WEST COAST NOTES

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18187, 25 September 1924, Page 14

WEST COAST NOTES

PERSONAL. i.SPECIAL TO "TS* r-3*SS.") GftEYMOUTH, September '2i. \ Mr A. E. Wilson j Government Tourist I Agent at Auckland, has been visiting i the Franz Josef Glacier. He returned j to Greymouth last evening, and left, this I morning for Westport and Nelson. The first meeting of the newly-elected j Cobden Town Board was held last eveni ing. when Mr A. G. Gunn was elected i chairman. I . The. death occurred at Nelson oil Mcm- | day of Mr Alfred Rileoe.k, a. former resii dent c: the Inangahnu district. ; Constable Fowler, of Westport, has ; received . notice of .-transfer to ; Wellington. Messrs B. ft. Sword. District Traffic j Manager, and P. H. Morey, District i Engineer, return to Greymouth to- | morrow from G:unity, where they have j been enquiring into railway matters. j Mr A. ft-. Coad, Head Office Inspector | of the Public Trust. Department, is in I Grevmouth, having completed a tour ! of the Buller district. | Mr W. Campbell, vice-president of 'the Waterside -Workers' Federation, is visitinir Grevmouth. 1 Miss M. MeCullam, of the Publie. Trust Office, Greymouth, has received notice of transfer to Wellington. She will be suveecded here by Miss Dent. Miss McCuliam is secretary-, of the Greymouth Ladies' Swimming Club. Mrs Mentiplay, wife of a former manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Westport, died recently at Wellington. ■ Horticulture. ! Three horticultural societies have held their annual spring shows during the past few days. On Saturday the State Collieries Society was rewarded by numerous entries, and the standard of the exhibits showed a distinct improvement on former years. Yesterday the spring show of the Kumara Presbyterian Church was held, the linnncial result being satisfactory, and to-day the Cobden Society was very successful with its annual fixture, in spite of the heavy rain which was encountered for the second year in succession. Mr S. Smith, of Methven, was the judge in the flower's section. At all three shows, and at Cobden to-day, Mr If. Moore, of Greymouth, judged in the cookery section. The champion daffodil was grown by Mr W. Murray. Whitebait. V The Cobden whitebait factory will be opened during the next few daws. Cobden Town Board. A meeting of the Cobden Town Board was held,last evening. . The following committees were elected for the ensuing term: — • Finance—Commissioners J.- Walker (chairman)', W. F. M. Pulleli, and 11. E. Barrett. Works—Crs. O. 11. Brailsford (chair- j man), C. Orams, D. T. Cochrane, and Walker. Fire Equipment—Crs. Orams, Brailsford, and' Pullen. It! was decided to set up a Hospital Committee to assist the Grey Board in its campaign for funds. The meeting night was fixed for the fourth Wednesday in every month. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court concluded its Greymouth sitting this morning, when judgment -was delivered in the case in which Donald Mundy, a waterside worker, proceeded against the Waterside Workers' Union and Henry l\irk, the secretary, for £4OO damages for alleged, wrongful exclusion from membership. ; ' . Addressing the jury, Mr Joyce said the ckse for both • defendants was indissoUhly mixed up. He did not think it wai necessary for- him to review the evidence, as he was confident judgment wouldf be given., for defendants. Mr ' McCarthy, for plaintiff, said Jamielioh's evidence was strong corroboratiim of Mnndy's statement that he was excluded from the union because of his! criticism of the officials. Not one of, the witnesses who stated* they objected to working with the plaintiff had opposed Mundy'sreadmission, which was carried unanimously. It was significant that the evidence relied on by the deienec was given by members of the uijion, all of whom, would be affected iif judgment was given for plain- j tiff. rj"he Grey district was one in i which ia 'unionist upon whose character I a stigjjaa. had been cast by any union would fund it difficult to obtain employ- j ment. i l

-Mr O'Began said that an admission had bden made that Mundy was rightfully sltruck off the roll of the union, and it ihad not been proved that he had ever a >plied for , readmission. The plaintiJ c was a man who nursed and exaggei ated imaginary grievances. In stj aiming up, his Honour said the rules oi the union gave the widest possible frbedom.' It enjoyed the privilege of preference cf employment for its members. The-.term, "persons of. good character," in the-union rules had .a wider application than would appear on the surj.'tee. .The evidence showed that the plaiitiff had been abusive • and overbearing (o the union officials and his worfk mates, and ho had abo a fatal facility ( <|f speech which prompted him to addteps public meetings at streetcorners and from hotel balconies. If an applicant waa of a quarrelsome nature itj was for the jury to consider this aspect in addition to the absence of criminiality. On plaintiff's clear admission lie had been struck off the list of unioa members because he was in arrears. 'That there was no singling out in this (vould be shown by the fact, that overj a dozen others were struck off at the'j same time. Kirk had given, the plainijiff proper notice when the union had;decided to readmit him. The informaticm upon which damages could ( be asseas<id, if the jury decided for l plaintiff,! \l-as very vague. After hj; retirement of an hour and a quarter!, the jury returned with a verdict in fd vour of defendants, with costs for each t lefendant separately according to scale j»n the amount claimed, allowance for jextra day for each defendant £7 7s, disbursements and witnesses' expenses 'to be allowed to defendant union, anjd disbursements for filing authorities and defence to defendant Kirk. i His Honour reserved judgment on a motion for certiorari by Mr W. P. McCarthy in reference to a judgment binding over J )hn Bourke and John Bonrke, jun., to kejep the peace. i Bolice Examinations. The annjual poliee examinations were held at GVeymoutb. yesterday and today. Fivd candidates sat, these being Sergeants ID. Hylaad (Eeefton) and C. J. King (Hokitika), and Constables Campagno/.o (Seddonville), Kennedy (Boss), ajid Wilson (Granity). .'■•?. Golf. In the semi-final of the Westport Golf Club's senior championship, Fair beat Park, 3 up and 2, ! and Sime beat Lovcll, D.ipp and 8. '• ! Eugby Football. At .the; last meeting of the Buller Eugby Ufaion, a letter was received from the/ Marlborough Union in reference to the decision of tho New Zealand TJr)ion that tho, challenge match for - the ;' Se4don Shield. be played a t

