The Grey River Argus and Blackball news. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, JUNE 26th, 1906.

Grey River Argus, 26 June 1906, Page 2

The Grey River Argus and Blackball news. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, JUNE 26th, 1906.

The -special article dealing with the alleged shortage of trucks for carrying timber on the Westlahd"' section, which appears in another part of this issue, is, we believe, an earnest attempt by the representative of this journal who investigated the special complaint made to him, to get at the bottom of the whole subject. ' Probably we will be told that he has only touch ed the fringe of the matter and that .rm^lp^lr^ r-~~&-~^ * ' %en /" ' ,J(4 jL"*"^ r ~ --- - Jar

adopted fey the local railway authori- J .-. ties in allotting the trucks. It is quite. ( Je possible, We admit, that the spectal %j ; complaint we have had investigated a ' stands-by itself and that other causes m of complaint arb not, explained by the d , explanation forthcoming in : respect to w it Should; there exist causes for com plaint of such we need hardlf say 'that if a definite statement of the case is submitted to us we will endeavor to have ;the matter enquired Q into/ As a preliminary however, might & we suggest that %c more satisfactory method is to "have it out" with the Traffic. Manager, Mr Ashley. The t] manner in which that gentleman met I pur representative and went fully in-!-to the details of the: matter^ with him t conveys', to. our mind the idea that he 1< is as anxious as any .sawmill owner * to expedite in every way possible the c conveyance of timber from the mills t to the ships' sidei ; After- all, there is nothing, like going; direct to the iountain-headf.and in matters such as these the pr|ss< should oniy be appealed to as a- list "resort It is apparent, for instance, jjtteat^if the gentleman who made 'thje^ complaint to our - re-' presentative ' had. gone • to Mr Ashley and had placed the facts before - him tKe matter would have been as"speedily remedied as it was by the other method ; at least we have no reason to believe that the contrary would have been the. case. We do not begrudge . the time spent >nd tne trouble that our - representative has~gone to in investigating the -complaint referred to because we fully recognise the fact that the timber, industry, is one; of vast imi portance to the district jind. that it is 'r out bounden duty .to do ali in our • power to promote it; We feel, too,. \ that the publication of the results of ': our representatives- enquiries will do >• good because those enquiries were" un- '\ deriaken: in an. impartial spirit and I -.. with the intention of sheeting home, ', if possible;, a. ■ charge against 1 the Railway Department with the - view of getting things remedied. All ', that we have succeeded in doing, in ► the present case, appears to be to show * that had our complainant's letters ■ reached Mr Ashley personally the ► cause for complaint would, have been y quickly removed; From the figures ' supplied as to the capacity of the tim > ber-carfying- rolling stock it would ap > pear that if the trucks are": all avail- ' able, if they are not being used pracj tically as timber stores, and get quick . ly unloaded and if they, are -not in use ; for conveying other goods, the presenttrucks are ample to deal with the re- . quirements. The best information that our representative could obtain as to the amount of timber that could be handled on the wharf in a day of fwehty-four hours was. that the possible maximum is roughly 460,000 super feet, or 50,000 super feet less than the railways could deliver assuming that - they did not use the trucks over again as they were'emptied and making: no allowance for the time required to load the trucks at the mills. We are aware, however^ that there is a fallacy lurking in these statements and that is that the railway auhorities cannot carry on their busi ness- with exact mathematical accur-. acy. Although they^haye the number of trucks stated they would find^it diffi cult to. marshal them all empty on any stated day and despatch them to different points in order to test the correctness of their statement that they actually could transport over a half a million super ft per day. Never.theless we cannot get away from the facts that that carrying capacity exists and : _ that it should be" sufficient to meet all demands." Our complainant suggests that no private company would; cut things so fine a§j:he Railway Department does in the matter of trucks on the Westland section. It is quite possible that if there were two or more railway companies in this district straining every nerve to get business that the sawmillers in 'the district would have no cause" to complain of shortage of. trucks; but assuming that the lines : in the^ district were in the hands of a joint-stock company; who had nothing to fear from competition by another company it is doubtful whether they would be as well served: as lifey ; are at .present' Rightly, we think, the: people of the : colony demand. . that the railways . shall' pay and if they- are to do so tEe Department cannot afford to provide luxuries, ; Th ey contend that they have sufficient trucks to transport all the timber for. shipment under ordinary circumstances -and decline;: not only in this district, but in others where /. similar ' complaints are " m'kde, to make: provision-. for abnormal temporary derna£ds. We fail 'to see any way of. controverting such strong busi ness logic;but we have 'an open mind on the subject and so;, soon as. it can be shown conclusively that the supply of trucks is- inadequate to deal with the ordinary timber business of the "port we will bethe first to strenuously and continuously advocate a radical alteration. ; ••,•..- ;>

