Local and General

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 September 1944, Page 4

Local and General

Wellington tramwaymen decided, dav to hold a combined meeting at 1.30 p.m. o/Wednesday next thlt fecting their employment It is expected t nnlpss the Questions at issue aie setiieo. m the meantime Wellington will hours without tramway services lor some houis that day.—P.A.

A difference of opinion in the Labom Party on a major question of pohey is ed in a circular which has been sent to bers of trades councils, trade , uI T II S ] /p b /i v representation committees, -.and Laboui Pa y branches. The circular accompanies phlet bearing the name of Mr.• H- d/ti'i ’ and it is stated in both that they aie dl jh " buted by Hon. F. G. Young IVLL C national secretary of the New Zealand Ho xl Woil Union. Both deal with the financial policy of the Government.

The Minister in Charge of J Civil Aviation (Mr. Jones) stated that a board of in< 4 un £ investigate and report on the accident w- - place near Mount Hope on June 30 to aircraft operated by Air Travel (New Zealand), Ltd., would commence its; sittings a Nelson on September 26. The Minister ? dd ed that it was expected that those injuied-, in the crash would, by then, have recovered sumciently to enable their evidence to be taken by the board.—P.A.

The delay in loading colliers at Greymouth has resulted in the supply oi iailWc.> hopper wagons being practically exhausted. To-day there were 2900 tons of coal on tne wharf in 390 wagons, leaving only .about a dozen others. Meanwhile all the mines were working and their output had to be put into high-sided wagons. Because of the run in the Grey River, no work was done on tne wharf this afternoon, although the weatnei cleared.

The Mayor of "Westport (Mr. J. M. Robertson) has received the following telegram from Mr. Webb. Minister of Mines and M.P. for Buller: “I am pleased to advise that Cabinet has aoproved of a preliminary amount of £20.000 being included in the Supplementary Estimates for work to be done in connection with the major scheme and im'’'■rivvments to Westport harbour, which is ffie subiect o f a report at present in the of preparation by Mr. F. W. Furkett. When the report has been received, the proposals will be fully examined by the Government, but the amount now to be provided is in respect of such work as. may be required in connection with the major scheme. —P.A.

The shop conducted in the Grey- [ mouth Town Hall on Friday last by ■ the Marist and Convent Schools on behalf of patriotic funds, realised £l6O.

The 34th, 35th and 36th lists of persons from whom broadcast messages have been received from Singapore by, the Prisoners of War Inquiry Office, may be seen at the “Star” office.

The Runanga Co-operative Women’s Guild held their fortnightly meeting last Friday evening, in the Druids’ Hall, Mrs. G. Dalzell presiding over a good attendance. After business was completed, whist and dominoes were played, the winners being Mesdames Kelly and Smeaton.

At an early period of the present session of Parliament ' a local Bill will be introduced giving the Greymouth Harbour Board authority to borrow £lOO,OOO for urgent haroour works. Giving this information, today, Mr O’Brien (Minister of Marine) stated that this will enable an early start to be made with the extension of the breakwaters, which has the approval of the engineers.

For the fifth day, to-day, the Karu, with timber for Wellington, was barbound at Greymouth. The vessel has been in port since August 11. Three other colliers are in port, but on Saturday and Sunday they were virtually idle. This morning there were two ships in the roadstead, unable to enter port because of the heavy seas .to which the eight-knot fresh in the Grey River contributed. The bar has been workable for inward vessels on only two tides during the past week, and not at all for outward shipping.

Commenting on the recent message from Canberra announcing that the Prime Minister (Mr. Curtin) haa agreed to refer to the Cabinet the proposal that Australia should officially approach Britain requesting the transfer of British war orphans to Australia immediately after the war, the chairman of the Dominion Settlement Association (Mr. A. Leigh Hunt) said that his association some months ago urged the New Zealand Government to take similar action,- but so far as was known nothing yet had been done. He added: “It will be a tragedy for this country if we delay too long.”—P.A-.

Although hosiery coupons XIOI and XIO2 expired on August 31, the Food and Rationing Controller, Mr. J. E. Thomas, stated, to-day, that it had come to his notice that some women had been unable to redeem their coupons prior to the expiry date* owing to the shortage of silk .stockings in some localities. Therefore, in order to avoid hardship, arrangements have been made whereby those who have not been able to secure fully-fashion-ed hosiery of any kind owing to local shortages of supplies, can make application for a special permit which will be available during the whole ol September. In such cases the application should be addressed direct to the Rationing Controller, Wellington and be accompanied by the card of bosierv coupons which will be returned in due course,, with the permit. In addition to the special permits issued under this .arrangement, hosiery coupon XIO3 is valid for a period of six months commencing September 1.

The formation of a West Coast Catchment Board has been discussed by Mr O’Brien, M.P., with Mr W." L. Newnham, Chairman of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council, in Wellington. Mr O’Brien said he had stressed that the revenue derived from the area which it was proposed to include would be absolutely inadequate to support an engineer for the catchment area, and that it was useless to set up a board unless there was sufficient revenue to support a capable engineer to establish an office, and to supply the engineer with travelling facilities such as a motor car, etc. He had further pointed out that the West Coast rivers were . a major problem, and wopld require the best brains the country possessed to deal with erosion, and that unless adequate engineering advice were made available the board would be useless, and it would be better to leave the work to the County Councils. Mr Newnham had said he would bring before the next meeting of the Council the proposal to subsidise a board on the West Coast.

Greymouth Progress League! Every public-spirited citizen desires to see the Coast go ahead. With its enormous resources of raw materials and its scenic beauties, the Coast can, and will be developed to the fullest degree. And the Westland Laundry i& right behind the Progress League. It realises in a Progressive community the necessity to give the public firstclass service, and in the very modern laundry at the disposal of Greymouth residents, there is a service to meet the needs of every section of the community at a reasonable cost. The Westland washing and ironing machines are the very latest and cause far less wear and tear than the old-fash-ioned scrub board. ’Phone 136. Depot: 27 Albert Street.—s.