES

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17980, 25 January 1924, Page 15

WEST COAST NOTES

PEATH by drowning,

(MECIiI TO rszs3.") HOKITIKA, January 24. inquest was held at Hokitika this ! tliJ, M o ™ Mr W ' McldTOnl ' i£2 touching the death of Miles fe who disappeared recently from I urarcarct Morgan, licensee of ',i Ma«0B«c Hotel, stated that Reilly the hotel. He lost time T' 1 work through' having a poisoned disappeared on the morning j r'-mnary 9th. The deceased sufgreatly P*i«» in his arm, flit a great deal of sleep, ithleen Muriel Morgan, daughteri. .' w0 f the previous witness, said that pL walked up and down outside the for about half an hour on tne •v! n( January 11th. This was the Sf time she saw the deceased, who ''p.fcnie 1 AtHnson,'farmer, gave cvias to the finding of deceased's ithes on the beach at Manama on iiia morning of January 1-th. Sergeant C. J. King identified the ,lct!>es as belonging to Keilly. The fl was recovered on the Cameron's iLh on tho 18th inst. ; A verdict of death by drowning was utorncd. Serious Charge, it the Magistrate's Court at Kumara, v'oro Mr W. Meldrnm, S.M., Charles jUrick Johnsen, of Kumara, was toed with wilfully destroying one £ the property of B. W Millson, M char"o being an indictable offence. Constate Fox, outlining tho caso for «8 prosecution, said that on November Siktie accused had taken a breechSaading gu n from an unoccupied dwellto and had destroyed the animal while jtputnring on tho Teremakau river-

f W. After other evidence had been given Ifui the prosecution, and an admission liads by the accused, in which he static that the Bhooting was tho result of [ u accident, Mr J. A. Murdoch, counsel [for the accused, claimed thatthere was sufficient evidence of wilfully dellttoying to warrant the caso being sent [to a jury. With this view the MagisI Into concurred. [ Warden's Court. !'At the "Warden's Court, Hokitika, toi'jay, beforo Mr W. Meldrnm, S.M., ;Wn*den, John C. Wells (Mr Murdoch) I applied for a residence site at Eimu. The Forestry Department, represented ly Mr F, A. Kitchingham, appear--1 td as an objector.

I ■ Counsel Btiid that when the Forestry Dtpartment concluded its negotiations with Wells brothers for an area of land »t Bima suitable for the establishment #! 4 sarseiy, arrangements were made talis closing of an old road running ittwujh the land. If the application wis punted, tho closing of tho road waU b« prevented. l£t Jlwdoch here interposed that te{ the Horning two sites had been !jiairhd on! along tho road. • <l!r Kitehingham said this was furSo evidenco of the opposition of the .KB-lsats near the nursery to the Forfetij' Department, which had been ifnM i>y the Government to conserve forests. i :>A-D.McGavock, Conservator of Forsaid that £450 compensation had •»<3 paid Wella brothers, and possestakea in November. The Cabinet ijJiil approved the establishment of a £sranr, and it was necessary to take #ef the old road for this purpose. The $w applied for by Wells was within $6 area required. liuf" ®' OO P that the Conservator $M stated when arranging the compen[SStwa that he knew nothing of the old The compensation had been * or * wo sections, and not for the ;«»«ad reserve at all. S® l ®' garden said- that under a pre|w Wells' had a right to W for tho site provided it was not, pjamcial to the 1 public interest. The [Saw Government Departments were ;W 0^ 11 ? tho Forestry Department, r" 1 interests of this Department Srtl:aoUn '* a PP^ ca^on waa 4jfr Murdoch asked that no costs be Kitchingham asked Cos t 3 be substantial, as it was a! 1. attempt to wrest further ■wopeusation from tho Crown. \fMsts amounting to £3 3s were alf»W against the applicant. '» _ Flight to the Glacier. 11., 9 . Al ro aeroplane, in charge of Lp Mn Buckley, returned last evenX,,°. after a successful tow • outh Wetland. Captain 'k. tho glacier M»^. r ™ SUC - CCS3 * ul > the return being v, !r ._ Where Captain HirschJcifiin occupied one hour. After It » f . lc , roS3 the face of the glacier fejj. , 6200 ft, a return was W °, okanto ' where Captian HirschK h# ™ an RA.F. pilot in tho fp't marked out a landing iiib u conditions being unfavoura return to Hokitika, the night W^-?V° kaTito - During the fonro found necessary to ■fctideau of nv taking-off place, tho :ttmV Okarito turned out and ft, ? " 6 acroS3 the 3and flats Nl^V° W ? t0 tho old wharf, & Mtw ° n to pontoon, ferried and it on flats. From here a lika madc > and Hoki'Mlev lit 111 Captain tts Sata at n\- * n *"3 estimation ,« sa-ail L t a " could be converted t) r l ?\ t0 an ideal landing >s«w r V n who was a UN steal •« , a , ero P lano ' considers # ot be mado of aviaIN ?r surveys in the |**om panie : Williams, who S?"ed thit £ 7as Photographer, iSSrn were too hazy ;J} «xcel!cn? t ' ie glacier, route. 5 oto s ra Phs were secur-

A Court. ' sin? th * Magistrate's Sjtf da y before Mr W. s-INiititej who had been ' Pkaaed Jm^ c £ last Janu " i??* liquor V char S e of proteW* order . sub j ect of a 'fISW-wSSL"" to ° v ' ,!M "S ded giStv?' oll ( 5 r Mnrdoeh) whiUf the ],L a char go of hav- ' Wi*? at the Hotlri ° a oon<iiti onal ; person a r 3 ' EU PP lied I a^ th ,V? uoritaJi®' a ??ear on s employ, > Sfer 3 the Kqnor argo , of certificatQ n fv QS v produced m given b, R hls beha] f- EviSt I - V SK* H - Fr ? cr lid maa Who defence was *«sit n au Pplied wTh, V - Gry ex cit-ible 1 : ale. Tho i? neille npplvW U liav ° been shandy aai.l S the man with