As the result of the many recent meetings of sawmillers in this town it ;? understood that an agreement has been arrived at between all the sawmi] !ers in the district, with the exception of one, under which it is hoped to maintain payable prices. About thirty saw-millers owning about forty mills a < affected. The -price of timber has beer, raised to 7s 6d per 100 super ft. The .funeral of the late Mr W. Learmont, whose body was recovered on Saturday morning in the river Styx, took place on Sunday afternoon. Although the - weather was boisterous, a very large number of mourners followed the remains to the cemetery. ' The service was conducted by the Rev ' Mr Newton at the Anglican church, Kanieri. Mourners from every part of the district were present to pay the last- tribute of respect* to the deceased, who was widely known and deservedlypopular throughout Westland. There was a good atendance at St Columba Club meeting last_evening when a debate, Freetrade versus Protection, was discussed. Messrs Butler and Hansbery and Rev Father Tay lor championed Freetrade while Messrs Duffy; Hannan and McEvedy supported the cause of protection. After (he speakers had concluded their addresses the judges decided that the freetraders had' the best of the arguments. An invitation was extended to the Trinity Institute for a euchre party to-morrow evening at eight o'clock in St Columba rooms. ReJe>ring to Saturdays f.< i|, a ij ri Jitch, Hokitika /. Stars, i.he U *juk.i C-::a dian says- "Mr W/ J-lii nvne wa-- referee, and at the ici.i.s, n ,j "he game a portion of >hn f-vM.in.i., made a disgraceful scene on ,h e gieund commenting on a decision given just before the end of the playThe conduct of this section of the t nlookers was- unwarrantable and was much deplored by the majority o f those present, who recognise that tbe referee's decision must be accented actual 1 ?' - fiDa1 ' °» of Mr Duncan McLean who attended JJ"; funeral of the late Mr Seddon in Wdlm gtono Thursday/last fctGrnS 0 town on Saturday.afternoon, having travelled by steamer to Lyttelton and come overland by coach. When he armed at Ly^ltoa on Friday morning about nine o'clock his -hopes, of being able to catch the coach at Springfield witbT r m Ch - haVin « left an hour Tot 1 , , hCn hG gOt t0 Christdnirch ho had made up his mind to wait for ll Aif S ach but on the advi <* of Mr AlberfKaye, of Messrs Kave and Carter,- he- got- a -motor car and was , whirled over the 4/ miles- which separate Ohristchurch and- Springfield in an ncur and a half— leaving the-city of the plains^ at" 10.40 a.m. and reaching Springfield at 12.10 p.m. in ample time v. catch'tfre coach. 'ldren's Hacking Cough at

