WESTPORT NOTES.

Grey River Argus, 9 March 1928, Page 7

WESTPORT NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

f ESTPORT, March 8. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Borough Council did not take place on Wednesday evening through lack of a quorum. There were present His Worship the Mayor, Councillors Bad-t'ofd.-JVilsnii and Fairhall. A General Purposes Committee meeting was arranged and proceeded with. It may be re,lnembered that, file previous meeting just escaped a similar fate me Councillor arriving- VC ry late, ’ and business was proceeded with a bare quorum. W e may favour democratic institutions and believe in the “Vox Popule Vox ,Dei” principle, but it appears that the “voice of the peopie after three attempts has given us a Council which thinks so little of their responsibilities that the business of the Borough may go to pot for all they care. The Town Clerk, in an endeavour to get a meeting, rang up one of the absentees and received the reply “ Cannot come, working. ” This gc-ntlqman is his own boss. In N.S.W. the Government upset the City Council and are governing with a Commission. Would Westport burgesses like a similar state'of affairs? The matter lies with them. They ehose the present Council, —are they satisfied? Miss Agnes Holland intends spending her holiday in Adelaide until May, when she returns to Wellington to take up her duties as Secretary to the Loader of the Opposition in Parliament. Mr Bill Creaghan, well-known in the Buller district died suddenly at the Masonic Hotel, Hokitika, on Tuesday ! evening. Deceased was in. Greymouth last Saturday .afternoon, when he appeared to be quite hale and hearty. All will express regret at his passing to the great beyond. It appears that the “'Eileen Ward’' is to make asother start, the crew of the “Maul” baing transferred, until another crew can be assembled. Dredging is to be started by the “Eileen Ward” on Thursday. Of course this appears all right, but if the,' two dredges (bucket and suction) are not kept going, we will never have any imThe only successful work in the past provment on the bar and thei harbour, has been by these means. Instead of keeping people on tenter hooks as is being donei, why not adopt a proved method of working and stick to it. Let us hope there wrill not be too much delay in assembling a crew for the “Maui,” Airs Jorgenson, of the Domain Poultry Ranch has beqn successful in raising some clutches of young pheasanls. They extremely difficult to rear, but Mrs Jorgenson has succeeded. The Acclimitisation Society persuaded Mrs | Jorgenson to make the attempt, and I the birc|s have hatched out wall. | Mfanfl Mrs E. . Rowley returnee! ! from the Greymouth Jubilee festivities to-dav.

A sequel .to the fatality in the Westport main mine on December 23rd was heard in the Magistrate’s Court to-day before Air W. Meldrum, S.M. On tiio application of Mr O. J. Davis, Inspector of Mines, Walter Leitch, mine manager, was charged with: (1) Being the mine manager of the Westport M;iin mine, situated near Granity, did fail .to exercise daily personal supervision of such mine; (2) Being the mine manager of the Westport Main Mine, situated near Granity, did fail to examine thoroughly ail machinery, gear and other appliances whether above or below ground, also the state of every airway in the mine; (3) Be-

ing the mine manager of the Westport Main mine, situated near Granity, did fail in his capacity as underviewer to examine with a. locked safety lamp, all working parts of the mine and all stoppings. Mr .11. Lovell appeared for defendant. Mr Davis said that an accident occurred at the mine on December 23rd, 1927. The mine manager was on his way to Christchurch and therefore could not have supervised the- working of the mine. Ho looked for the books and the only one to be found was one compiled by a Mr Rowley, an employee of the mine. Under the Mines Act it requires the manager to make a daily inspection of the mine. He d.id not do so. After hearing evidence, the Magistrate stated that .the Act contemplated the manager being absent sometimes. He was of the opinion that there had not been a breach of the Act. The charges were dismissed.

Serious bush fires are raging in .the Karamea district and already damage estimated at thousands has been done. The township is literally surrounded. Everybody available is out fighting the outbreaks, and the whole district is covered with a heavy blanket of smoke. The area covered by the fire is very extensive. Watson’s sawmill is out of danger, but two or three hundred acres of flax land has been destroyed. At King’s farm the firefighters have had an exceptionally heavy task. They were up all night fighting the flames. The fire is of too great a magnitude to ever attempt to control it and it will now have to burn itself out. At the present juncture, the township itself is not considered to bo in danger. The fire is being fanned by a. hot easterly wind and everybody in the town is out fighting the flames. The outbreak is supposed to have started at Oparara yesterday morning and it spread with

great rapidity. The following cases were dealt with in the Warden’s Court this morning before Mr W. Meldrum, Warden:—Albert Adam Wilson, coal prospecting license, Mokihinui.—Recommended subject to conditions in the inspector’s report. Stephen Gilovitch, prospecting license, Brittania mine.—Leave given to withdraw. John Miller, residence site, Stockton. —Granted. Michael Durkin, residence site, Denniston. — Granted. William Aitken Brownlie, residence site, Denniston. —Granted. "Messrs W. Meldrum, S.M. (chairman), the Hon. W. H. Mclntyre, and Messrs Patterson and Elley attended the quarterly meeting of the Buller Licensing Committee yesterday. Sgt. McGlone presented a favourable report. "Westport Bowling Club has asked the Borough Council that a civic reception be accorded the Australian bowlers at 2 p.m. on March 19th, prior to the game, and invited the Mayor and Councillors and Town Clerk to be guests of the club for .the afternoon. The request was granted and invitation accepted with thanks. Yesterday was the hottest day re-

corded at Westport. Mr J. Harker’s thermometer, out in the open, read 120 degrees at 1.10 p.m., and 132 at 2.15 p.m. and 134 and 2.30 p.m. and from then began to recede. Inside, 84 dedegrees was registered. For 27 minutes last night the electric

light failed; going off at 27 minutes to 10 p.m. and coming on again at 10 o ’clock.

Mrs IL J. Ranson, of Wellington, who has been on a holiday visit .to her mother, Mrs Dunn, of Russell Street, leaves on return to Wellington on Saturday.

Mr and Mrs Rowley, who have been attending the Jubilee celebrations at have returned to Westport. Messis Duncan and Green, who attended the Trentham rifle shooting mooting and lifted a share of the prize money, returned to Westport via

Christchurch. Lieutenant Green was in the King’s Fifty. Mr Av hitevens, stationmaster'- in charge at Westport, leaves on Saturday for Wellington on annual holiday. Mrs E. 1). Dunn, who has been at Grey mouth for the Jubilee celebrations, has returned to Westport.

Air Leonard, of Dunedin, has arrived to replace Mr Jenks as wharf clerk, Mr Jenks being under notice of transfer. Miss Hughes arrived yesterday from Reefton on a holiday of three weeks .to be spent with Airs Kiely, of the Granity Hotel.