John "Wood (Mr Murdoch) pleaded not guilty to a charge of having used obscene language in Hamilton street on December 21st. A fine of £5 with £1 15s costs was inflicted. Bobert Jones was fined £lO and costs for driving an unlicensed motor lorry weighing more than two and a half tons on the Kokatahi road. Mr Park, for tho Westland County Council, said that lorry owners were defying the county by-laws, and the Council was being caused great embarrassment by having to take Court proceedings. Forestry Department. The Nelson district is to be added to the area under the control of the Conservator of Forests at Hokitika. This arrangement is provisional only, and will last only until another officer is appointed at Nelson. School Excursions. The large number of school and district excursions visiting Hokitika haa been added to by the decision of the Greymouth Main School Committee last evening to hold the annual picnic of the Blaketown and Greymouth schools at Hokitika on Monday.

THE HALF-HOLIDAY.

(SPECIAL TO "THE P8E33.")

GEE jTMOUTH, January 24. .At a special meeting of tho Inangahua County Council, it was decided that Wednesday be fixed as . tho statutory half-holiday during 1924. Eeefton Hospital Board. At a meeting of tho Eeefton Hospital Board the Director-General of Health wrote asking for the capital expenditure for five years in order that the Department might bo able to provide assistance and make recommendations to the. Government.

The chairman said the estimate had been partly framed. They considered. £6OO was wanted for an isolation ward, and £4OO for a new laundry. The balance of the recommendations was loft to tho Board to frame.

Mr O'Regan said the , Department were giving a straightout grant of £20,000 for a new hospital at Nelson. He moved that the estimates to the department for the next five years include a straight-out grant of £20,000 for a new hospital. Tho motion was seconded by Mr Seawright and carried.

Matron Taylor, Waiuta, wrote resigning her position, which was accepted with regret. Two applications for the position of probationer at the Eeefton Hospital we'ro received, and Miss E. Marshall, of Eeefton, was appointed. The chairman read a statement of the X-ray fund, which totalled about £135. He contended that it was not much use putting an X-ray plant into a country hospital. He' thought this money could be advantageously used in painting and repairing the Hospital. This, with the subsidy on tho amount, would realise over £3OO. He had interviewed most of tho collectors, and they were agreeable to the money being diverted.

The suggestion was adopted, Personal.

Inspector Hugo arrived from Christchurch to-day on Fire Brigade business. Ho will inspect the Greymoutli Brigade this evening. Mr H. McDonald, of Heriot, Otago, ha 3 been appointed by the Greymouth Main School Committee to fill the vacancy on the staff caused by the resignation of Mr J. F. "Wilson, first assistant. Other appointments mado were those of Miss Bignell and Mr Okey as pupil teachers. Karamea Prospects.

Extremely favourable opinions of the land in tho' Karamea district have been formed by Mr N. C. Kensington, Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Nelson district, who is touring tho vicinity for purposes of inspection. He asserts that a great future is before Karamea. Apart from the abundant timber supplies, the land, when properly developed, should prove ideal for dairying. Tho district is now somewhat isolated, but more roads will open the way to great wealth. • He paid a tribute to the Karamea settlers, and especially to tho returned soldiers, who, he asserts, are hard-working, and are sure to make good. Miners' Awakening.

A consequence of the recent stoppage in West Coast mines is the discovery that others work hard. For instance, some miners who went to Canterbury to try outdoor, life, while the industrial trouble was taking place, have come back convinced that farming is' not all it is cracked up to be. Under the broiling siln, with face, neck, arms, and backs blistered, they longed again for the cool shade of the coal mine, and did not take long to make up their minds to return to the Coast when they heard that the mines would reopen. As one of them humorously remarked, it was no good to him to live in a place where hens laid hard-boiled eggs. A number of coal miners, who were working at the Nine Mile on the Buller Gorge railway, have thrown up the job, and are returning to the mines. They state the sandflies up there were too enterprising for their liking. They bear many marks of pitched battles fought on exposed parts of their anatomy. A Popular Cleric.

Canon Coursey, of Westport, who shortly leaves for St. John's, Christchurch, was the recipient of eulogistic tributes to his work on the Buller Progress League at thi3 week's meeting. He ha 3 during his residence at. Westport been a real'' live wire'' on questions affecting the civic welfare of the town, and his departure will be much regretted. Welcome Strangers, The birth rate is satisfactory on the Coast, and boys predominate. It is reported that there are five new boys in Rewa Hospital, while twin boys also arrived elsewhere in Greymouth a few Obituary. A well-known resident of Boss, Mrs J. H. Currie, passed away at Christchurch yesterday. Mrs Currie was the widow of the late Mr Currie, formerly Mayor of Boss. She leaves two daughters—Miss Kate Currie (North Island) and Mrs A. H. Caulfield (Christchurch), and two sons —William (Greymouth) and James (North Island). Recreation Besenre. The Minister of Public Works has notified Mr J. O'Brien, MJE\, that it has been found impossible to grant the Borongh Council's request for the transfer to the Council of an Education reserve to replace that portion of the Recreation Beserve given to allow of the building of the Technical School. Tennis. The final of the ladies' singles championship in connexion with the West Coast tennis tournament wa3 played thiß afternoon, and resulted in a victory for Mrs McCarthy over Mrs Lawn, 6*l, 6-1. *