At the inquest on Rose Phyllis Irene nsen, held yesterday before Mr W. •kuhart, J.P., coroner, -"and a jury, verdict, in accordance with the sdical testimony of Dr McKay, that ceased died from natural causes, is returned. ". At last "night's meeting of the Cob :n School Committee the chairman ■Ir W. Williams) "and Mr Levien were jpointed to wait on the Education oard relative to urgent requirements the school. It .v.'was decided to rite to the headmaster to the effect lat the committe deemed it advisable iat he sholud reside in Cobden. The United Band of Hope held its. lird meeting in the Methodist Church ist evening. There was a large at;ndance of children and their parnts, the former displaying much enlusiasm in the proceedings. Good rogress is being made, the attendnce being visably larger at each meet Qg. After a short address by the Lev D. McNicoll, the following pro;ramme was gone through and was /ell appreciated by the audience. Jong, Mr Napper ; recitation, C. Hop:ins; duet, Misses Garth and Mclnosh; violin solo. Master Gandle ; rc■itation, Mr T. Kelsall; dialogue, 'Fairyland," Ester Lawn and C. Hop cms; v duet, C. Hopkins and M. Mc[ntosh, and several other smaller items were contributed. At a meeting of the Greymouth Poultry Club, held last night, it was reported that satisfactory train arrangements had been made in connection with the approaching show. It was stateoV'that art union tickets were selling well in Reefton. Mrs Wicken (judge of cookery) forwarded a special prize of one guinea for Queen's cakes in the competition. ' ; Miss Eldrid is to be allowed to exhibit an art embroidering machine at the show on payment of five shillings!- Messrs Rogen, George and Ferens were appointed a receiving committee. Messrs Broad, Ponsonby and Jay are "to be asked to supervise the drawing of the art union.- Mr Jesse Steer is to be invited _to open the Show. Entries for all classes in- th epoultiry section close with the secretary at ro.p.m on Satur day at the Opera House. 1 The body of Mr William Learmont was found on Saturday morning and brought to Kanieri where an inquest was held at five o'clock on Saturday evening at the courthouse, before Mr R. J. Acheson, coroner. The evidence of Constable Stewart, Alex Meharry and Wm O'Reilly showed that the deceased left Kanieri about midday on Wednesday for Wilberforce and' was seen to pass Upper Kokatahi towards the Styx river. Not returning in the evening, the next day a search was made and A. Meharry went as far as the camp but found the deceased had not arrived there. A return was made and W. O'Reilly then found the pack and saddle ' horses below the ford. Search parties were then formed but Fiiday's search proved fruitless. On Saturday a further large party went put and the body Was found in ihe Styx river under a log where. a lot of drift wood had congregated. The jury returned a verdict that ths deceased had been accidentally^, drowned while attempting to cross the S'vx river The funeral took place on Sun i 1 Ay -afternoon and in spite of the ytfimy weather a very large number atttnded from all round the disttiu Lo pay the last token of respect to thed.reased. The Rev. Mr New:n conducted the service at . St. , Andrews CliLich, Kanieri and the gTavi 11 •!<?., A Wye number of floral tributes wcie received including wreaths fr'.rc .he K;i-icu Hockey Club and Ri an F-iC-o-ii; Club. On all sides, says !Jie HoMiika Guardian, heirifeh Vympat'iy is caressed 'for. the bioivjJ mother an.! family in the terrible sudden blow hey have received. - ' Sittings in civil jurisdiction yesterday Mr Kenrick S.M .gave judgment for plaintiffs by default of defendants in the following cases — Tymons and Co-v. F. C. Meyer, claim ,£n 12s; H. G. F. Clear v. T. Willis, claim £2 us . At the Grey Warden's Court yesterday the majority of the suits^vere adjourned till July 23rd. To-day th<s Warden will hear the Kennedy and Baker's Sluicing Company's cancella tion suit arid the suit in which Minehan and Musson apply for possession. The charge against John Kelly of assault on a female with intent was heard in camera at the Magistrate's Court yesterday by Mr G. W. K. Ken rick S. M., who, after hearing evidence, dismissed the case. Mr Herbert Baillie, chief librarrian of the Wellington Public Library, has an autograph album which shows a remarkably interesting page. There are four signatures in the following sequence :— "J. Ballance (January 18th 1593); "The Land for the People— <: John McKenzie" (April 1893); 'New Zealand for the New Zealanders — A. J.- Cadman" (April 17th, 1893); "Know me by my works: Co-operan-tion—Richard John Seddon." (April 24th, 1893). It is a strange coincidence that the four signatures should fall not only on the same page, but in the order in which the respective statesmen passe daway. Lord Gwydyr (Peter Robert Burrell), who entered upon his ninefy. sixth year, on April 27, and is the doyen in respect to age in the House of Lords ,was in his sixty-first year when he succeeded to the title. The present damp weather causes enquiries for waterproof clothin^-?nd"""*~ Thomas and Mcßeath dre V *abfe to meet the demand. They have on hand a large stock of gents waterproof in all shades and sizes; specially, made with a view to the. requirements of the district, and the prices' being exceptionally reasonable, it places it within the reach of every one to receive a decent coat to keep themselves dry and so preserve their health.— Advt.