THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY OCTOBER 2,1885.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5309, 2 October 1885, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 1885.

There, are tw ; o. things that the Harbor Board must shortly, consider. Coal storage and, shed accommodation will thrust themselves forward whether we like it or not.. Mr Wfickes struck the right note when he called attention to the want of coal trucks. The question is — How is the difficulty to be surmounted ? There are only two -ways. 1 , We must have . -coal staiths or.more coal waggons. Storage by means of staiths would seem to be the easiest and 'simplest mode of overcoming the difficulty ; arid we could very easily erect staiths alongside the .mouth of the lagoon below; the bridge ; but there is as much objection to staiths as there is to loading from trucks. In eadh case the coal is smashed up, and therefore to some extent rendered unsaleable. The West Coast coal is generally tender', arid the less it is handled the better for its marketable character. That | is the principal reason why coal staiths are objected tOi What is wanted is to put the coal on board vessels with as little handling as possible. • At Newcastle they have' tried pretty well every plan, and' at length have^settled down to the systeiri of steam ; cranes and trucks with' bodies which can be lifted off arid on. These are picked up and lowered into the hatch, the bottom drops out, and releases the coal. Of course that would still leave us withoutstorage ; but another hundred trucks or so would remedy, that difficuity to a great extent; Coal storage of some kind we' must have. At present one big steamer such as the Taupo exhausts all our storage, and if three or four drop in after her, all must wait till the miners hew out coal enough for port requirements. That is a position Vwe should not be placed in if we could by any means avoid it. This is one question that the Harbor Board should confront and deal with without delay. Government have given us unmistakably, to understand that we must "paddle our own canoe " in future, The responsibility is obvious 1 - and necessary. We receive all the revenue, and we are naturally expected to .do any work that may be required. That is a fact that the Board must thoroughly: recognise and act upon. It will therefore be seen that the duties of the Harbor Board are something more than merely, pushing out the mole at the tiphead. Whatever is wanted for the convenience and facility of the port must henceforth be provided by the Harbor Board. The. Government knows us no more. It will therefore be seen that the most pressing question we have to deal with is coal storage, whether by staiths or trucks. It is our imperative interest to see that all vessels calling here receive the quickest dispatch. The sooner vessels can load up and get away from here the better.forthe credit of the port. As it is. we are at least six hours' steaming behind Westpert, for ninety-nine vesseis<out of a hundred go northward, and we should endeavor to compensate that in every way possible. If vessels can count upon comirig in liere and getting away without any unreasonable delay, that and the quality of our coal will carry ua through. Where there is keen competition we must leave no stone unturned to hold our own. The other thing that the Harbor Board must devote its attention to is shed accommodation. Only a few days ago three steamers were alongside the wharf, and each had. from 50 to 150 tons of cargo for this port. The weather, fortunately, was fine, and the merchandise was dumped on the wharf and taken away; but if it had been wet the case would have been very different. Much of the goods was of a perishable character, and could not have undergone exposure without detriment to the importer. As this is by no means an isolated occurrence, the Harbor Board will do well to bring the matter, under review. The traffic of the port is far beyond its accommodation in the way of storage. That fact is so patent that not a master who comes here but has I observed it and pointed out the defect.

It will be seen that his Worship the Mayor has called a meeting of tenants and sub-lessees of the Native reserve for this evening. It is understood that the Hunt and Pettengell brothers intend to give an exhibition at Hokitika. If they do, there is very little doubt they will be patronised. So far as the glove business is concerned they are up to the standard. The elder Pettengell and the younger Hunt are experts, although the elder Hunt and younger Pettengell are very smart. At any. rate the performance is one at which an hour may be very pleasantly spent. The Hunts were of course unfortunate here, but they left a good impression behind them. They had r every confidence in their man and backed j him straight out, and at the last at two to one. If the local man had been backed in the same way the Hunts would have been sadder and sorrier. But it is only fair to them to state that they took their defeat most gond-humoredly and thanked their stars that the Greymouth community j I were not sweeter on their man than they were. It does not appear likely that : O'Lcughlin will meet Hunt again ; but at any rate it is satisfactory to note that each man has a very high opinion of the ■ other. O'Loughlin thinks Hunt the best runner. he has, ever faced, while. Hunt thinks O'Loughlin a wonder, being the firet man that has ever beaten him from scratch, 1 and : Hunt has run, roughly speaking, .hundreds of times. He says he w.as prepared for t a first class man, but he was not preparedto meet a man who could run the race at top speed, from the jump to the finish through ; long_ grass, and pools of water all the road, ft was the strength of Tommy's legs that carried "him through. He ran the race right out and never once looked' behind him. The regular monthly meeting of the

Grey Building Society will be held this evening at the usual time and place. Tenders close to-day for the erection of a shop ai Taylorville for Mr Dixori. From July 1, 1884, to June 30, 1885, forty-five persons were drowned in New Zealand rivers. The total number drowned from 1840 to June last was 2201. .The Hunts have left. Grey mouth, and without the younger one trying conclusions with O'Loughlin a second time, which he Was very anxious to do. He has a great idea of O'Loughlin's powers, but at the same time is not afraid to meet him on a level dry course or cinder track. As to running through gra^s and lagoons, he says he does not think he is equal to O'Loughlin. Hunt is about right. He can run O'Loughlin on a proper ground at any distance under the quarter of a mile, and would probably beat him ; but for a " hard road to travel "—that is grass and soft and heavy ground -Tommy is not to be beaten, and we have an idea that if Tommy was handled properly he could run a half mile or- a mile just as well as he runs a quarter. A man aged sixty-five recently applied to the Benevolent Institution Committee for assistance to go to Melbourne for work. He has been married twice arid was the father of twenty-seven children. When asked if he was strong and able to work he replied : — " Why, Lord bless ye, I'm as strong and hearty as I was twenty years ago. _ It is understood that Thomas O'Loughlin has made a match with Craig of Auckland, to run '440 yards for £100 aside. The impression is that Craig has caught a tartar this time ; and the impression is not very far out. Hunt will probably bear testimony to that. We Sometimes Eat too Much.—Appetite occasionally outruns discretion and the consequence is a fit of indigestion which may lay the foundation of future wretchedness in. the shape of dyspepsi^. As a means of counteracting the effects of , over-eating, and, if used persistently, of completely eradicating the last-named malady, there is none more certain and agreeable than that admirable - antidyspeptic /and after-dinner cordial, Udplphq ; Wolfe's Schiedam Aromatic Schnapps. — Advt. ■ ■ ; - • Goood Words — From Good Authority— .We confess that we are perfectly amazed at the run of your Hop Bitters. We never had anything like it, and never heard of the like/ The writer (Benton) has been selling drugs here nearly thirty years, and has seen the rise of Hostetter's, Vinegar, and all other bitters and patent medrines, but nevey did any of them, in their best days, begin to have the run that Hop Bitters have. We can't get enough of them. We are out of them half the time. Extract from letter to Hop Bitters Co., August 22, ■ '78, from Benton Meyers, and ,Co., wholesale druggists, Cleveland, O. Besure'and see. Good for Babies. — "We are pleased to say that our baby was permanently cured of a serious protracted irreorula ity of the bowels by the use of Hop Bitters by its mother, which at the same time restored her to .perfect' health and strength." — The Parents. See.-r-Ai)VT. ; '