WEST COAST NEWS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21250, 23 August 1934, Page 6

WEST COAST NEWS

GREYMOUTH MAGISTRATE'S COURT (SPECIAL TO THE PRESS.) GREYMOUTH, August 22. John Robert Gamble was charged at the Greymouth Magistrate's Court with drunkenness and with committing a breach of his prohibition order. On lYi* first charge he was convicted and discharged, and on the second he was fined. £2 and costs. Winter Show Visitors A total of 216 West Coast school children with 31 teachers or other adults in charge will attend the Winter Show at Christchurch. A party which left on Tuesday included 13 children from the Burnett's Face school, who had left their homes at 5 a.m., coming about 100 miles to Greymouth. The main party will leave on Thursday. Otira Tunnel Freight Freight railed through the Otira tunnel last week amounted to 10,358 tons. For the corresponding week last year, the total was 10,244 tons, and in 1032 it was BGO6 tons. Cobden Domain Board At a meeting of Cobden residents last evening, Mr F. W. Baillie was appointed a member of the Cobden Domain Board, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr J. Gordon. Accident at Moana While walking a»ong the road from Moana to Te Kinga, in the early hours ot the morning, while he was returning from a dance, Donaid Beaton, a young single man, was knocked down by a motor-lorry. Alter being treated by Dr. A. W. Wilkinson, Beaton, who was suffering from concussion and other head injuries, was removed to the Grey River Hospital. Valedictory A farewell presentation was made by members of the Railways Department Greymouth stun" to Mr It. A. Rose, who with liis wife and family, left to-day on transfer to Martori Junction. Mr V. It. J. Stanley, stationmaster, made the presentation, which consisted of a dinner-service, and he with other speakers, wished Mr Rose ail success in his new position. Honey Grading:

Mi- F. Airey presided over a special meeting of the West Coast Bee Keepers' Association. There was a long discussion concerning honey grading, and in a report submitted by the secretary which contained the news that out of 212 cases of honey submitted for grading under the new system drawn up by the Honey Control Board, only 33 had been accepted as being of a flavour approved for export. The secretary's report continued as follows: "This honey was graded under the new system drawn up by the Honey Control Board, which goes to show lhat the bee keepers in this district have no voice on the board interested in this class of honey. I wish to point out that the grader was supplied with samples of honey bearing the maximum number of points allowed for flavour, and the injecting of these honeys is not indicative- of his opinion of these honeys. The board, by dictating to the grader in this manner, makes it quite unnecessary for an expert on honeys to be employed for the purpose of grading. Identical honeys with those rejected were graded at the previous gradini:, when the grader was permitted to use his knowledge and discretion in nominating suitable flavours fur export, and these honeys were accepted and obtained up to 50 points for flavour. Both these gradings were made- under the new system, the only dill'eionco being that in one the grader was allowed to use his judgment, and in the other lie had hard and fast standards prepared by the board, from which lie could not deviate; which compelled him to reject these honeys against Ids better judgment. I feci that if the position, is allowed to continue it will cause the rejection of the majority of this district's honey for export which will cause a heavy loss not only to the Coast bee keepers but to the district in general. In an endeavour to arrest this deplorable position, I suggest that the Coast bee keepers enter an emphatic protest against the treatment, and press for a representative on the board by the appointment of a further Government member nominated b the bee keepers affected, and that we seek the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce, Grcymouth Harbour Board, all local bodies, and the members for the districts." It was decided, after discussion, that tho secretary should be instructed to press for a regrading of the honey in question, and that the whole matter should be taken up by the execuive, with a view to obtaining another Government member on the board n *nini ,cd by the producers of this class of honey. A further motion was unanimously carried that the grader should bo independent of the Control Board. Borough Council The necessary formal resolution in connexion with the conversion of the Grcymouth Borough Council loans was approved at a special meeting last evening. The Mayor, Mr J. W. Greensladc, presided. Personal Mr A. H. Carey, manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Greymouth, will retire on November 30 Mr Carey has been 42 years in the service of the bank and nine as manager at Greymouth. He will be succeeded by Mr A. N. Baker, manager of the Hokitika branch. Inquest At an inquest held to-day concerning the circumstances of the death of James Woolley. aged 45, a fireman on the Kaimiro, whose body was found on Nine Mile beach yesterday, a verdict was returned that Woolley was drowned in the Grey river on or about August IG. There was no evidence to show how he came to get into the water. A statement was read from Jack Bass one of the crew of the Kaimiro, in which he said that about 11 p.m. on August 16 he saw Woolley near the Oriental Hotel. Woolley was then well under the influence of liquor. HOKITIKA RETURNED SOLDIERS' ASSOCIATION (SVKCTAI. TO THE S'EESS.) HOKITIKA, August 22. The monthly meeting of the Hokitika branch of the Returned Soldiers' Association was held last evening. Present: Messrs W. E. Brown (president), R. Paterson (secretary), C. Hart, W. F. Ashley, G. Gilchrist, J. N. Robinson, G. A. King, A. C. Armstrong, T. Cooper, J. L. Menzies, and P. R. Whitford. A letter was received from the Kumara sub-branch appointing Mr W. F. Ashley as its representative on the

executive. The president extended a welcome to Mr Ashley. . The town clerk, Hokitika, advised that the Government auditor had directed that the Returned Soldiers Association Hall should be licensed under the borough by-laws, the fee being £5 ss, and the year ending on December 31. It was decided to leave the matter in the hands of the president. The general secretary wrote that the canteens' fund grant for the month of June was £ISOO, and the amount allocated to the branch was £9. The balance-sheet for the annual ball was read and adopted, the credit balance being £8 17s 6d. The bal-ance-sheet of the annual reunion showed a deficit of £3 18s, this being the smallest deficit on any of the similar functions to date. Mr F. McCabe was appointed auditor to replace Mr Kernahan, who recently resigned. Accounts amounting to £l9 2s Id were passed for payment. It was decided to allocate £9 between the Ross and Kumara subbranches to be used in relief of necessitous cases among returned soldiers, the amount to be paid out of the canteen fund June grant. The secretary reported that he had received three war medals from Mr Fairhall for presentation to the local branch. One of the medals is a German Iron Cross, and the others are two Crimean War medals belonging to a dead Crimean veteran, Private J. Cummings, Fifty-seventh Regiment. It was decided that the medals should be framed and hung in the hall.