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Greymouth Evening Star, 21 January 1944, Page 4

The Hermitage at Mount Cook, one of the three State hotels in the Dominion to carry a liquor license, will revert again to the control of the Government at the end of the present month. This was announced yesterday by the Minister in Charge of the Tourist and Publicity Department (Mr Parry), who said that the Department would be responsible for the administration of the Hermitage and its various undertakings in the interests o£ tourist traffic. Mr N. Wilde at present attached to the Head Office of the Tourist Department is to be manager.—P.A.

A total of 60,665 books was issued by the Greymouth Municipal Library during 1943, according to % report presented by the Librarians to a meeting of the Greymouth Borough Council last evening. This total was made up as follows:—Country Library ’Service, 14,304; fiction, 30,964; non-fiction, 7,874; total free (fictioni and non-fiction), 38,838; rental, 7523. Registrations for the year totalled, 618, bringing the total number of registrations to 2,897. The cash takings amounted to £169/9/10. In their report for December the Librarians stated that there were 38 registrations during the month, and that the cash takings were £l2/13/3.

Uncertainty still prevails as to when the Midland line will be reopened for passenger traffic, the Railways Department to-day adhering to the estimate given yesterday by Mr. P. H. Morey, District Engineer, that traffic is unlikely to operate before to-morrow afternoon at the earliest—if the machinery continues to function and the weather holds. An announcement as to whether an express will run will not be made before to-morrow morning. As doubts exist about the resumption of train services, it was announced to-day that neople who urgently require to be 'in Christchurch by the week-end may avail themselves of limited accommodation on buses leaving Reef ton to-morrow. They will, of course, require permits and must leave Greymouth by the 7.25 a.m. rail-car. To-day three buses conveyed 75 passengers from Reefton to Christchurch and three others brought 60 to Reelton. The rail-car from Reefton reached Greymouth an hour late last evening having been held to connect with the buses from Christchurch. Mr. E. F Evans, District Engineer of the Public Works Department at Greymouth, to-day expressed the hope that some sort of track for vehicular traffic would be available on the road at the scene of the slips by Monday night or Tuesday. He stated that during the last 24 hours’ good progress had been made in clearing the debris.