Takaka, The communication questioned the jurisdiction of the Xew Zealand Union, and asked the Buller Union to enter a protest. It was resolved to let flie matter stand over till the annual conference. It was decided to inform the West Coast Union that the date suitable for the junior representative match against Bulier at Westport was October 11th. Trotting. A public meeting has been convened for Thursday evening, when it is pro posed to form a Trotting Owners', Trainers' and Breeders' Association. Stranded Ketch. It is considered that there are good prospects of refloating the ketch Elsie, which. lie? stranded nt Jackson's Bay, on the next spring tides. She is not damaged in any way. ami the settlers in the district are* standi::" !.v the vessel. IvTirririg Matters. The following report hag Ljen received on the Scotia mine:—No. .1 level i^ - now 142 feet north of the shaft-, an-1 the fa<_-e is not so promising as previously. The quart?, has been gradually thinning out, and now only a few inches of crushed ore remains. The hanging wall slate and-fug seams are still persisting ■with the hard sandstone footwall, but the reef track lias narrowed down to 18in, and 10ft back in the. drive it was three feet from wall to wall. At the Murray Crook mine, the No. 2 level has now been extended a distance of over JOO feet. The reef continues of the same good quality, and has widened out ir. (lie fact' beyond all expectations. A party visiting the combined gold reefs at Murray Creek at the week-end were optimistic about the value of the quart/, and the prospects of -tilt' mine. The West. Coast Minors' Council will meet at Wcslptii'f. fi-l the week-end, when matters of importance wiij be discussed. Neivniy.n Shield. I The Newman- Shield i'or liugby j among the secondary schools- of the West Coast was v.-on by the. Reef ton District High School, uud a large number of friends and parents assembled at the school on Friday to witness the presentation. Mr Dis.eaciata, chairman of the Inangahua- Rugby .Union, congratulated the boys on their win. Ho said the Shield was a very flue one and worth lighting for, but better than the Shield,was the fine.training in perseverance and sportsmanship/which the victory entailed. He then handed the Shield to Mr W. Auld, chairman of the committee, who, amid cheers, handed the trophy to Master J. King, captain of the team. Messrs Irving and Simpson's medal for the best all-round player was then presented to the captain, and Mr Burnett's medal for the best forward to Aylmor Bolitho. Three cheers for the coach, Mr T. Irving, and for the donors of the trophies were given. Buller Gorge Hallway. . A public, meeting will. be held in ■ Westport shortly' to make representations to the Government in favour of the speedy completion of the Buller ; Gorge railway. J Wireless in Ships, j At a meeting of the Buller Progress | League it was resolved to ask the j Government to compel all shipping companies to equip their vessels with wireless, ' A Lucky Escape. A motor-cyclist had a. narrow escape, on the Buller Gorge road, near Berlin's, last Saturday. Due no doubt to the recent wet weather, a portion of the road gave way, precipitating the machine and rider 15 feet down the embankment. The cyclist managed to jump clear and. escape injury. Dairying. The Farmers' Dairy Factory in Westport has paid out in the past four seasons the sum of £145,000. Already this season the factory has manufactured five tons of butter as compared with 3* tons for the corresponding period last year. Beautifying Society. At the last meeting of the Hokitika Beautifying Society it was announced that the funds in hand were exhausted, and a benefit was being organised for December. The chairman (Mr D. J. Evans) suggested the placing of a sundial, to cost about £.52, in Cass square as a memorial to Warden; Revell, King, Sale and others who had served Westland so well in the early days. It was decided to consider the matter further at a subsequent meeting. Boy Scouts. The annual meeting of. the Xo. 2 Troop of Boy Scouts was held at Hokitika. last evening, Mr H. M. Co'ulson presiding. It was reported that- the sum of <£2] was in hand. The following officers were elected: Assistant-Scoutmaster, Mr Kelly;.: treasurer, Mr Sutherland; committee, Mesdames Yeale and Walker and Messrs Mclntyre and Blackgrove.