TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 February 1928, Page 33 (Supplement)

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

Interesting Items x

MANY of the incidents and persons of twenty-five years ago will be remembered by residents of Greymouth at that time, 1903, and the following extracts from the files of the “Star,” then a four-page publication, will probably bring others to memory. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1903. -The dredging gf the river is proceeding rapidly, the dredge now being abreast of the lower wharf. The gravel obtained is being depositee! on th’e Ipw-lying sections' facing the lagoon, and rendering them valuable as buildihg sites. . The Wednesday afternoon swimming handicap id connection with the Greymouth Swimming Club, oyer 440 yards, Was won by D. L. Campbell (75 secs), with Dale (15 secs,) second, and Mc-

Glashan (40 secs.) third. Cocks, Rogen and Garth also started. Time 8 min. 50 secs. We haye received a copy of the Hokitika Trotting Club’s programme for April 15. There are in all seven events, the added money being £9O, not a large amount, certainly, but there is every reason to believe that the sport will take on at Hokitika, as it has at Greymouth, where £l4OO iis now given per annum in prizes. Marriage: Morgan—Reynolds. On February 24, at Holy Trinity Church, by the Rev. G. W. York, Effie Reynolds, of Reefton, to John George Morgan, of Greymouth. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27. . The Mosquito Gold Dredging Co. haye declared a 1/- dividend, making 2/- so far returned to shareholders.

The following is the team chosen to represent the Recreation Ground Cricket Club against the Post and Telegraph Department on the Recreation Ground to-morrow: —I. Cairney, J. Mooney, R. Sheldon, Skoglund (2), F. Smith, H. Wickes, Armstrong, W.

Sothcran, E. Ashton and E. Warnes. Emergencies: T. and W. Casey. A wire from Hokitika states: —A five-feet quartz reef carrying good gold has been discovered on the boundary between Canterbury and Westland, at the head waters of the Wilberforce River. A party have applied for a special claim of 100 acres covering the find. A private wire received in town states that the Methodist Conference now sitting in Christchurch, has set up a committee to deal with all church building proposals. Wo shall soon hear definitely the treatment to be accorded the local Wesleyan trustees in 'their efforts to build a new church in Greymouth. Mr. Phillip Skoglund, secretary of the West Coast Rugby Union, is taking steps Co secure not oqly good foot-

ball on the Coast, but also to get together such a team as can try conclusions with the best clubs in the colony. He is endeavouring to raise funds to send a representative Coast . team tp Wellington. <

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28. The Greymouth Borough reservoir has been completed by the contractor, Mr., Fitzgerald. The water should be in the reservoir in about six weeks’ time. The Dobson bore is now down ’lB7B feet, with no material alteration in the strata. Information was received yesterday that valuable stone had been struck in the old Phoenix mine, now owned by Mr. P. N. Kingswell. Some 27 years ago a small crushing of stone gave the shareholders a dividend of half-a-crown, the available profit being £2,500, after which the reef gave out. Recently, Mr. Kingswell acquired the property, and operations have resulted in very payable stone again being found. The Christchurch “Press” of Wednesday last says: At the East Christ-

. church baths last evening, Mr. J. M. Hamilton, of Greymouth, essayed to break the swimming record for the 220 yards championship. His time was 2 min. 57 4-5 secs. Australasian record 2 min 38 secs. New Zealand' record, 2 min 58 1-5 secs.

At the Magistrate’s Court, Hokitika, r yesterday, Richard Stratford, charged , with casting sawdust into Lake BrunJ ner, was fined £5/1/-, with costs. ’ James Baxter and Adam Blair, on charges of casting sawdust into the 3 Arnold River, were similarly penalised i The fines all carried ’ the right of appeal. r The Cooper-McDermott Imperial : Biograph Company will give a sacred programme to-morrow (Sunday) even- > ing in the Opera House after church ; services, in aid of the local hospital. . MONDAY, MARCH 2. The Hon; J. V. O’Loghlin, M.L.C., of . South Australia, and a. Cabinet Mini ister, will arrive at- Greymouth to- ■ night per Reef ton train. He is taking ■ a, run through the colony to see bow we do things in New Zealand. On Saturday evening, the employees of C. Smith’s drapery establishment

. gathered together to bid farewell to > Mr. A. E. Kilgour, who has been J appointed to the management of the 5- Denniston branch. The 50 and 75 yards schoolboys’ • swimming championships of Westland both resulted in a win for D. L. Campbell, with L. McGlashan second and T. Ring third; the times being 38 and 63 secs, respectively. Mr. Foot acted as starter, and Mr. Mabin as judge. On Saturday morning, at the resi- • dence of Mr. H. Eggleton, Greymouth, Margaret Eastgate, youngest daughter of the late W. J. Eastgate, merchant, Hokitika, and also niece of Mr. S. Mirams, City Engineer, Dunedin, and of Alex, EMstgate, Stipendiary Mag-

istrate, Fiji, was married to Mr. C. H. Eggleton of the Greymouth Telegraph Office, the Rev. Stace, of Brunner, tying the nuptial knot. Gold Dredging—Within a week, two companies have been practically “coffined” and buried. Firstly, the Maori Gully dredge and claim, which cost about £lO,OOO, was put under the hammer and sold for £2so—one sixpence in the pound. Floods, expensive breakages, and sinking, with an occasional week or two of opening out work, constitutes the history of the Maori Gully dredge. The most unfortunate feature is that the company is wound up without the ground ever getting a trial. The second dredge to “pass in the cheque” is the oncecelebrated Grey River, which at the top of the boom gave as much as 164 ounces in one week, and gave the first dividend, 2/6, ever paid by a dredg-

i ing company on the Coast. After an agitation extending over live years, the residents of Blackball have succeeded in securing a cemetery in the district. Another step is being taken towards the completion of the Midland railway. The Public Works Department call .for alternative tenders for the manufacture and erection of superstructure over Staircase Gully. Mr. j. Coburn, while training Ivy E. at Victoria Park, met with a nasty accident. The horse was being worked in hobbles, and on turning one of the corners, fell, throwing the rider to the ground, where he lay unconscious for some time.

One of the most prominent of G?eymouth’s younger generation of public mon. Following the footsteps of father, Mr. i-I. W. Kitchingham, he ' turned to the law as a profession, and is now a member of the firm of Guinness and Kitchingham. He also holds the position of Crown Prosecutor at Greymouth; HJr. Kitchingham is an “old boy” of the Greymouth State School, and is a Watkins Medalist. He secured municipal honours on April 26, 1923. when he was elected to the Borough Council, and he is still a member of that body, being Chairman of the Beautifying Committee. Mr. Kitchingham is also an enthusiastic member of the Chamber of Commerce.